My answer is “no.” Would you pay $34 for 4 shrimp?
1 Like
Not unless they were lobsters masquerading as shrimp.
2 Likes
U-10’s are pretty big shrimp, $30+is the going rate at high end steak houses round these parts. If it’s a celebration diner, why not…
1 Like
Our local steakhouse has a shrimp cocktail with 6 shrimp (probably 12-15 count ones) for $24. I’m not sure I would want to pay a lot more for that. I might if there was something else unique about the cocktail (like a lot of very fresh horseradish or a couple of sauce options).
1 Like
$4 for large shrimp would be my limit as well. It’s also such an easy app to make at home that I’d be loath to fork over that kind of money. And my cocktail sauce is better than any I’ve had elsewhere.
2 Likes
Reminds me, about 25 years ago I was on a business trip in Dallas, and went to a steak house with 4 other guys with whom I was traveling. After we ordered our steaks, the waiter asked us if we’d like to share a lobster as an appetizer, as they had lobster on special, and the restaurant could cut it up in the kitchen. He then asked if we’d like a small at $105, or a large at $125. We decided to pass.
4 Likes
Not even if they were carabine(i)ro/gambero rosso.
At Ramiro, a kilo of carabineiro will only set you back about 150 euros. Easy to find in Sardinia and the price (depending on the size) is more agreeable. Though, not usually served “shrimp cocktail” style. Crudo or seared. If the latter, the stuff in the head is the “sauce”.
1 Like
Aw, man. Did you have to bring up Ramiro? Some of the best seafood I’ve had >swoon<.
Fancy places for fancy people with expense accounts.
I once splurged for raw, fresh Antarctic shrimp sashimi, but that was part of an omakase experience in a decidedly unfancy restaurant.
2 Likes
Which is why I will likely never encounter such highway robbery.
I don’t like shrimp enough, so no - not unless it was for a dish that feeds 3-4 people. Granted cocktail shrimp is one of the better versions of shrimp, IMO, but still no.
I love shrimp in all variations (a veritable Bubba, I am), and find shrimp cocktail to be one of the least interesting dishes to make. My PIC loves it, however, so I make it fairly regularly.
For far less than $34, and we each get more than 2, of course 
I agree with an earlier comment about it being something you shell out for (although I still don’t know that I’d shell out $34) if “you’re in the mood”. That being said, I was spoiled as a kid because my mom would just put out (home) cooked shrimp, cocktail sauce, and butter and it was for everyone (including the kids), as well as the nights we’d do lobster/mussels/clams. I’m less likely to associate it with “fancy going out to dinner food” and more with “oh, I’m in the mood for that do I want to buy it in a restaurant when we go out or just make it at home”. But I also recognize that was definitely not everyone’s experience growing up.
That said, there were also a lot of nights we just had buttered popcorn for dinner. Kind of depended on the year.
3 Likes
I more often use shrimp in other foods (e.g., filling for a wonton or dumpling) and less often as a dish itself. When I randomly want shrimp, I like the Chinese style of quick boil for about 2-3 mins to get it just cooked (head on of course), and then with a soy chili dipping sauce. Not so dissimilar from cocktail shrimp, but not chilled with the fun firm bite to the meat. I appreciate shrimp more when it’s less adorned.
1 Like
Same. I adore the NYT recipe for the lemony shrimp & white bean stew, love shrimp curry, shrimp pasta… as I said, a veritable Bubba who digs them in many variations: raw, poached, fried, deep-fried with shell and head and all, grilled, etc.
1 Like
Expense account or company dinner, I’d order it. Also might order if they were large, fresh shrimp or large spot prawns.
1 Like
It was like that with lobster when I was a child and we lived in Maine. Each of us children got two claws, and our parents each got a tail. We all shared the legs. (We were small eaters.)
1 Like
I suppose I might on a company dime, but I’ve never worked in a field where that kind of money would be tossed around 
It wasn’t exactly on the company dime, but I remember a scene in the 2003 film CROOKED E (about Enron) where a group of employees go out for sushi and it ends up being several hundred dollars each, because they all felt incredibly rich with Enron stock.
2 Likes
In the same league as a $45 cheeseburger.
1 Like
