What should I look for when ordering seafood in restaurants? When eating at a seafood restaurant, make sure the buffet is fresh, the fish tank is clean, and the menu offers wild fresh fish options. You decide...
You decide it is time for and jump in the car and drive down to a restaurant. You grab a menu and pilfer through to find that you feel like having seafood. Do you ever wonder about the seafood you are ordering? As consumers we should take more initiative to know about the seafood we are being served.
This first thing to look at is the restaurant itself. Eating seafood in a place that is dirty or unsanitary is not recommended. You want to walk into a restaurant that is well in order and appears to be clean. It wouldn't be a bad idea to check the restaurants for health code violations. If any of them seem like red flags you can talk to the restaurant about them or choose another place to eat.
After it is determined that restaurant is a good establishment, then consider the staff. As you are selecting you seafood the staff should be able to answer any questions you have about the items. There are many great questions to ask if you are curious about your seafood choices.
First, you should ask about freshness of the seafood. Be inquisitive as to how they obtain fish. Ask when they receive shipments of seafood to their restaurant. It is good to know quantities they purchase as this could be a correlation to the freshness of the seafood you receive. "You might also want to ask if the fish is fresh or frozen, since fresh fish is more likely to have better taste," says Dana Reed, a Certified Nutrition Specialist. However, some people claim that the taste of seafood that is frozen-at-sea (FAS) can rival seafood that is kept fresh, especially if the fresh seafood is days out of the water, according to www.primeseafood.com. So depending on what region you live in, FAS seafood maybe your best option.
Another thing to look at while ordering seafood would be the type of fish that is offered. McCormick & Schmick is a restaurant chain around the US that offers fresh seafood. They monitor seasons in which fish are to be harvested, and this will determine what is available in their restaurant. Each day a new menu is printed off to accommodate what is brought in daily and what is fresh.
Salmon in particular is something to be a bit discriminating about. It is one of the most commonly eaten fish. "The menus of many restaurants state whether the salmon is wild or organic farm-raised. If it does not, you should ask," Reed says. This is due to different studies that have been done that are pointing at farm-raised or organic salmon claiming that they are higher in contaminants than wild salmon. When possible it is best to choose wild salmon. If you are unable to select wild salmon, then you should limit the amount of farm-raised salmon that you consume, according to the Organic Consumers Association.
Seafood is a wonderful part of our diet. When going to a restaurant it is a good idea to ask those few questions to make sure you are receiving the quality of seafood you would want.
