Seafood restaurants typically make it or break it based on the quality of the food that they have. In the seafood industry, this is largely based on freshness, as well as the way in which the food is prepared. You may have a favorite seafood restaurant you have been going to for years, but how do you know you are getting the very best that the area has to offer? Let’s take a peek at some ways in which you can determine whether or not your favorite seafood restaurant is serving up truly fresh food.
Where Does the Seafood Come From?
Restaurants that are situated near the coastline, especially in states like Florida, have no excuse to not use fresh seafood in their dishes. The first step to determining freshness is to look at where the seafood comes from. The freshest seafood is going to be locally caught off of the shorelines of the state the restaurant resides in. The best way to determine this is to talk to your favorite restaurant. They are going to know where their fish comes from. Local seafood can be caught that morning and be served up as a meal that evening in the restaurant. This is going to allow you as a seafood fan to get the most taste out of your meal.
Is the Seafood Frozen at Any Point?
Even if seafood is caught locally, that does not necessarily mean that it is served up fresh. Talk to the restaurant o see if the seafood is frozen at any point. There are some instances when this is necessary in order for the restaurant to not have a lot of waste. In an ideal situation though, seafood is never going to be frozen and instead is going to be kept refrigerated and fresh until it is ready to be prepared and served to seafood fans.
The Taste Test
One of the best ways for anyone to determine just how fresh a piece of fish is would be to do a test on their own. An easy way to do this is to order some seafood from your favorite restaurant, and then prepare seafood on your own at home from a piece of fish that was pre-frozen. Going with a blander dish from the restaurant will make this a bit easier. What you will find is that the piece of fresh fish is going to have a lot more juicy flavor to it. It will also feel more filling as you are eating it. The piece of frozen fish, due to it being thawed out, is not going to be packed with this same level of taste.
Determining freshness of seafood is going to require you to ask some questions of your favorite restaurant. In restaurants that have more of a neighborhood vibe, these types of fun conversations should be easy to have with waiters and waitresses. Restaurants that serve up local seafood are ensuring freshness for their guests and also helping out the local economy in a big way.
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