Shrimp angling at Kieu Dam Pool (Saigon, Vietnam)

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I love doing really unique things when I travel.  One of the absolute must do things I had my heart set on in Saigon was shrimp angling (fishing).  Traveling in Vietnam takes a little patience as most of the taxi drivers and even hotel staff don't speak English.  I was a little hesitant after hopping into a cab and the driver not really knowing exactly where this place was, then dropping me off on a dirt road and telling me to go straight ahead.  After finally walking for about 10 minutes and peeking my head into every single doorway imaginable, I finally found it!

Kieu Dam was super hard to find.  Even walking up to it, I was still unsure what to expect.  A dirt walkway and a giant tentlike building made way to a small pool with tables and chairs surrounding it.

No one spoke English, but after somehow gesturing that I was there for shrimp fishing, they gladly set me up with a fishing pole and some worms. 

I wasn't sure how long it was going to take to even catch anything.  Peering down into the pool, its quite dark so you can't really see if there is anything in there, you just hope for the best.  Saigon was much hotter than I thought it would be so a nice cold Tiger beer was very enjoyable, especially since this venue is not really enclosed.

If you are choosing to angle shrimp, the cost is per person, per hour.

Originally, I had estimated maybe an hour and I would have a flowing table of shrimp.  I was so wrong.  Three hours later and three shrimp were all that were caught.  The first one really shouldn't count because one of the workers must have felt sorry for me and helped me catch it!

After catching the shrimp, they hang it in nets over the water until you are ready to eat.  Like in most Asian countries with fresh seafood, you can choose how you would like your shrimp to be cooked.  I chose grilled, which led for a small, but satisfying snack.

Knowing that three shrimp wasn't going to satisfy anyone's appetite, I ordered the rau muong.  Rau muong is also called water spinach.  My parents cooked this for me quite a bit as a child and I was pleased to see that the same technique was used here.  A slight stir fry with bits of garlic.  One thing I love about rau muong is the texture.  The crunchiness is similar to chewing little straws.

Chilis and soy sauce were given for dipping the grilled shrimp in. 

    

Address:                    Kieu Dam Pool
                                   793/35/4 Tran Xuan Soan St., Tan Hung Ward, Dist. 7,
                                   Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
 

Type:                          seafood

Popular chomps:        shrimp

Chomp worthy:           shrimp
                                     rau mong   

Poke Express

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Las Vegas has a pretty decent sized population of Hawaiians so I was pleased to see a place like Poke Express, which sells a variety of pokes.   

I'm one of those people who absolutely love poke, but am much too lazy to make it for myself so when I see it available I need to eat alot of it.  Even though the Bay Area is home to many Hawaiian (specifically South Bay), we definitely don't have (but desperately need!) something like Poke Express.  Limu is the Hawaiian name for seaweed so limu poke is a mixture of ahi tuna and bits of seaweed. 

Spicy combo poke was my favorite.  Thin slices of cucumber and onion added a nice crunch to the mix of ahi tuna, salmon, and tako (octopus) along with sriacha and mayo.  Super good.

Huge chunks of fresh salmon made this salmon poke one of my favorite pokes.

Spicy ahi tuna is made of ahi tuna and a mixture of sriacha sauce and mayo.  This one is more on the creamy side than on the spicy side.

Address:                   Poke Express
                                  655 W. Craig Rd. Ste 118
                                  Las Vegas, NV
 

Type:                         Hawaiian

Popular chomps:       spicy ahi

                                   tako poke
                                   kim chee tako
                                   ahi shoyu

Chomp worthy:          salmon poke
                                   spicy combo  

Big T's Seafood Market Bar

Pin It Now! Big T's Seafood Market Bar is something that was very needed in San Jose and the rest of the Bay Area - a seafood market that cooks their own seafood.  Besides the usual oysters, lobster, and shrimp, Big T's also sells geoduck, which I do like to indulge in when I see it on a menu.

I find it almost mandatory to order clam chowder in a seafood restaurant.  The clam chowder here was a little underwhelming since I prefer my chowder thicker and creamier.  The flavor wasn't very rich either.

The softshell crab sandwich was probably one of the more interesting items on the menu.  I wasn't exactly sure how it would be served, but I definitely didn't expect a whole softshell crab between some bread.  The softshell crab was crunchy and the meat inside was extremely juicy and succulent.  The cajun mayo tied everything together.

I'm sort of a purist when it comes to lobster rolls so its no surprise that the toasted garlic butter lobster in this sandwich was just a little too seasoned for me.  A lot of stuff going on, but the lobster chunks were thick and plentiful.

Geoduck is a special treat, especially when its served sashimi style.  Here its order by the weight and served both as a sashimi style and deep fried.  I loved that they served it with both options, but I wished that the geoduck was sliced much thinner.  Also, it didn't taste as fresh as I had hoped it would be.

This is the first fried version of geoduck I've had.  The chewiness of the geoduck reminds me almost of fried clam strips.  The batter is more floury and I think it'd be much more tasty in a tempura style fluffy batter.

Address:                  Big T's Seafood Market Bar
                                 1694 Tully Rd.
                                  San Jose, CA
 

Type:                         seafood

Popular chomps:       oysters
                                   geoduck
                                   lobster roll
                                   softshell crab sandwich

Chomp worthy:          softshell crab sandwich  

Phil's Fish Market & Eatery

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Phil's Fish Market & Eatery is a bit of a drive from San Francisco.  Almost a two hour drive, its shamefully not the farthest I've driven for food. 

There are so many seafood choices here.  Not only do they have a huge regular menu, but along an extensive list on the white board right before you walk into the restaurant, where you can find the lobster roll listed.

Besides seafood, this area is most known for artichokes.  Driving south you pass many places artichokes cooked many ways.  You can never go wrong with deep fried artichoke hearts.  The batter is golden and crispy with a steaming hot fresh artichoke heart.  It comes with a garlic ranch sauce, which makes this dish even better. 

The cioppino comes with a side of salad, which usually would be good noshing for me, but I needed to save room for all the seafood.  Plus, who eats salad when you are feasting on all this seafood?

The thing to get here is the cioppino.  There are two sizes available.  One recommended for two people ($45) and one regular size.  The regular size is huge and I think a good shareable size, especially if you plan on ordering more things.  Considering the seaside location, I had a higher hopes for the cioppino.  I'm not exactly sure why this cioppino isn't rave worthy.  There is a decent amount of seafood (fish, mussels, crab, scallops, etc), but the taste of the broth was just average.  Not the best cioppino I've ever had.  I prefer the cioppino at Anchor's Oyster Bar (see post HERE) in the city, which makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  Phil's get an okay from me.

By itself, the toast was nothing special, but as a medium for sopping up the cioppino it proved its worth.

I love clam chowder and I order it almost everywhere.  And with a bread bowl, even better!  Surprisingly, this bowl was a little disappointing.  Took a couple digs around with the spoon to find a clam.  Plus, I couldn't help but taste the roux in the clam chowder so it gave the soup a flour taste.  Also, the bread was barely toasted.   

I was pretty excited to discover another lobster roll in the Bay Area I haven't sunk my teeth into yet.  A little skimpy on the lobster and dressed in a little too much seasoning.  Add in the soggy bread and I was not a happy camper.

    

Address:                   Phil's Fish Market & Eatery
                                  7600 Sandholdt Rd.
                                  Moss Landing, CA 

Type:                         seafood

Popular chomps:       cioppino
                                   lobster roll
                                   clam chowder
                                   fish & chips
                                   fried artichoke

Chomp worthy:          fried artichoke     

Luke's Lobster

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Luke's Lobster seems to be popping up all over Manhattan.  This tiny shack serves up some of the most popular lobster rolls in the city.

The lobster roll is buttery with huge, plentiful chunks of sweet lobster.  The roll was buttered and slightly toasted.  I loved how the lobster roll was no nonsense - just lobster meat and the buttered roll.  Luke's Lobster offers other seafood rolls as well - shrimp and crab, if for some reason you come into Luke's Lobster and realize that lobster isn't your thing.

   

Address:                  Luke's Lobster
                                 93 E. 7th St.
                                 New York NY 
 

Type:                        seafood/sandwich

Popular chomps:      lobster sandwich

Chomp worthy:        lobster sandwich        

Billy's Boston Chowder House

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From Burlingame's New England Lobster (see post HERE) to Redwood City's Old Port Lobster Shack (see post HERE), I thought I've almost conquered all the lobster rolls in the Bay Area, but up popped Billy's Boston Chowder House.  The casual decor and atmosphere reminds me of The Old Port Lobster shack.

Its called Billy's Boston Chowder House so I feel compelled to get some chowder, but I usually get clam chowder anyways.  They offer a trio, which includes New England clam chowder, Manhattan chowder, and lobster bisque.  It's perfect for people like me who can't decide on just one and need to taste all of them.  I've never been a fan of Manhattan chowder, but this one is ok.  The New England clam chowder is rich and buttery with a decent amount of clams.  The lobster bisque is probably the best of the three, but I still prefer the lobster and corn bisque at New England Lobster in Burlingame.

You can never go wrong with fried calamari because its chewy and crispy.  Here, its a little too dry and the batter could use some seasoning.

Now onto the main event - the lobster roll.  The roll is quite small and the lobster chunks are big, but a little scarce.  You can get the lobster roll 3 ways - naked, buttered, and dressed.  I opted for the dressed since they said it was lightly tossed in a tarragon mayo.  Something different than I had seen before.  The tarragon mayo overpowered the sweet lobster meat.  Still the best - Ad Hoc's lobster roll! (see post HERE)

Address:                 Billy's Boston Chowder House
                                29 E. Main St.
                                Los Gatos, CA 
 

Type:                      seafood

Popular chomps:    lobster roll
                               cioppino
                               clam chowder
                               lobster bisque

Chomp worthy:      lobster bisque
                               clam chowder       

Hungry Cat

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Hungry Cat is in the middle of Hollywood, but its location was a little tricky for me to find.  Having literally walked back and forth on the same block at least four times, I finally managed to spot this corner restaurant in an alleyway across from CVS.  Its mostly known for their seafood and their gorgeous raw bar displayed in the front of the restaurant.

Upon arrival to the table, the bowl of salad was huge, but poking around I found it was a wide, shallow bowl.  This seafood take on a cobb salad was filled with fresh shrimp, chunks of crab, bacon, chicken, avocado, eggs, apples, and Parmesan cheese.  Nothing special, but the salad was a refreshing and it had the most delicious citrus dressing.

The lobster roll is Hungry Cat's claim to fame.  Unfortunately, the crispy fries were more satisfying than the actual lobster roll.  The lobster roll is served on fluffy, buttery brioche bread that is lightly toasted, but the chunks of lobsters were few and too dressed.  The lobster was covered heavily in mayo, which overpowered the sweetness of the lobster.  Also, there was at most four bites to this teeny lobster roll.  For $25, the lobster roll was a huge letdown and I should have ordered the raw seafood platter I saw on a nearby table.

       

Address:                   The Hungry Cat
                                  1535 Vine St.
                                   Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                         seafood

Popular chomps:        lobster roll
                                   seafood platter
                                   pug burger

Chomp worthy:          nothing

Mariscos Los Costa

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Mariscos Los Costa is south, like very south, San Jose.  Situated in the middle of a parking lot, this extremely busy taqueria was a surprising find.  Maybe even the best tasting carne asada in San Jose..

The pulpo y camerones (octopus and shrimp) tostada was just ok.  The chunks of shrimp were better than the slices of octopus.  The addition of Tapatio and a squeeze of lime always helps out too.

I wouldn't normally order meat, especially carne asada (beef) from a place that specifically said mariscos (seafood) in their name.  While I wasn't happy with the tortilla or the sloppy rolling of the burrito, the beans and meat were super flavorful.  Possibly a lot of lard in the beans gave it its hearty flavor.  There is not a lot of rice in the burrito, but that just allows for more beefy goodness.

Address:                  Mariscos Los Costa
                                 4152 Monterey Hwy
                                 San Jose, CA
 

Type:                        Mexican/seafood

Popular chomps:      carne asada
                                  cerviche

Chomp worthy:        carne asada

Salty's Famous Fishwich

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Salty's Famous Fishwich is one of those hidden gems amongst the tourist traps and chain restaurants.

The fishwich has got to the best tasting fish sandwich I have ever had.  The fish is lightly battered and deep fried.  So fresh that the fish just flakes off with every bite.  The slaw is light and crunchy with a slight vinegar taste.   Its so good that you can even buy a side of it.  The fresh, crunchiness reminds me of Bakesale Betty's slaw (see post HERE).  Its so good its a candidate for my top ten chomps of the year.

For the non fish lovers, there is a chickenwich.  Essentially, the chickenwich is the same sandwich as the fishwich, just with chicken instead of fish.  The lightly battered fried chicken is good, but just a little dry.  The fishwich is MUCH better.

Address:                  Salty's Famous Fishwich
                                 Fisherman's Wharf
                                 Pier 43 1/2
                                 San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                        seafood/sandwich

Popular chomps:      fishwich
                                 chickenwich

                                 clam chowder
                                 garlic fries

Chomp worthy:        fishwich

Orale Fish Tacos

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I'm still searching for a fish taco in the Bay Area like I had at LA's Ricky's Fish Tacos (see post HERE).  Orale's Fish Tacos is situated in the quiet suburb of Campbell.

With a plethora of seafood options, the only thing I wanted was the fish tacos.  Even just narrowing it down to fish, they had a choice of salmon, halibut, tilapia, and the breaded halibut.  One order of breaded halibut (right) and one tilapia (left) covered the basics.  Seemly similar orange Baja sauce and shredded cabbage topped each of the tacos, but the similarity stopped there.  The breading was too thick and overcooked.  Even with the breading, it didn't stop the unfresh fishy taste to peek through.  Same for the tilapia.  Chunks of white fish that tasted like they were prefrozen, even lime couldn't hide the fishy flavor.

Large chunks of shrimp cerviche piled on top of a crispy tostada.  Unfortunately, the plump shrimp only looked enticing, but the taste was far from. 

Address:                 Orale Fish Tacos
                                1750 Winchester Blvd
                                Campbell, CA 
 

Type:                       Mexican/seafood

Popular chomps:     fish tacos
                                fish burritos  

Chomp worthy:       nothing        

La Costa

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 Spanish music blasting and every table is filled with Spanish only speaking people, which I hoped was a good sign of some tasty food to come.  The shaded outside patio was a nice spot to enjoy Mexican food on a seemingly summer day. 
 

The cerviche de cameron (shrimp) was a little disappointing with the small chopped up shrimp.  Also, there was a meager serving of shrimp amoungst the plentiful cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes.  The cerviche was pretty bland and needed all the help it could get from the Tapatio (and ketchup, if that's your thing).  The tostada did stay crisp and held well with each bite.

From right; clockwise: carnitas, carne asada, al pastor, al pastor.   While its kind of a no brainer to order something with seafood when the sign of the restaurant says mariscos (seafood), the al pastor seems pretty popular as well.  I still tried to round up the usual items: carne asada and carnitas just to cover the bases.  The carnitas was a little too tender for my taste.  No crunchy or burnt bits that make carnitas so tasty.  Same for the carne asada.  Too cooked as if the meat had never seen a grill.  Also, a tad on the salty side.  The al pastor was probably the best of the bunch.  Saucy with some flavor.  Not good enough to order again though.
 

Address:                     La Costa
                                   1805 Alum Rock Ave.
                                    San Jose, CA
 

Type:                           Mexican

Popular chomps:         al pastor
                                     cerviche de cameron tostada

Chomp worthy:           nothing    

La Cervicheria

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I love discovering small hole in the wall joints like La Cervicheria.  This unassuming small shop serves up super fresh seafood.  With only a couple tables inside, the restaurant fills up fast!  The only downside to eating the refreshing seafood is they don't serve beer or any alcohol, but many patrons seemed to be BYOB. 

With so many tauntingly delicious sounding items, it was hard to choose what to eat!  The portions are quite generous here and a cerviche can easily feed one person.
The chapin cerviche had tons of fresh shrimp, fish, octopus, and scallop all marinating in a briny, limey, tomato based that's flavored with Worchestershire sauce, avocado, and cilantro.     

The concha negra (bloody clams) cerviche is one of the restaurant's more popular dishes.  The murky black color doesn't exactly make the dish look appetizing, but digging in the diced up, crunchy clams mixed with onions, cilantro, octopus, and shrimp were absolutely delicious.  Saltine crackers are given to scoop up the limey tart, but sweet seafood.

Besides crackers, tostadas are given for another dipping and scooping alternative.

The mariscadas was a seafood stew with shrimp, mussels, and calamari served with a scoop of rice.  There are 3 flavor choices: caribena, veracruzana, or curry.  Although the cerviches were amazing, the winner here was the mariscada.  The hard to describe complex broth was slightly spicy and utterly delicious.  Loved how the rice was there to soak up the rest of the broth!

    

Address:                  La Cevicheria
                                 3809 W. Pico Blvd
                                 Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                       seafood/Latin American

Popular chomps:      fish tacos
                                 bloody clam cerviche (La Concha Negra)
                                 chapin cerviche

                                 tres leches
                                 mariscadas
                                 aguachiles

Chomp worthy:        bloody clam cerviche (La Concha Negra)
                                 chapin cerviche
                                 mariscadas