Walked into a seafood supplier in Portland and smelled trouble immediately

I swung by Harbor Fish down on Commercial Street last Thursday to pick up some scallops for a special. The back cooler smelled more like ammonia than ocean brine, which is a huge red flag for spoilage. Has anyone else run into quality issues with their suppliers lately or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

mark_cooper3d ago

Yeah that ammonia smell is no joke, I had the same thing happen at a spot up in Seattle last month with their halibut and it turned out they were holding product way past its prime. Ended up tossing the whole order and driving forty minutes to another supplier just to salvage the weekend menu. You're not wrong for flagging it, that smell means breakdown is already happening and it ain't getting better.

oliviahenderson2d ago

Yeah that "trouble right away" smell is just their cheap way of marinating the scallops in regret.