Cheap Cod

[Briar Lee]

Last night at a local tavern I had fish and chips for $10 and the menu said the fish was cod.

There were lots of fries and two huge cod fillets, maybe a half a pound of fish. It was delicious.

I doubted it was cod, but I looked online and Walmart is offering wild cod for $8.50 a pound.

What happened?

I thought wild cod was so expensive the restaurants substituted cheaper white ocean fish like pollack?

 

[jaytex1969]

What happened?

 

[Chasing Embers]

With a title like that, this thread could go all kinds of sideways.

 

[scloyd]

I love a good fish fry. Back in the 80's my wife and I rented a house in Elgin, Illinois. There was a restaurant in town, The Blue Moon, that had a fish fry every Friday night. They had a takeout window in back and for around $5 you got an excellent fish dinner to go. It was a very popular place on Friday nights.

 

[shanez]

Supply and logistics are messed up worldwide right now so that may have something to do with it. It's better to sell some cod at a smaller margin than sell no pollock at any margin.

But thanks to this thread I now want some fried fish.

 

[anotherbob]

also it's not uncommon for fish to be mislabeled especially at restaurants. Unless you're going to genetically test it there is little way to be sure. My bet is it wasn't cod. Or the other option especially if it was a special. It was very close to be out of date and selling it cheap even at a steep loss is better then throwing it out, especially if you make up the difference on more expensive marked up items. Drinks and appetizers. So my bet either not Cod or old Cod that can't be served after that day. Either way as long as you enjoyed it there is little reason to sue.

 

[canucklehead]

also it's not uncommon for fish to be mislabeled especially at restaurants. Unless you're going to genetically test it there is little way to be sure. My bet is it wasn't cod. Or the other option especially if it was a special. It was very close to be out of date and selling it cheap even at a steep loss is better then throwing it out, especially if you make up the difference on more expensive marked up items. Drinks and appetizers. So my bet either not Cod or old Cod that can't be served after that day. Either way as long as you enjoyed it there is little reason to sue.

Could be "Blue Cod" also which is cheaper.

I frequently see restaurants mis-label basa as "whitefish." It is a fish that has whitish flesh, yes, but it's Vietnamese catfish/Mekong mudfish.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I want to suggest $5 each for two codpieces (ignoring the chips) is probably a good deal - but I really have no idea what the market is for codpieces.

"I'll have the Henry VIII!"

 

[Briar Lee]

This was a trendy restored bar room that’s been open since 1945, and had sharp young waitresses. While it’s technically a bar it’s a family joint where the owner has to try, to have a four times food cost markup.

Potatoes are dirt cheap. Maybe fifty cents.

But genuine cod filets are like two dollars each, maybe less in restaurant quantities.

Maybe it is real cod.

I got the impression they didn’t sell many. There’s hamburgers and steaks and pork tenderloins all over the menu and a little square with “Fish and Chips- Cod filet and waffle fries.

It’s a German Catholic neighborhood bar gentrified into a restaurant. There’s pictures of the place in the 1940s on every wall.

All those Catholics in the neighborhood have been eating fish and chips there on Fridays for 75 years, generation after generation.

Maybe it’s a legacy menu item.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

It ain't cod. It never is.. same thing with flounder.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Last night at a local tavern I had fish and chips for $10 and the menu said the fish was cod.

There were lots of fries and two huge cod fillets, maybe a half a pound of fish. It was delicious.

I doubted it was cod, but I looked online and Walmart is offering wild cod for $8.50 a pound.

What happened?

I thought wild cod was so expensive the restaurants substituted cheaper white ocean fish like pollack?

This is from the menu at Quinlan's in Killarney - great fish and chips - ate there on our trip a couple of months ago. They identify different fish options (truly fresh and local) and I'm pretty sure they are sticklers about it. Not saying you might not get "cod surprise" at places here or there in the good ole US of A, but I like to believe most restaurants take it pretty seriously. They do over there. I had some there and elsewhere and I'm not much of a fish guy, but it was so good! The server gave me a pretty sincere dissertation on the differences among the 4 they had left that day (I had to ask) and I had the hake on her recommendation. Can't remember why I was drawn to it or what she actually said, lol.

Prices were pretty darn reasonable! The ale was tasty!

"Served with 'real' potato chips, lemon wedge and tartar sauce
I. Wild Whiting
€9.95
2. Wild Plaice
€10.95
3. Wild Haddock
€11.95
4. Wild Cod
€11.95
5. Wild Hake
€11.95"

 

[anotherbob]

Could be "Blue Cod" also which is cheaper.

I frequently see restaurants mis-label basa as "whitefish." It is a fish that has whitish flesh, yes, but it's Vietnamese catfish/Mekong mudfish.

If they even know what they're actually getting. Often times you get what the distributor says it is. And the same applies to them. It's amazing how easy it is to sell one fish as something worth more. Especially when it's hard to prove who first mislabeled it.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Is it whitefish or white fish? Haha

 

[anotherbob]

It ain't cod. It never is.. same thing with flounder.

It's lake Cod. You know like sea bass.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

It's lake Cod. You know like sea bass.

I worked in restaurants years ago and learned that grouper is always stripped swahi.. I think that's how it's spelled.

The menu said "fresh grouper"..
it was frozen stripped swahi.

There is little to no regulation on this.. I guess you could sue. What would be your damages?

 

[Briar Lee]

Let’s get a little philosophical.

The oceans are huge, and all connected together.

They are something like three quarters of the planet.

Science tells us the first freshwater fish were 300 million years ago, and by 100 million years ago the fish adapted to salt water.

Why There Are So Few Fish in the Sea

Today's marine fish may have all evolved from freshwater species, a surprising finding that could explain why the ocean is relatively low in species diversity.

www.livescience.com

In a hundred million years you’d have thought each different fish specie in the ocean that survived would have spread out equally around the globe.

Is there any edible sport or food fish that’s truly world wide?

 

[anotherbob]

I worked in restaurants years ago and learned that grouper is always stripped swahi.. I think that's how it's spelled.

The menu said "fresh grouper"..
it was frozen stripped swahi.

There is little to no regulation on this.. I guess you could sue. What would be your damages?

Oh I know. And Sometimes people will just make up a new name for another fish. And if they make it taste good I really don't care too much. But if you really care about things like what you are specifically eating, learn how to cook and how to accurately id what you're buying. Otherwise....

 

[AJL67]

Long John Silver’s is the best. For an extra buck they’d sell you the strained crud out of the fryer marketed as “crackins “ or something like that, it’s been 40yrs since I’ve been in one.

 

[coming to_falling too]

Long John Silver’s is the best. For an extra buck they’d sell you the strained crud out of the fryer marketed as “crackins “ or something like that, it’s been 40yrs since I’ve been in one.

I don't eat there often, but when I do I always regret it..... In a satisfied sort of way haha.

 

[AJL67]

I don't eat there often, but when I do I always regret it..... In a satisfied sort of way haha.

I'm not a fish guy, all i remember is if you dumped enough of the Malt Vinegar on it it was edible. When you grow up dirt poor Long John SIlver's is a treat trust me lol