While I do agree with some, that the food at the Water Grill is not gourmet, it does not suck. The atmosphere is nice, and the food is fairly unadorned grilled fish, meats, and simple sides. All very decent, the service is usually good, and the wine policy is downright amazing. How many successful restaurants offer a “no corkage fee policy”? Also, the one in Santa Monica seems to have slightly better food than the downtown LA location.
There is another restaurant in LA worthy of mention. It is called Colori Kitchen. Used to be in a hole in the wall downtown, but they have since moved to 2019 Venice Blvd., off Normandie. Very good Italian food, run by a friendly, passionate Italian chef. Home made pastas, and quite reasonable. The new dining room is much cozier, though simple. In addition, another of the few “no corkage fee” spots in LA.
None. That is my point of my reply. I do not eat Thai in LA, as my palate is corrupted by Thailand. Nothing comes close, at any price. I would be willing to try some more, if there were some suggested, but so far, the only one I used to like was Royal Thai in Newport Beach. And that was before I moved to Thailand.
Just FYI, there is nothing wrong with frozen fish/seafood.
Claiming otherwise shows everyone who knows anything about food you don’t really know what you are talking about.
I grew up with commercial fishers and one of my best friends remains one. I don’t know the percentage but it’s safe to say a lot, probably a majority, of fish is frozen on the boat before it returns to shore. And then it is sold as fresh fish. I don’t think that is dishonest or a scam. As you say, there is nothing wrong with it.
Not necessarily. This is a rather nuanced discussion. Alot of frozen fish is very high quality. And alot is not. As an example, with the squid and shrimp dishes in Thailand, they are both usually fresh. Though alot of the shrimp is farmed, it is still tastier than frozen shrimp. In the case of squid, the local Gulf caught variety we get near where I live is outstanding. Very delicious. The imported frozen squid used by some places here, and by 99% of Thai restaurants in the US, is very low grade, factory processed frozen squid, and it tastes nothing like the real deal.
And some frozen fish is good, and some is awful. So, it depends on alot of factors.
And a lot of fresh fish is absolutely grotesk. You are painting with a wide brush here.
I personally hate Asian fresh farmed shrimp, I don’t think it is suitable for human consumption. I’ll take frozen all day long over that, especially when it’s wild caught flash frozen. I’m sure there is some that’s acceptable quality but majority of it is just vile.
I agree. I would prefer that too. But, when it comes to squid, which is a staple of great Thai food, there is no comparison between frozen and fresh, and that factory processed pineapple garbage is the worst. And that is mostly what I see in Thai restaurants in the US.
Sure, there is alot of very low end fresh fish out there. But, generally we are talking about higher quality fish, used in a good Thai restaurant, such as red or white snapper, etc.
