Best of the Sea

Bought 2lbs of wild salmon for $ 33.82 cash and didn’t receive a receipt. I cooked the salmon last night after washing it (approx 25 minutes in the oven). I took all the proper steps and only ate the fish for dinner. Fast forward to 4am this morning: I was violently throwing up every hour until 10am. My girlfriend walked to Best Of the Sea around 1pm because I was too weak to get up. The manager was rude and dismissive and said she had to prove it. Unfortunately she threw out the leftover salmon with my 6 vomit filled garbage bags. I understand its hard for a business to refund someone without the fish or receipt, but come on at least be respectful.

Perfectly adequate fish market for standard seafood. I usually just go in and pick what looks fresh. Everything is labeled with the origin of the fish which is important to me (I avoid anything from China such as tilapia). Friendly service. What can you say.

I called and spoke with a woman and asked her if they had live blue crabs and she said yes. $ 12/​dozen for large and $ 10/​dozen for medium. I got there 5 mins later and I said to the woman, were you the one I spoke to on the phone and she said yes. She then said the price was $ 3 higher a dozen. I said I just spoke to you on the phone and you told me a price $ 3 less. She said I NEVER SAID THAT!!! And then started laughing. The old bait and switch. It’s not the $ 6 because I bought two dozen it’s the principle. Very dishonest … Clearly the customer is always wrong. Stay away!!!

Last time the fish on display was old and soft. I didn’t buy because am expert in picking up, cooking and eating fish.

Stopped in yesterday to pick up some seafood for dinner. I got ½ lb each of shrimp, scallops, and cleaned squid. My total came to about $ 17. They accept credit cards as long as the purchase is $ 15 or more.
Service is pretty slow, but I didn’t care because I wanted my seafood so I can go home and start cooking. Their peeled shrimp needed more cleaning, but it’s nothing you can’t do yourself.
A big variety of seafood options from fresh whole fish to shellfish. Location is convenient, right off the 30^th Ave stop.

Astoria staple, the movie Julia and Julia was filmed here.
Great variety of seafood. Shrimp, fish, live crabs, oysters, they have it all. They were happy to shuck ousters and clean crabs for me for free, just tipped the shuckers.

I. Love. This. Place.
When I first moved here, I was sorely disappointed by the fish selection at all of the local markets (big or small, organic or not). This place looks a bit dumpy from the outside so I avoided it for a while, but after some truly awful vacuum sealed tilapia from Key Foods I thought, what the hell. It can’t be any worse than that garbage.
Yes, this place is small. But it’s very clean and the customer service is great. The people who help me always wear gloves and/​or wrap their hands with plastic before wrapping the seafood.
First time in — Fresh Tilapia Fillets: excellent, cooked beautifully, and had lots of flavor (which is saying something when it comes to tilapia).
Second time in — Sea Scallops: Delicious, very fresh tasting. I didn’t notice any problems with preservatives, the ones I had were translucent-​ish off-​white, not the stark white of preservative filled scallops.
Third time in — Bay Scallops and Fresh Salmon: A. Maz. Ing. Best salmon I’ve had in years, and I just prepared it with my usual dry rub and onions in the oven. So moist and flavorful — that meal just prompted me to write this review.
Avoid the fish section at Key Foods. Walk the extra block to get to this place.
One day I’ll be adventurous enough to try and figure out how to cook fish heads.

That’s my favorite place to buy seafood in Astoria. They have a decent selection of fish and the level of freshness is quite high.
Obviously, they are not closed. But they do have a new name, «The New Best of the Sea».

Ok, years ago I posted a rather snarky review of this place. Either a) they have really gotten much better since then or b) I was in a very bad mood that day. Either way, I apologize and revise my review. I have no excuse for being a jerk.
Also note, they are NOT closed…

Normally I would come here to pick up my seafood such as fishes, clam, crab, etc. It is very convience close to my house plus it is right off of the N/​Q train. I been all over Astoria and this seem and smell the freshes. Personally I like Chinatown selection more but this place is alot cleaner.

Store seems clean, fish quality is okay, and so the price –30^th ave price for sure.

Scallops were full of preservatives and had a disgusting, soapy aftertaste. I bought a pound and a half. I ate one. Threw the rest out – unacceptable.

Very clean and well-​maintained seafood store. Nice selection, nice employees. This is our new go-​to seafood stop since the closing of our local fish store!

I always go here for fresh seafood. Decent prices. Been going there for many years and haven’t encountered any problems.

The selection of seafood is a little limited here but it certainly out numbers what you can find at the neighboring Key Foods.
Freshness is pretty decent if you stick with the common fish as opposed to the more unique.
The convenient location at the base of the stairs to the 30^th street subway station make it a great choice on the way home if you’re craving seafood for dinner.