That Hometown Taste: Small town gal seeking local crustaceans

In efforts to intentionally eat more omega-3 rich foods, my family has been trying to include more seafood in our meals. Even my vegetarian husband has decided to return back to eating sea creatures. Luckily, there’s no shortage of seafood in town. It seems most of the restaurants have one to two seafood dishes on their menu. I enjoy a good halibut, but I’m a bit of a selective eater when it comes to fish. Unfortunately, it seems all of the fish with the richest amount of omega-3 goodness are the fish that I will always choose not to eat. Salmon, trout and even canned tuna are high on that list. And they’re all a big “No thank you” from me. I’m not sure why or when they became so offensive to my tastebuds. I enjoy sushi and sashimi, and could eat it to near bursting if I allowed myself to. For baked (not fried) fish, cod and halibut aren’t that low on the list as omega-3 sources, but they’re just not as high up as salmon, and salmon seems to be on almost every menu in town. I’ve since been on a search for clam and shrimp dishes — my favorites. My father is allergic to any sea creature that has a shell, and I’ve always felt drawn to eating any of those. Growing up, I felt it was my job to make sure to enjoy as many crustaceans as possible for not only myself, but also my dad. There have been times we have been out to eat when he wanted a dish, but it came with crab or shrimp. Being the compassionate, problem solving individuals we are, my sister and I always offered to eat it for him if he ordered it on the side. I’ve been busy trying looking over menus online to try and find the best shrimp in town. Ocean Restaurant is one of my favorite places to order shrimp from. In degrees of spicy to saucy, their menu offers the largest selection of seafood in one sitting. Depending on how spicy or bold I want the flavor, the Hunan shrimp and Szechuan shrimp are my go-to picks there. The garlic shrimp dish is also delicious if you’re looking for flavor, but not heat. Recently, on a Tuesday — because that’s the day neither of us wants to cook — we ventured out to the El Pueblo Meat Market & Taqueria for dinner to-go. I tried to order something different and ordered a chile relleno for myself and the Camarones a la Plancha (grilled shrimp) for my husband. I quickly added on an order of the five tacos to share with my daughter and was soon on my way home. I asked if I could try the shrimp because it looked delicious. He’s lucky I didn’t eat the whole thing. I tried at least two of his shrimp and decided that I would have to get it for myself the next time we go to El Pueblo. It wasn’t spicy, but there was definitely a bold flavor there. It was delicious and the perfect balance of spice with the flavor of the shrimp. I hadn’t realized the variety of shrimp and fish dishes they have on their menu. They also have a spicy shrimp dish (Camarones a la Diabla), fish or shrimp tacos, and shrimp fajitas options to name a few. I may need to stray from the tacos to give their seafood menu a solid chance. Other meals I have my eyes set on around town include the clams and linguine from Ficelle (because one cannot go wrong with clams and pasta), the Caramelle con Gamberi Fra Diavolo at Carboni’s Ristorante, and the surf and turf at the Buckhorn Steakhouse.