Photos by Alda Ly, Moet Hashimoto, and myself.

Sara wrote a post two years ago about the San Pedro Fish Market, and I’ve fantasized about visiting since then. All that sunny, surfside seafood looked like paradise. So that was the obvious choice for Umamiventure #26, since I was coming into town. Also, with all the devastating seafood drama happening in New Orleans (great essay in Washington Post yesterday), and the rest of the coast, I felt that we needed to support the industry. SUPPORT SHELLFISH!

I crossed my fingers for flawless weather.

And a glorious day it was– not a cloud in the sky! I was unaware of how far San Pedro actually is from the city– it was closer to Long Beach and about a 45 minute drive for everyone. Thanks to everyone for making the trek out! It was a day of non-stop laughter, World Cup madness (England vs. US), pitchers of Coors Light, and mountains of seafood on trays. Loved every moment of this trip! SO MUCH FUN.

SARA
The shrimp platter: this thing is an endless pit of shrimp. It’s so delicious, but virtually impossible to finish it. I always feel bad throwing out so much shrimp at the end, especially since it’s got about two pounds of butter on it.

KAYOKO
Yeah, that tray of shrimp is NO JOKE. I didn’t think that butter was necessary. It was really greasy!

SARA
The catfish: it was a little crazy actually having to pick out my own catfish.  You throw it in a plastic bag, then pay for it and wait a few minutes, while they clean it. Then, they give the fish back to you and you drop it off to get deep fried. After about thirty minutes, it’s ready to go!

KAYOKO
Ordered “large mixed cocteles” aka ceviche. It was a behemoth cup of shrimp, octopus, squid, clams, pico de gallo, avocado, all swimming in a cold tomato soup and topped with two fresh oysters. I loved this, except it was literally bigger than Sara’s head.

SARA
The ceviche is good, but it’s a little too huge for my taste. I’m used to it in small doses and it makes me wonder how fresh the fish is when it comes in the super size quantity.

SARA
The oysters are good too, but eat them quickly cause they’re not served on ice and get warm fast. Plus, I do end up missing the horseradish and cocktail sauce, since it doesn’t come with either.

TOMO
Oysters are usually my forte but these ones were very intimidating. They were just too huge!

TOMO
I really thought the $40 crab was a bit much but once I cracked that sucker open, the sweet tender meat was well worth every penny!

KAYOKO
The crab was definitely my favorite out of everything.

JERKY
San Pedro Fish Market was a rad experience but it wouldn’t have been as fun without the Umamimart gang. I loved sitting outside on a gorgeous sunny Saturday, watching the World Cup on giant 55″ TVs, eating all the fried calamari, octopus ceviche, garlic bread dipped in octopus ceviche, and zucchini sticks I wanted. Not to mention the pitchers of beer and the fact that, while there was a good crowd, it wasn’t super crowded and the wait was never very long. Even some of the guys at one of the stands gave us “samples” of little octopus babies marinated in a diablo sauce.

KAYOKO
Jerkey got these succulent, juicy prawns wrapped with jalepeños in bacon. Totally delicious. But the peppers were so hot I couldn’t stop crying.

SARA
The great thing about going to San Pedro in a big group is that people end up getting stuff I never even knew they had there. I never knew the fried zucchini and corn existed there!

MOET
I loved the San Pedro Fish Market! The huge portions were so American!!

KAYOKO
I definitely agree with Sara and Jerkey– you MUST come here with a big group! That way you can try more things and it’s just a great place to meet for a picnic and enjoy the Southern California sunshine.

TOMO
It was a beautiful day and a great way to watch World Cup!

PETER
If you want a Burger don’t go to the Fish Market. It will only let you down.

KAYOKO
The actual market was HUGE. Fresh fish market, fish cleaning areas, grill and fry stations, pre-cooked crabs and lobsters, sides etc.

SOOKIE!

Hey gang! Thanks for coming out!

SAN PEDRO FISH MARKET
1190 Nagoya Way, Berth 78
Ports O’ Call Village
San Pedro, CA
T: 310.832.4253

*Umamiventures are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find good, cheap grub off the beaten path.

**Stay updated on all future trips via Twitter or the Facebook Fan page.

***Taking suggestions now for July’s Umamiventure in the Bay Area. Gimme a holler if there’s anywhere you’ve been dying to visit!

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009
18.) Din Tai Fung – LA; September 2009
19.) Din Tai Fung – Tokyo; September 2009
20.) Schroeder’s Oktoberfest – SF; October 2009
21.) Fish Taco Crawl – San Diego; November 2009
22.) St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka -  Alameda; January 2010
22.5) Everett & Jones – OAK; January 2010
23.) Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse – NYC; February 2010
24.) Guerilla Ramen Night – SF; April 2010
25.) Knife Sharpening Workshop at Hida Tool & Hardware – Berkeley, May 2010