Here Are The Signs You're Eating Cheap Fish

As the saying goes, “If something is too good to be true, it probably is.” Fish usually is pricier on the menu, and when the price is low, the fish is not of good quality.

Fresh, high-quality fish should be succulent, tender, and juicy. When fish is dry, it likely means it was previously cooked, frozen, defrosted, and reheated.

Be wary of seafood specials on the menu, particularly on Mondays. As it turns out, seafood specials are often made up of older fish stocked in the fridge that restaurants want to cook first.

Seafood, or any meat, smothered in rich buttery sauce or spices is a huge red flag, as restaurants use them to conceal the flavor of substandard or old produce. Some use milk to mask the smell of low-quality and deteriorating fish.

Although they come cheaper, farm-raised fish are usually fed inferior feed loaded with antibiotics and carry more pollutants than wild-caught fish. It is best to ask where the fish is sourced.

White tuna, unfortunately, is non-existent, and many restaurants serve other fish under the misleading label of white tuna to save costs. They usually serve “oilfish,” “butterfish,” or “escolar,” which have higher fat content.

When the fish on the menu is not in season, it is either cooked frozen, or the restaurant is using another kind of fish. Salmon, for example, is in season from May to September, so ordering it out of season guarantees it won’t be fresh.