Best fish market in Pacific Heights/Japantown?

[dlj02000]

Hi,

My wife and I just moved to a new place near Gough & Bush in San Francisco. We lived in the Mission District before that, and were regulars at the Sun Fat fish market. Now we're looking for a new, neighborhood fish market similar to Sun Fat, and it seems to me like Japantown might be our best bet -- does anyone here have an opinion on Uoki Sakai, Nijiya, or Super Mira as far as quality/price? Is there another fish market in our neighborhood that I might be missing?

Also, I know that the Swan Oyster Depot is a great (albeit slightly touristy) place to get a meal, but do they sell fresh fish for cooking at home as well?

We've gotten fish at Whole Foods once or twice and have been really disappointed with the quality, especially considering the price. The fish we got at Sun Fat was always much better, and at a fraction of the price, so we're really hoping we can find something similar in our new neighborhood!

Thanks in advance for your help.

[dlj02000]

Thanks for your help, everyone. We'll be sure to check out Nijiya and the Swan Oyster Depot in the next few days as we get settled into the neighborhood.

It's interesting to hear that someone else was as disappointed with the fish at Whole Foods as we were...I've always enjoyed the beef we've gotten there, but man was their fish awful! It was really making us long for Sun Fat.

[augustiner]

at nijiya, be sure to check the date the fish (or meat) was packed on. it's printed on the sticker, and sometimes that fish has been sitting around for a couple days. i'd definitely check that before buying their fish for sashimi, for example. oh by the way they had fresh wasabi roots two days ago.

[rabaja]

Thanks for the tip on the sell-by date. Just got back from Nijiya and they do indeed still have fresh wasabi.
I've never had a problem with things in the case being old, but it's goog to be reminded. Everything I got today(chicken legs, salmon for sashimi, whole chicken, tobiko)had todays date on it, even the the uni(which I didn't get)had the 16th marked as the pack date.

[Carrie 218]

I'm also in the neighborhood and I also buy at Nijiya.

[Paul H]

In addition to Nijiya, I've also found excellent fish at Sakai K Uoki Co. on Post in Japantown.

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Sakai K Uoki Co
1656 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115

[Robert Lauriston]

Not quite as close as Japantown, but you can't beat the prices at the Chinese fish markets on Stockton between Sacramento and Broadway.

[rabaja]

I often buy fish from Nijiya in Japan Town and have found the quality to be very good. In fact, I have taken to shopping there for beef, duck and chicken as well, everything is very fresh.
Swan does have a small retail fish counter, it is also very fresh, but it is pricey.
I have gotten both crab and salmon there in the past with very good results. They often have fresh sea urchins too, which always tempt me.
Whole Foods fish has gone way down hill. After buying clearly older fish and shrimp a couple of times, I've pretty much sworn it off.

[Fig Newton]

I live in the neighborhood too -- When I buy from here (and not from the farmers market), I sometimes buy from Nijiya -- their fish is fresh and I like their sizes (perfect for a single person).

I like Swan as well because they are actually amazingly customer-service friendly (one year they would call me every time they had anchovies in because they knew that I needed some to preserve). Also, their fish is locally caught and they can talk to me about their sourcing which is important to me. It's not a drama to go in there and get things -- especially if you can go in the morning or late afternoon (after the lunch drama). But otherwise, just skip the line and walk up to the register.

I don't think I've purchased fish from Super Mira, but overall it's a great store.