ACME smoked fish - other wholesalers?

[2slices]

So i go on fridays at least twice a month. The prices are unbelievable and they have some great offerings. However their nova is the weakest item I buy. As you may know they only sell it pre-sliced in the vacuum package. Some of them have already been frozen, but often you can find ones that were n't. Any way their Nova is bland, and that's the worst adjective to be applied to smoked salmon. I can't speak about the whole filet's I've never bought one.

Are there any other wholesalers out there that sell better salmon? Acme is close to my work, as is Marshal's which I've never been to. Any recs on marshal's?

All that said they ACME has an incredible hot smoked salmon and really top notch whitefish and chubs. This weekend they only had large whitefish, which I'd usually stay away from as they tend to be dry. But this was surprisingly delicious, especially for a 36" white fish. I'd have gotten a smaller one but all they had, probably 3 - 4 pounders. 3 times I've gotten a big one and only once was it dry, which is what I expect a big sucker like that to be anyway.

Also good is the whitefish salad, salmon salad, herring with onions.

Anyway, other recs for cheap nova?

[meatme]

Has anyone tried Banner, in Coney Island?

[Geo8rge]

M&I international in brighton beach might interest you.
Local fishermen sell in the farmers markets, some of them smoke their own fish.

[menton1]

Too far for me, George, but thanks. Does anybody know if the place in Maspeth is still there?

[Joe MacBu]

Could you give more details regarding the location? I could swing by to check it out sometime.

The only place in the general vicinity that comes to mind is Rego Smoked Fish in Middle Village. Based on some old threads on Chowhound, it looks like it changed hands a few years ago. I don't know if it's still in business since the listed number doesn't seem to be working.

[menton1]

That's the place! Rego! Ok, is that Middle Village? Thought it was Maspeth. Off Metropolitan Ave. They had really good Nova at very low prices. Hand sliced in front of you. Too bad if they went belly up.

[2slices]

Googled it and gave a call, number is not in service. Here's an old thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/421929

Is there any consensus on Marshal/Homarus? Is the nova just not that good? Also is it hand sliced or pre-packed like the nova at Acme?

[NYMike]

This was the most recent information I have:

Rego Smoked Fish Company
69-80 75th Street
Middle Village, Queens
718-326-2170

I was just there on Mother's Day weekend and everything was great. I went to Russ and Daughters for our annual Mother's Day brunch when I mistakenly thought Rego was closed and easily paid double for the same quality fish and hand carved attention.

As with everything.. their prices aren't as low as they used to be, but still well worth the money.

[2slices]

$15/lb for Nova?

[NYMike]

I don't think it was exactly that low when I went, but it wasn't that far off. They have Sable, Sturgeon, Baked Salmon, Whitefish, etc.. I am sure you can speak to the girl over the phone to get the current price.

I also went to Russ and Daughters two years ago.. and its seems the price of everything everywhere has gone up dramatically since then.

[Joe MacBu]

Thanks for the info.
I reached a voicemail stating that they'd reopen August 6.

[menton1]

Yeahhhhhhh!

[menton1]

There used to be a great smoked fish place in Maspeth off Metrpolitan Ave, in an industrial section, very hard to find. No name on the building, you had to know that it was there. I wonder if it's still there, they had terrific hand-sliced salmon...

[nice_girl]

Would someone please post the Friday prices. (There should be a WIKI for this kind of info.)

I called Acme some months ago and asked about prices, and the lady who answered the call wouldn't tell me any prices. She told me I had to go and find out myself.

In my opinion, ten dollars is not a great price for a pound package of presliced nova. It's just an OK price and not worth running for.

[Joe MacBu]

These prices are approximate (from memory):

Slabs of cold smoked salmon (farm-raised, no minimum) $12/lb.
Other fish on the cutting table are slightly more I think.
The whole smoked fish are around $6/lb

The presliced and packaged fish are about $12/lb. Most are in 4oz packages. This actually is a pretty good price ($4 for 4oz package of sable, sockeye, coho, etc. seems like a sweet deal to me). The regular smoked salmon price is on par with the stuff at CostCo (but you don't need to buy 1.5 pounds of it).

The whitefish and salmon salads are about $2.50 for the small and $4 for the large (I think that's a pound but it could be 1/2 lb. It's about 1/2 what you'd pay for at a deli). CostCo also carries x-large tubs of the same whitefish salad (Blue Hill Bay brand) at about the same price per pound.

I usually stick with the slabs of fish (and the salad). I think that's where the real deal is. You also won't get the sable, kippered salmon, gravalax, etc. at any store (and will pay a LOT more for it at most specialty stores in Manhattan. Perhaps it is cheaper at Fairway, but I've seen prices ranging from $24-36 per pound!). But you do have to slice it yourself. It is delicious.

No problem if you don't think it's a good deal for the schlep. Less crowds for me to deal with.

[2slices]

It's very cheap, and as you can see from above go with the stuff on the cutting board to the left. The baked smoked salmon is my favorite, it's different then the regular baked salmon we used to get.

[nice_girl]

Thanks Joe MacBu.

For the longest time I've been saying that I'd like to go there on a Friday, just to see what it is.

[Joe MacBu]

Go early (8am) for the best selection.

[chefjellynow]

was there on friday with my son, u gotta try the smoked salmon to the far left on the rolling racks, they cut it for you there...also they did have hot smoked salmon but when i got there at 9am there was only 1/2 a fish left, i bought a pound....by far there best thing there is the fresh as heck sable @ $20/lb, they also have the sable tail pieces that are great also @ $6/lb

love that place...gonna chow on some now!

[2slices]

what's the minimum to buy? I thought u had to buy the whole filet? If I can buy 2 or 3 lbs I'd definitely give it a try, ask the old russian guy at the bagel store his special slicing technique.

[chefjellynow]

i was unaware of any minimum, i have bought 1# several times... whole sides usually are no more than 2.5-4#'s

[2slices]

Awesome, I'll get it next time. How are your slicing skills? Paper thin can't be easy.

[chefjellynow]

i used to work in a specialty smoked salmon joint in pennsylvania called max&me smoked salmon...if u can find that salmon BUY IT best i ever had

[yussdov]

been to marshall/homartus and wasn't impressed. acme is still my go to place, although has anyone else noticed a slight drop in quality lately, especially with the herring? the herring salad and the pickled herring in wine sauce and also in cream sauce have become overly sweet of late and they no longer carry real matjes herring from sweden, but instead a very poor house version that is just regular wine herring with a sweet brownish sauce. they also no longer carry pickled lox. can't help wondering if the real old school items, like matjes and pickled lox and herring salad are either being dropped or sweetened up now that the old founder/owner has passed on and the new generation is at the helm.

[2slices]

can't speak on those items. Do you buy the whole nova filets or just the packaged stuff? I buy the pre sliced packages and find it incredibly bland. at $10/lb I can afford to eat nova all the time, but when I get it hand sliced from a decent appetizing place there's no comparison. But the baked smoked salmon and the whitefish are well worth the trip.