I want to eat a whole fish

[mn_praline]

I have never eaten a whole fish before and feel tomorrow is a great day!

Where would you recommend for the best place to order a whole fish?

I have heard decent things about Pancho Villa, La Sirena Gorda or was thinking Bangkok Thai or Grand Szechuan? Thanks for you input:)

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La Sirena Gorda
920 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Pancho Villa Restaurant
2539 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Grand Szechuan
10602 France Ave S, Bloomington, MN 55431

[johnnybgargoyle]

General Pancho Villa
7978 Brooklyn Blvd
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445

Is a pretty good strip mall Mexican place (only been there a few times while car was being serviced), but the menu is pretty good and has whole grilled(?) Tilapia on it.

[discus]

I don't know if these two restaurants are related, but Pancho Villa on Nicollet and 26th has delicious whole red snapper. It's my favorite Mexican haunt.

[shoo bee doo]

There's a Mexican/Ecuadorian place on W. 7th near Taco Bell that serves a whole fish. I think it's called La Hacienda.

[spahkee]

With warm weather approaching (or even here, depending on your perspective), Costco sells whole red snapper that's incredibly fresh and with a little bit of salt and put on your grill, served with a couple of lemon wedges or a chimichurri sauce, you can enjoy a bit of whole fish at home. Don't recommend the whole fish that's sold at Asian markets, for the most part - very unfresh given the cloudy eyes and fishy aroma (take it from someone whose grandfather was a commercial fisherman in Northern Japan until his 70s)

[ibew292]

What Costco do you shop at? SLP fish isn't fresh and it would be better if they scaled the fish.

[spahkee]

I go to the one in Maplewood. If you're making the trek out that way, call beforehand to see if they have it.

[Fudist]

I agree with the Costco rec. They have excellently fresh Snapper and other Seafood as well that is very reasonably priced. Last week got a huge Australian Lobster Tail for 17 dollars.

[Petey McNichols]

Weird that this is active again because I've had 3 separate people talk to me about this subject. Fried whole Tilapia, steamed Bass, Catfish etc. I haven't had whole fish in MSP yet but any one that suggests La Sirena Gorda should know that it is now closed (has been for a while). If there's a joint that does salt roasted whole fish then I'm in.

[foreverhungry]

It is interesting that virtually every place mentioned (with the exception of Sea Change's whole sardines) are Asian restaurants. Are there really no or that few non-Asian restaurants that do whole fish? On the one hand, surprising, but on the other, given the lack of diversity of high quality sea food restaurants and suppliers in the Twin Cities area, maybe whole fish is too much for restaurants to regularly offer. I suspect that (unfortunately) demand is quite low.

(As an aside, Petey - I made a salt roasted whole sea bass last year that turned out really well. Great finished product in terms of taste and texture, and quite a presentation for the guests).

[clepro]

Saffron does. I had a whole roasted branzini with crispy grape leaves a week or so back.

[foreverhungry]

Thanks clepro! I'll definitely keep that in mind.

[Dave_in_PA]

yesssss........... precioussssssss............. we loves fissshhh..........

sorry, couldn't resist that.

[harleyjt]

HoHos in Saint Paul, Has wonderful Black Cod. All there other dishes are very good also.

[ibew292]

Could you all put addresses in your post. Is this the restaurant on Hudson Rd and Ruth?

[harleyjt]

Sorry! Yes Hudson and Ruth in Saint Paul.

[Foureyes137]

I love the grilled sardines @ Sea Change...not sure if that is what you had in mind, but it's two whole fish, eyeballs and all.

[discus]

Not just a whole fish, you should eat a freshly prepared fish that was still swimming while you were driving to the restaurant! My wife and I indulge occasionally at Mandarin Kitchen, where you greet your dinner coming through the front door.

Have it steamed lightly, since it's totally fresh. Costs around $50, but will feed two easy! Lots of Asian and upscale places have whole fish, but the Chinese refer to this as "swimming fish". The difference is night and day.

[MNLawGirl]

Also may not be what you are looking for but just ate the aji horse mackerel at Masu last week. You eat sashimi and ceviche style. Then they fry the bones, tail and head for you to devour in ponzu sauce. Very delicious!

[semanticantics]

Several sushi places do this. The one at Sushi Tango was quite good.

[mn_praline]

I was going to get the three sauce fish but couldn't resist the yellow curry crab for $16.99. The crab was huge and the sauce was really delicious. It was warm but not spicy, sweet, and full of scrambled egg and green onions. There was a lot of plump meat in the crab. It's so big I've been eating leftovers for many meals.

We also enjoyed the beef laab at medium spicy. The pad thai was decent and fresh but a little too sweet. The service was really wonderful. They mentioned something about having beer on Thursday. I will be back for that fish!

[mn_praline]

thanks for all of the suggestions! we are going to on's for the first time tomorrow. i will report here or my blog.

[mn_praline]

i mean "here and. . . "

[KC612]

Shuang Cheng. Whole walleye w/ hot meat sauce.

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Shuang Cheng Restaurant
1320 4th St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414

[HuaGung]

Whatever and wherever you choose to eat your whole fish, just be sure to eat the cheeks. My favorite part!

Cheers,

Huagung

[CDN_in_MN]

I would say to give On's Kitchen a try, 1613 University Ave W. At least 6 whole fish options on the menu, and a few other options. All very good.

[sandylc]

On's is yum.

[doctor k]

I would also suggest On's, the three sauce fish is incredible!

[kevin47]

La Sirena Gorda won't steer you wrong. Get some ceviche on the side for when you get tired of fiddling with bones.

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La Sirena Gorda
920 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407

[soupkitten]

how about: szechuan spice, evergreen chinese, tea house (dinkytown or st. paul)?

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Tea House
1676 Suburban Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55106

Evergreen Chinese Restaurant
2424 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Tea House
2425 SE University Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55414

Szechuan Spice
3016 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408

[sandylc]

Skip Tea House. We ate there a couple of weeks ago (the U of M location) and it wasn't very good. It was also dirty. Sticky booths and tables and thick dust on the windowsills. The food was not great and had a LOT of sugar in it.

[scoopG]

Can you before specific? What dishes did you have?

[sandylc]

We had Szechuan Green Beans, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, and Crispy Half Duck. The green beans were tough, dry, and not very flavorful. The shrimp was brightly dyed and sugary. The duck was dry and had a leftover taste. We could have ordered more creatively, but these dishes were just bad.

[scoopG]

Well, all bets are off when ordering Sweet and Sour Shrimp in a Sichuan (let alone Chinese) restaurant.

[sandylc]

Yeah. That was hubby - tried to talk him out of it.