East Bay Mussels recs?

[dls999]

Can someone tell me where to get the best mussels in the Oakland/Berkeley area. I'm particularly wondering if there are any great/inexpensive Oakland Chinatown places.

[escargot3]

my go-to vendors in south berkeley are the Berkeely Bowl and Verbrugge (on Colege Ave). They both will pick thru the tray for the closed-shell mussels that I prefer. i especially like the plump PEI mussels. As I recall, 99 Ranch sells them pre-bagged in one of those plastic net bags.

[Glencora]

Oh, that's what you mean.... In that case, I'm always very happy with the mussels from Tokyo Fish. They pick them out individually, so you almost never get ones that don't close properly.

[Glencora]

Bought some very nice PEI mussels from Tokyo Fish yesterday --3.99. They also had sand dabs for the same price.

[dls999]

Sorry, my post was highly ambiguous. I'm looking for a retail outlet that sells really fresh mussels for home prep. On my list are Monterey Fish Market and Tokyo Fish market. But if there are other places in Chinatown or elsewhere I'd be grateful to hear about them. I'm going to be buying enough for a large dinner party.

[Robert Lauriston]

I'm not sure if it's the right season, but I've seen them at 99 Ranch.

[edgrimley]

The Hog Island stand at the Berkeley farmer's market on Saturday mornings usually has them.

[rubadubgdub]

Berkeley Bowl has them ~ 3.99/lb. I really like the plump Mediterranean mussels and the fact that they pick them one by one so that you're not getting dead ones. I think the Asian markets always have them for about the same price. Costco sells them on Seafood Fridays, a ~5lb bag for even less.

[dls999]

Thanks for these. I will try BB or CC. I have to have them on Friday so the farmer's market isn't going to work.

[drewskiSF]

Marica on College has a $5 appetizer serving of PEI mussels, which I thought was pretty generous for the price.

http://maricafood.wordpress.com/

[Robert Lauriston]

À Côte's are the best. Spettro's are good. I don't remember ever seeing mussels on a Chinese menu.

http://acoterestaurant.com/menus/dinner.shtml
http://www.themenupage.com/spettromen...

[Glencora]

The moules marinere at Rendez-Vous (also in Albany, sorry) are a great deal at 10.50. They're on the appetizer menu, but are a large portion. For comparison, pretty much the same dish is 17.00 at Sea Salt -- also good, but not inexpensive.

[wolfe]

Sorry just north of the border, Nizza La Bella.
http://www.nizzalabella.com/Menus_Din...