Char is fine as a substitute in mixed dishes but by itself it's a pretty lame stand-in for salmon.

I'd be shocked if anyone disagreed with your first two points. Cold water seafood has always been the best. Catfish has to be soaked in buttermilk just make it palatable and the freshwater trout I've had is pretty flavorless by comparison to their seagoing brethren.

Actually, Nobu Matsuhisa's original restaurant, Matsuhisa, at 129 N. La Cienega Blvd, is within the city limits of Beverly Hills.

The city limit in that area west of Roberson is Burton Way on the north. East of Robertson, the border drops down to Clinton way and continues eastbound along Clinton, past La Cienega Blvd. to San Vicente Blvd. Southeast along San Vicente past Wilshire Blvd., and then southwest along Schumacher Dr. It winds around La Cienega Park and the Tennis Center along Olympic Blvd. one block to to Le Doux Rd., north to Gregory Way, west to Robertson and south, past Olympic Blvd., to Whitworth Drive. The entire stretch of La Cienega between Clinton Way and Olympic Blvd. is in Beverly Hills. The SLS Hotel, immediately north of Clinton, is within the Los Angeles city limits.

Speaking of that chef, my first encounter with sushi was right around the time Nobu Tribeca (NYC) opened, in 1994 or 1995. I remember thinking, "what the heck is this?," but being quite taken by the shellfish, and the Patagonian toothfish.

Didn't know his first place was in LA.

Yes, it opened in 1987. I first ate there when it was just a few weeks old.

Honestly, it didn't look/feel different than other small Japanese restaurants during those years, and it wasn't expensive either. I became hooked because the sashimi salad, rock shrimp tempura, and taradito (sp?) were items that I couldn't find elsewhere.

We generally ordered the chef's special omakase dinner which had a selection of sushi, sashimi and hot dishes. Matsuhisa was where I first experienced Japanese food with Peruvian influences (Nobu was way ahead of his time). Even in the late 80's we never got out of there for less than $100 pp, which was a lot of money in those days. Once, we dined in the private upstairs dining room with a group of approximately a dozen friends; it was a special menu and was more than twice as expensive. Actually, I remember the date, May 20, 1989, it was the day that Gilda Radner died. Her publicist was married to one of my colleagues; he showed up without his wife and broke the news to us.

I had dinner with my uncle there in 1996 and he ordered the most expensive set on offer, which apparently wasn't a high demand item. Nobu was already famous by then，but he still delivered all of the courses himself, and comped us a bottle of his favorite sake.

The next time I saw him was at the grand opening of the Beijing location. There, he gave me about $2500 in dining money. It honestly only required four lunches and one dinner to burn that!

I learned the magic word "omakase" at Sushi Yasuda in my sophomore year of HS (2001?). I had only eaten normal sushi prior to that and boy did it change my life.

so fun! I�ve only been enjoying omakase during the past decade or so. Maybe less, maybe around last 5 years. I probably decided to start trying omakase after seeing Jiro Dreams of Sushi in 2012 or 2013!

I would just point out that there are exceptions to every "rule". There are some very good fresh water fish here in the midwest - lake perch, walleye, and trout come to mind. I'm not questioning the point you make, just that it's a generality that isn't always true. I'd take one of those 3 over certain ocean fish.

I much prefer a pan fry to baking. And that doesn't mean the fish has to be breaded or battered, although those are good too. Last night my wife made a red snapper puttanesca, which she does a few times a year. The fish is lightly floured and seasoned and saut�ed, then set aside while she makes the sauce. It's almost more of a cooked relish than a sauce, with cherry tomatoes, capers, olives, etc. The fish has a nice crispy skin. All that said, everyone should eat whatever they like best!

I agree that all rules have exceptions, and my artic char example proved that two of my three (cold water from the sea) rules were flawed. I honestly don't know if it was baked or fried, but it wouldn't matter.

I think one of the main reasons I prefer baking to frying is that baking is nearly impossible to screw up as long as you provide enough liquids, and possess a timer of some sort. Deep frying is kind of cool, but isn't an extremely efficient method if you are cooking at home.

I agree on both your points about baking and deep frying. My issue with baking is I often don't like the texture of the fish, it can get a little mushy. With a very firm fish, it's better. Of course, this comes from someone who's least favorite cooked fish is salmon (but I love it cured or smoked), which is probably perfect for baking or broiling.

ft isn't permitting me to upload photos for some reason. but I've been taking pictures of my fish dinners and lunches for the past month with this thread in mind; I hope my descriptions suffice (in light of the missing images)

1. the house of crab at Barbarossa sells you a slice of sea bass for 90, but it sucks, and that's all you get

2 Shanghai Brewery fish and chips are honestly world class

3. the best Western fish value in town is surprisingly Judy's, whuch is famous for reasons that we aren't aloud to discuss on good Omni

4. i like the cod at Abbey Road and the French place next door

5. if you want sushi any where in China, stick with high end places

last night. I finally got around to trying the cod at element fresh (chain restaurant) here in Shanghai. while the quality of the fish was definitely top notch, my feeling was that if I'm going to drop $30 on a fish dish at a non-fancy restaurant, i shouldn't leave feeling hungry.

With memories of 15rmb taxi and once paying 45rmb premium for a taxi in 2006, it�s stunning to think of a $30 (180rmb??) for a fish entree. Of course that 2006 trip also included my seeing 80rmb prices at SBUX.