Basa

fishalitis

Senior Member
Hi Chap and Chapesses

Never thought i would ever taste a freshwater fish that would come near a saltwater fish until Last night

Ocean basket a nice bottle of Red and a platter with calamari, linefish and pawns.

Line fish had me stumped as it was soft, delicate in texture with less of a fish taste than fresh hake so had to ask manager. Basa - sorry what? Basa its a freshwater fish farmed commercialy in Vietnam. They used to derve Kingklip as their linefish but due to it being on the orange Sassi list  they have had to find alternatives. Absolutely no idea that it was a freshwater fish.

Its actually from the catfish family and is farmed in and around the MEkong river in Nam. Exported worlwide and caused a stir in the States as it screwed up their local catfish market.
 

CBass

New member
Went to Ocean Basket and they certainly do have this as their linefish!!

As i have worked in the food industry, i will not eat anything except Kingklip or hake in a restuarant, as they are extremely difficult to replica, especially kingklip. I have seen the most terrible looking specimans atrive and marketed buy seafood suppliers as rockcod, and all sorts of linefish.

Well back to the Basa, so we all ordered food and some had platters with linefish and were served BASA!! Man, no words can describe how disgusting this fish is, it is all soft, has absolutely No texture and no taste whatsoever!!!! I asked for the name again and googled it on the internet quickly, needless to say i almost fell off my chair when i saw it is a fresh water barbel, come makriel look a like that is farmed in the mekong river!!!! I called the manager and gave him a piece of my mind, he was apologetic and said they are having endless complaints about it..... The worst was that they then tried to charge me R28 for a piece of hake that i replaced my basa on a platter with, needless to say that kite didnt fly!!!

I think that Ocean Basket needs to carefully asses their strategy going forward, because to serve this rubbish in your shops, is pathetic to say the least.
 

Enigma

Moderator
Yes I personally am also not impressed by the basa and now only eat items off the menu not having line fish, especially at the inland ocean baskets.

I'd rather eat farmed Tilapia as it is a firmer and more palatable flesh and is farmed locally.
 

CBass

New member
I couldnt agree more Enigma.......

I think that just the thought of eating a fish from vietnam is enough to make me sick.....i would love to know what conditions they are farmed in etc.....

Eating tilapia would be much better, companies would be supporting local markets and creating jobs etc etc....

This importing of cheap BASA is absolute rubbish......i think it was Carte Blanche who caused such a stir about some restuarants using Nile Perch, i would love to know what they would say about BASA.....
 

billmatt

New member
I had it as we'll at our local Ocean Basket the other night and would much rather have had a piece of Hake.

When I enquired where the fish was from the management kindly gave me an Internet printout which stated that although it was a farmed fish it was still on the Sassi Orange list and really I don't know why O B even bothered buying it??

They should have done their homework first before laying out a load of cash on a fish that I don't think they are going to be able to sell.!!
 

CBass

New member
Stupid Question: Should Linefish not be exactly that, commercially caught linefish??? I mean for example there Dorado/Yellowtail/Rockcod/Snapper(Basically redfish) that they sell at times, is this netted or caught by commercial linefisherman?

Freshwater farmed Barbel sold in Ocean basket, doesnt do it for me.....sorry OB, i wont be back for a while...
 

DocPhil

Senior Member
Heads up guys Basa and other cheap fish imported from Asia are polluted with dioxins and heavy metals. Stay WELL away. There is no regulation of the industry there hence huge profits for importers as they are cheap. Keep your own industry alive and buy local, and at least you know you are eating responsibly farmed or caught fish.
 
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