Monterey Fish Company

No brainer. Fresh seafood, cheap price’s. This time we bought some Dungeness crab. Should have bought more. Steamed it for dinner that night. Sweet body meat and firm leg meat. Wife ate the guts out clean. Smiled all the time.

Originally was going to just stop by the abalone market next door to the Fish Company, but glad I walked in. Today’s catch was some rock cods. Was instantly greeted by the ladies behind the cold counter and another gentlemen came out to help me choose which fish to clean. At $ 5.50 per pound, such a deal for how fresh it was. I walked in not sure if I was going to buy at all and ended up walking out with 2.
The fresh selection is smaller than I had expected, they have frozen pompano, bass, and other smaller fish on ice. Ahi tuna, salmon, halibut cheeks in the cold case and other frozen fish in a freezer case, and live crabs too.

Best fish market in west coast — hands down. I come from San Jose regularly to buy fresh fish.

Seafood offerings are highly variable but everything available is really fresh and well priced. We got some striped bass recently, had them cleaned, and threw it on the grill – I don’t think i’ve ever had bass so fresh before! Even parts close to the belly were sweet and flavorful!

As a seafood lover, I can honestly say this is an awesome place to get fresh and delicious fish. Their prices are the best on the Monterey Peninsula. The family owned business has been operating since 1941. The staff are very friendly and knowledgable. My very favorites at this time are oysters, squid and salmon bellies. They even have a tray of mixed fresh fish, $ 6 per pound, perfect for cioppino and fish soups. The salmon heads and spines make a flavorful bone broth; tasty and healthy. Say «Hello» to my friend Lorena, she’s the pretty mermaid.

We wanted sea food. The local people pointed us to this restaurant. The food was great. Good size portions. Tasty rice. Loved it!

Was hoping for a bigger selection but looks like this place is as big as it gets in Monterey. Went too early 9, went for breakfast on the pier and it was ripened g;
Got delicious fresh wild salmon. Was definitely very expensive at 22/​lb. Ate it raw as sushi. The lady said it was safe. Hopefully no weird parasites or I’m gonna have to change my review!

The food was excellent. Our server was knowledgeable, funny and even though very busy, chatted quite a bit. We went in a Friday night without a reservation, bad idea. We waited 90 minutes to sit at the bar. OK, that was our fault, but still a long wait. There was a screaming baby near by throughout our meal. Again, not the restaurant’s fault. The food is 5 star. We had a calamari appetizer that was wonderful. I had one of the best pieces of halibut I’ve had in some time. Portions are very fair, but a tad pricey. The restaurant is cramped and noisy with a potentially long wait. Worth the time if you have it.

This used to be my favorite seafood market until I ad the displeasure of dealing with the young, rude man at the counter that clearly was unhappy with his job and that was reflected in his poor customer service. Additionally their scales need to calibrated! I purchased a pound of ahi and it looked less than ½ lb. but his scale read .98!!!
Kind of shady to me.

Great place to buy fresh fish reasonable prices… Make sure there is not an accident blocking the whole wharf when you go.

Some of the selection was excellent, and very reasonably priced. Some was overpriced and you could do better at your local Whole Foods.
The biggest disappointment was the smelt, which was clearly previously frozen, and was mushy and the guts spilled out of the fish as you tried to scoop them up. I opted to return them to their mushy pile and pick up some well-​priced salmon heads.

My husband and I discovered this place awhile back and found it to be cheaper than other places, reliable with the amount of fresh food and prices, and the staff are great!
You can ask questions – even dumb ones and they won’t mock or make fun of you! (I was in there once and this man who knew NOTHING about seafood and how to cook it came in asking some RIDICULOUS questions) The staff was kind and didn’t laugh at him, and even after he left, the continued to provide excellent customer service without talking bad about that man or making fun of him in front of other customers! Well done!
We come here when we have to go to potlucks or parties and get squid, which my husband makes into fried calamari!
Parking can be an issue depending on the time of day you visit. Also, people are not smart when they are driving and walking up and down this pier, so drive slowly and watch out for dummies! Tourists walk in front of you and have no clue you are driving behind them. Also, people fish, and bring their small kids. Most of the time these small kids are not being cared for — so…
If you can manage to get to the end of the pier — you’ve earned the right to buy some glorious seafood to take home for dinner! :)
Yum yum yum!
¹²⁄₁₀₀

Everything is fresh. The employees are friendly and they always make sure you have ice in your bag to keep everything fresh. The prices are reasonable. They have their own parking. I live in salinas and I don’t mind driving 45 min. just to buy my seafood there.

At the end of the dock next to the abalone market is this lovely gem. There is fresh seafood which you can tell is high quality just by looking at it. The owners seem to be familiar with the in and out of tourists so if you’re just looking they dont take it the wrong way. I would totally come buy fish from here if I were cooking somehting for dinner :)

Love this place!!! I have been meaning to check it out and finally did so today! Smallish selection but all fresh and super friendly staff. I got sand dabs and clams and mussels– great prices! 3 lbs of shellfish and 2.5 lbs if fish for under $ 17– thank you!

The best and only place I would ever buy fish on the Monterey Peninsula! The staff is very helpful and friendly and the prices can’t be beat!

If you want FRESH Fish and don’t want to pay an arm and a leg (Like you do at Phil’s) Then this is the spot. Everything fresh and local. We came in for some Calamari and it was ONLY 1.50 a pound.
Staff was very friendly, we’ll be back!

The best fish market in our area. The guys at the counter are friendly and knowledgeable, always happy to let you know what’s freshest. Local Petrale sole, rock cod, Halibut and salmon in season. Halibut cheeks are like buttah…
I have been buying all my seafood here for 7 years, and Sal will order anything you want if you have a special request.
Ask for Anthony (formerly of Liberty Fish) he’s a doll.

Fresh fish, and a great place to meet pelicans too! MFC is a must visit when in Monterey but I think most tourists bypass the place because a) it is located at the end of a fishing pier in an old weathered warehouse, b) there is little parking, c) who wants to lug around raw fish on their vacation?
Frankly, we found the place because we saw a pod of pelicans flocking around looking for a handout. They are fearless and will pose for a photo especially if you rub fish guts all over yourself (just kidding).

My friend wants to have seafood every single time we come up to Monterey. I’m sure that both our obsession with eating seafood here is due to the quality being so much better than what you usually find in Los Angeles.
But this weekend, I really wanted to cook more than dine out so we stopped by Monterey Fish Company just to see what they had available. I honestly wouldn’t bring a list of desired items here. Instead, I would treat it like a farmers market and look at what’s available and go from there [in this case, something that hasn’t been frozen].
Fresh squid for $ 2 per pound. PERFECT. For those of you who love squid, you know how great it tastes if it has never been frozen. Bought 4 lbs… cleaned and removed the quill… then sauteed with garlic, lime juice, and salt. Absolutely lovely and tender texture.