Posted by Aaron Okada in fish and shellfish, shops on May 26, 2008 at 8:06 am

Just An Old Fashioned Butchery & Seafood
165 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville
905-842-5252

Walking through my local grocery store, I’m feeling in the mood to pick up some salmon for dinner. I weave my way through the isles of frozen seafood products to the fish counter, and browse the selection of the day. Pale salmon; whole snapper with clouded-over eyes; limp pieces of halibut; and jaundice-coloured wild sea bass. The smell, oh the smell! Standing there surrounded by that pungent aroma of rotting seafood doesn’t bode well for my appetite. It's pasta (without seafood) for dinner.

So many people I know cringe (or at least shy away) at the mention of having fish for a meal. They are haunted by the same experience I went through, having that pungency of a day-old catch burned into their memory and are robbed of the real joys that seafood should bring us. As a cook, I’m incessantly (or annoyingly) telling people, “Seafood doesn’t stink. If it does, it’s rotten.” In today’s world of big box stores and high volume production, we all too often exchange convenience at the price of losing quality. The Europeans have the right attitude; they still have the old world lifestyle of shopping in markets and boutique-style specialty shops on a daily basis to make sure they always have fresh, high quality foods.

In Toronto - well, we have St. Lawrence Market, Kensington Market, and a scattering of places throughout the GTA, but realistically, it’s relatively hard to find the good specialty purveyors tucked away in between the copious one-stop-shop chain stores, especially in the suburbs. For those of us located on the western fringe of the GTA, we’re lucky to finally have such a store sitting in the downtown core of Oakville. Just An Olde Fashioned Butchery & Seafood provides a reprieve from the foul-smelling grocery store fish counters and brings us back to old-school, high-quality, low volume, “I know what I’m doing” specialty fishmongers.

The downtown area of Oakville along the lake is like the unexpected offspring of the Beaches and Yorkville, combining the characteristics of a laid-back, community oriented, "go out walking with your dog and kids" atmosphere with a trendy, wealthy and highly-demanding customer base. Just An Olde Fashioned Butchery & Seafood is pretty much exactly what the name suggests. It’s two independent shops operating side-by-side under one ownership, but instead of becoming a large all-in-one store, they each specialize in their respective fields - one being meat, and the other being seafood. The window display of the seafood shop catches me instantly as fresh, high quality fish is presented on a bed of ice, reeling me in to discover more. Bright orange salmon, deep ruby red tuna, and hands down the largest freakin’ black tiger shrimps I’ve ever seen in my life! The manager, Karl Craddock, a former cook, explains to me the challenges (and subsequent benefits) of their location. “Being where we are, our customers are really picky,” he says, “This is an upper-class neighbourhood and I only bring in the best [seafood products] I can find. There are high demands to meet here and we cater to the customers’ needs.”

With its sister store already being a mainstay in the Oakville community, the seafood shop, just a couple months past its one year anniversary, seems to be poised to gain the same status. The product is top-notch. “Salmon is the most popular item here,” Karl reveals to me, “Because of that, we carry a variety of types of salmon, all sushi-grade.” In the display I can see the familiar Atlantic salmon, sitting alongside King salmon and Irish salmon as well; all varieties being organic. Like all good specialty shops there is also a shelf of condiments to compliment the choice of protein. On the back wall is a fridge with frozen selections such as cleaned squid tubes, crab legs, and frogs legs (ok, so it’s not really seafood, but where else would you expect to find frogs legs?). At the service counter, there is also a panini press and warmer bowls where Karl and his staff have been building a loyal customer base who visit for fresh-made soups and sandwiches every day.

Perhaps most refreshing to me is that the staff is educated about their product. The ability to walk in and rely on the fishmonger to not only bring in the best quality he can, but to also know about his product and be able to offer advice is indispensable, and my longing for this necessity has finally been met by Karl and his staff. I decided to put Karl to my highly demanding test, which quite often results in my decision to not return to places. He suggested that I try a piece of swordfish that he just got in, packed it up for me along with an ice-bag he’d made to keep it cool, and a lemon. Of course, I always have my own opinions about how to cook, but a good fishmonger should be trusted, so taking Karl’s suggestion I kept it simple by seasoning the swordfish with some salt & pepper, seared it off on the stove-top in a little olive oil, then in the oven, and finished it by sprinkling the lemon he gave me over top. It was one of the best pieces of swordfish I’ve had in a long time.

Karl and his staff are a much needed addition to the Oakville area - a reliable seafood shop where the staff know their product, and where customers can trust their dining fate to the fishmonger who sells them their food. Every chef will offer the advice to “make friends with your fishmonger”, and I have finally found MY fishmonger - Karl. This, I hope, will be the benchmark that others will follow to bring us more of the service-focused shops that the neighbourhood wants and deserves.