Where to eat oysters and seafood in Crimea

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What kind of Crimean seafood is preferable and where to find them, see in our material.

An important note: it is recommended to purchase seafood in the sea-side places so that they are really fresh, caught today.

What: Crimean fish

Gourmets advise to definitely taste the traditional Crimean fish − flounder, ram (sultanka), horse mackerel, garfish, bluefish, silver carp, Kerch herring and anchovy, Azov gobius. Lovers of the exotics will surely appreciate the sea fox, sea cat and the Black Sea shark (spiny dogfish).

Where to find and taste it

In the top of the most "fishy" places − Balaklava, Sevastopol and Kerch. In addition, a large number of Black Sea restaurants are in Yalta and other places on the South Coast.

1. Thus, in the "capital of Russian fishermen" − Balaklava − you can not only sit in a cozy fish restaurant (and there are many of them in the town), but also rent one of the many boats and go out to sea to fish, and then immediately fry your catch, fortunately modern private boats are equipped with barbecue facilities. In addition, you can buy fresh catch from a fisherman in a just moored boat and prepare a fragrant dish at home.

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2. More than a dozen restaurants specializing in the Black Sea seafood cuisine can be found in the resort capital of Crimea − as they say − for every taste and budget. But if you want a more budget-friendly option, there is a unique "sea fast food" on the territory of Massandra Beach, where at a fairly affordable price you can buy a whole basket with fried horse mackerel, flounder, red mullet − as Maria Yesaulenko, the Massandra beach marketing and advertising specialist, assured us. And then to eat all these tasty things right by the sea, looking at its fascinating vistas.

3. And if you plan to come to the peninsula via the Crimean Bridge, we advise you to stop in Kerch and visit its famous fish market, where delicious fish in any form is offered: fresh, dried, smoked, and in addition, as connoisseurs advise, − real caviar.

What: Crimean molluscs

Namely: oysters, mussels and rapana, which are considered a very healthy delicacy.

Where to find and taste them

Here you can choose from 3 options: you can taste shellfish at oyster farms, or in specialized restaurants and shops in coastal places, or collect your catch in the sea with your own hands, thus getting the maximum gastronomic experience.

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1. So, the most famous oyster farms are located on Lake Donuzlav in the Chernomorskiy district, in Simeïz and Laspi Bay on the South Coast of Crimea. There guests can not only taste a freshly caught delicacy with a glass of wine, but also take part in master classes on how to properly open and eat oysters. At the same time, at the farm in Laspi Bay, especially interested travelers are offered a rich 5-hour "oyster" sea tour.

2. You can taste shellfish in specialized restaurants in Yalta and the coastal towns and cities − Balaklava, Sevastopol, Theodosia, Sudak, Eupatoria. By the way, on the peninsula you can buy mussels and their "relatives" − rapanas, both raw and frozen. But, let us repeat: you need to be extremely careful and buy seafood only in coastal places, just caught or in specialized shops, where their freshness can be guaranteed.

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3. If you like underwater fishing, you can hire a boat for a few hours, head to the rocks, and return with a good catch. Colonies of mussels love to settle on rocks, piers and even sunken ships. Experts say that the deeper and farther from civilization, the larger the shellfish. According to them, the bays of the Sevastopol region and the southern coastal bay of Laspi are best suited for "mussel hunting". By the way, on your own you can find not only mussels, but also rapanas.

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Of course, opening the fish menu, you dream of making a correct choice and ordering a truly culinary masterpiece. What should you know about? Ivan Kovalenko, the guide, says that horse mackerel, red mullet and flounder are good when fried. The classic fragrant fish soup, according to him, is prepared from several types of Black Sea fish, usually from mullet, red mullet, horse mackerel. At the same time, the guide advises you to taste the "ideal Crimean soup", the ingredients of which are: mussels, rapana, Crimean fish and small Black Sea shrimps.

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The organizer of the Crimea on a Plate gastronomic festival Denis Shtukaturov, in his turn, convinces that oysters are great with different sauces, either with lemon, or even baked. The expert strongly recommends trying mussels in shells cooked in a creamy sauce and white Crimean wine. A special delicacy is pilaf – rice with the Black Sea mussels, julienne and pasta with mussels, mussel pâté, as well as rapana meat à la Stroganoff (rapana sautée).