Seafood Unlimited, Philadelphia

Saturday 21 April
After a fantastic family food fress at La Masseria (thanks, Louise!) in Manhattan, we headed back to Philadelphia.
Where to find the best seafood in Philadelphia is a contentious topic. Beyond the quarrel between Bookbinder's Seafood House, Old Original Bookbinder's, New Unoriginal Bookbinder's, etc., you can go downscale with Walt's King of Crabs (phone conversation, ca. 1988: "Hello, do you have crabs tonight?" Walt's: "Lady, that's a personal question.") or upscale with places like Striped Bass. We are fans of the Sansom Street Oyster House, and had a couple of lunches there on this visit, for old times' sake. But by far the best seafood we found in the city was when Ann took us to Seafood Unlimited.
It's a fish market up front, with some tables at the back. Unprepossessing, but the waitstaff is friendly. We started with a dozen Bluepoint oysters - good, but see above for the Chesapeake Bay mothers of all oysters. The big deal was the freshness and the perfect preparation of the fish. We had pepper-crusted shad (a first for us; a beautiful delicate fish with not a bone in sight) and a baked potato; and pan-seared bluefish, accompanied by the best french fries ever, all washed down with a bottle of Firestone Sauvignon Blanc.