New Wing Hing Seafood Market

Walked by tonight after the market closed. An employee (owner?) was petting a cat that was sitting on the scale where they weigh your meat/​fish. Gross? Yes! Want cat hair on your sea bass, shop here. Cat dingleberries on your rock cod, this is the place. I’m sure you’ll get a great price, enjoy!

Sesame oil. Check.
White pepper. Check.
Smells like fish? Hell yes.
The block on Clement from 23^rd to 24^th is something of cultural wonder. You have El Grande Produce, the original Gordo taqueria, Four-​star Theatre, Pizetta 211 around the corner, and New Wing Hing Seafood Market.
Now, ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been a little wary of Chinese fish markets. I think I can trace that back to a childhood experience, when my mom ordered some fish, which the fish monger unceremoniously snatched by the tail, flopped onto a wooden table, and proceded to bludgeon it to death with a simple rolling pin. The fish was so fresh that even after it was filleted and sittin beside me in a plastic grocery bag, it still gave a good thrash.
But despite the method of delivery, you can still get fresh seafood here.
And everyone loves seafood.

Found fish sauce here! They have a whole shelf for sauces! I liked it and this place is way cleaner than those in Chinatown. The lady cashier was polite and nice. I wasn’t able to find red curry paste though on those shelves of sauces and what not.

When I am too lazy to walk to upper Clement I will shop for Chinese vegetables here. I have also bought meat which they will gladly grind for you. I have bought fish as well. It’s convenient, that’s for sure and their vegetables are as fresh as anywhere. If it were farther up on Clement it would fit right in — but where it is — it’s like «a fish out of water.»
I would not buy their chicken — I only bought it once… very tough… but if you were planning on some kind of stew that you would be cooking for a very long time — it could work.
I also walked in once when they had turtles — I’m sorry — I can’t eat turtles — they’re like pets.

There are only two reviews for this place and one of them is a two-​star, one-​liner that reads, in it’s entirety, «Fish have feelings too.» No personal offense to Doctor J., but this was not especially helpful. The guy currently known as Doctor J is a first-​to-​review-​whore.
I love to cook, but for some reason I never cook fish, so it seemed fitting that the first fish dish I’d try to «cook» would be ceviche. I wanted fresh fish and fish that still «had feelings» seemed like a good bet. Despite a complete language barrier with the friendly people at New Wing Hing, I hoped I was able to communicate the type and the weight of fish I needed to net.
The sweet looking old man (who can be seen in the picture) scooped fish out of the tank with his net, dropped them still flopping on the counter and then I watched as he beat them to death before filleting them. I don’t think they feel anything now.

Yes this place is small, yes this place looks dirty but just about all other Chinese butcher/​produce markets look the same. This location is extremely convenient for me if I ever need to get something from the butcher. It keeps me from having to make a trip to the other meat markets on further down on Clement. I usually drop by after work to pick up some ground beef or ground pork. They usually run low on the selection on meat late in the afternoon so if you need something try to get there earlier.