After recently moving to The Gap, we were excited to discover a fresh seafood shop close by. The excitement didn't last long however - I've found it to be hit & miss to say the least. Our first purchase was pot scrubbed fresh mussels - as soon as we opened the vacuum sealed packet we could tell they were off due to the smell. Called them up the following day & were asked to bring them back but decided to take the hit on the money as we didn't want them in our esky or car, even after being frozen overnight!
Fresco's shop seems clean & the seafood appealing, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt when looking for green prawns. We purchase a kilo of their green king prawns which were absolutely delicious - very fresh & well worth the $$.
So we're thinking that maybe the mussel episode was just one of those random things - until my next experience when I purchased a largish filet of snapper which cost $20. Upon opening the packet we were surprised to find that the fish smelled unpleasant & didn't look at all fresh upon closer inspection.It definitely smelled like it was on the way out. So off I go the next day to return it, only to be told that there was nothing wrong with it. He did give me a refund but it was several dollars less that the other guy charged me the day before - mental note to always take receipts when they're offered.
Let me finish by saying that I've eaten A LOT of fish & seafood & also caught A LOT of fish & seafood myself over the years, so I know fresh/not fresh when I see it. I've given Fresco's 5 stars for their green prawns, but taken off 1 for the mussels, 1 for the fish & 1 for the attitude.