You know this is not your average north county seafood marketplace when you hear and see this as you walk through the door of Basin Seafood:
Behind the counter, one of the store's employee/owners is on the phone, letting a caller know that a particular item is not in yet, but should be coming in on one of the day's boats. Just beyond the open back door, there is a boat, dropping off some of the day's catch in ice-chilled containers, while the other employee/owner expertly hooks the container, brings it to the cutting room and begins the careful but quick process of taking fish from fresh caught to fillet.
Basin Seafood in Port Salerno, located on the Manatee Pocket off the St. Lucie Inlet, is as basic as it gets, and with the drop boats coming to their back door, as close to fresh as you can get without casting a net or a line yourself.
You cannot really call the look of Basin "decor". It's neat, but a little ramshackle. Nets, buoys, channel markers, some greenery give the building's outside a natural look that fits in, without any "aye, matey" nautical cuteness. Inside, there's the ice-blanket display case for fresh fish and shellfish, the freezer, and a few shelves with knives, seasonings, sauces and spices. Basin is basic. And it's enough for the folks who come in here as soon as the doors open, and seem more than happy to wait for their purchases to be steamed or cleaned or cut to order (cal ahead if you want them to smoke fish for you).
The freezer case boasts calamari, king crab legs, Dungeness crab and whole Florida lobster; the last two items not the easiest to find even in larger seafood shops. Fresh seafood might include several types of clams, shrimp, oysters, salmon, flounder, dolphin, bay and sea scallops, tilapia, stuffed crab, crab cakes, house-made fish dip and smoked dolphin. It's important to remember that might is the operative word here. The boats bring a bounty, but it's not always what's expected. Call ahead or be flexible with your choices.
Although closed for the summer, there is also a walk-up window for pick-up lunches and dinners. Sandwiches and platters offered included crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, calamari, fish and chicken. The window menu is available to go or to eat there, but the few tables are the tall, stand-around kind, and while they may not be the most comfortable way to dine, it would certainly make it convenient to go back and order seconds, and maybe thirds.
With so much seafood vacuumed-packed, frozen, canned and imported, it can be an "ah-ha" moment to see fish actually go from guts in, fins and scales on to clean and ready for the pan. Many seafood lovers will shy away from this experience because they don't want to know the details. But a visit to Basin is seafood at a fundamental best: a good variety of the freshest fish and shellfish that hits their back door daily, cleaned and ready, or prepared a few simple ways.
Basin Seafood, 4150 SE Salerno Road (at SE Railway Avenue), Port Salerno, FL 34997. Phone 772-287-5771. Hours Tuesday through Friday noon to 6 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Monday.
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