Welcome to the great stuffed shrimp taste-off of 2021!!…read more
In search of the best stuffed shrimp in the area to serve on Christmas Eve, I posted on various Facebook pages to solicit recommendations. Of course, I can't just trust strangers on Facebook, so we did what any self respecting Yelpers would do...we did a trial run of five spots over a two day period, ordering 4 stuffed shrimp from each. We sampled them plain, with lemon, butter, and cocktail sauce, critiquing the size, quality of the shrimp, taste and quality of the stuffing, and overall value for the price. With, of course, photos of both the raw starting point and the cooked final product.
As Public Market received the most accolades in my surveys, it was our first stop. I had not been there before, it's a cute Italian market with a good selection of stuff. There is no signage for the stuffed shrimp, and they aren't in the case. So I guess it's one of those...if you know, you know. Otherwise, no shrimp for you!
I audibly gasped when the woman handed me a plastic container with 4 shrimp and $32 and change noted on top. Was it upside down? Were my glasses dirty? No...at $26.99/lb, these bad boys rang in at $8+ each, the most expensive by far in the taste-off.
They also topped the charts in cooking time, needing nearly 40 minutes to cook at 375. Most others were in the 25 minute range at 350.
But just look at them - they're beautiful. I so wanted to love them! Unfortunately, the stuffing wasn't appetizing to me. It had chunks of what I think were fresh celery and onion, that remained crunchy even after baking for 40 minutes. It wasn't a texture I appreciated, and the stuffing was otherwise pretty bland. Better with lemon, even better dipped in butter, but for the price, they should shine alone. Hubby was hoping for something more like the ritz cracker type of stuffing, so he was also disappointed.
Public Market came in at #2 out of 5 in the great shrimp taste-off of 2021. While I wasn't thrilled about the price or the taste of the stuffing, there's no arguing that the shrimp had a commanding presence, were fresh, perfectly cleaned, and tasty. I knew if we ordered these I'd be broke and figuring out how to amp up the seasoning at home, but my guests would have been visually impressed. And it seems like so many others love these shrimp, so maybe it's just an us problem.
I will go back to Public Market to try other things, as the service was friendly and the quality of their ingredients to be top notch.