How do you feel about LA restaurants that serve basa catfish?

It doesn't bother me much considering that most restaurants are using it nowadays. Restaurants that serve American farm raised or wild caught catfish are a notch higher in my book for using higher quality ingredients.

Pretty shitty to see well known seafood joints serving basa. Some people like it. There are much better quality fish out there but I guess the $$$ is all that matters.

As long as they fry it right who cares?

Well their customers usually prefer cheap over local so that's probably the main reason. We're talking about fried fish shacks here.

Swai is the same thing it's an imported catfish raised in the polluted Mekong Delta it actually tastes good some reports say not to eat too often because of pollution. Also it is fed ground fish bones similar to what caused mad cow disease. It is also fed dried female urine for the hormones to grow faster

Some people love it compared to U.S. farm raised catfish. It's usually cheaper and in my own experience less fatty. I have had farm raised Mississippi catfish that was fatty and tasted like Vick's vapo rub, Seriously! Now, I don't advocate basa but for it's the flavor you add to it. It basically has very little fish flavor and lots of people want to eat fish but don't want the fishy taste. Crazy huh? The enjoy the seasoned batter that sticks to the fish and not an overwelming fish taste.

Now what I don't get is tilapia. I've seen it selling for as much as $6.?? a lb and that's about as tasteless a fish they have. That's more expensive than the better fishes we have here and people buy it . Crazy!

Like I said people want to eat the exterior flavors and think they're doing good eating fish.

Also, it may be more of a marketing issue by offering another alternative and more cost.

Yep, they switched a few years ago once the bean counters told them they needed to.
Pitiful for a restaurant like that

There's a gas station by my work that uses wild caught LA catfish for poboys and platters, sometimes they use US pond raised. If your "restaurant" is serving Basa I consider you lower than a gas station.

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if I know that is what a restaurant is serving, I will order something else.

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If you know that is what a restaurant is serving, you should order SOMEWHERE else.

Don't reward them by giving them money. Do you think they're not cutting corners on whatever else it is that you're ordering?