I said, I want something alive.. (live squid in LA?)

August 10, 2007 2:28 PM

Where can I eat live squid/octopus in Los Angeles, or California in general?

I wanna eat a live cephalopod like he does in Old Boy. Does such a exotic delicacy exist in Koreatown? What about up north in the Bay Area? I want it alive and moving, not just raw like sushi.

posted by hobbes to food & drink (7 comments total)

You're looking for something like this I assume?

Be sure to read the comments. Last I checked, the restaurant was pretty "under the radar" about the dish, and I guess it's not always available. You could also be choked to death if the tentacles writhe around in your throat.

Anyway, let me know how that goes - I'm curious to try it one day, too.
posted by revmitcz at 2:37 PM on August 10, 2007

oh, and pay particular attention to this comment
posted by revmitcz at 2:39 PM on August 10, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

You could certainly find live squid on a charter fishing boat, or maybe just at a fishery on the shore. Squid live all up and down the coast, and are used as bait for the big tunas etc. See here, for example. I would personally much rather you eat a stupid squid than an empathetic octopus.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 4:47 PM on August 10, 2007

I e-mailed Eddie Lin about Prince, and unfortunately they stopped serving the live tentacles.

Ambrosia, the food needs to be prepared properly. How many fishermen do you know also moonlight as meticulous sushi chefs?
posted by hobbes at 12:28 AM on August 11, 2007

Live octopus - san nakjji (산 낙지) is awesome and can be found in K-town. I can't tell you a specific place, but I bet most hwae (Korean sushi) restaurants will either make it or tell you where to get it.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:57 AM on August 11, 2007

hobbes, for octopus, you cut the tentacles off and eat them. For squid, you can eat anything but the pen and the beak. IANASC. If I were to eat something because it was alive, I'd rather have caught it myself, too boot.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:56 AM on August 11, 2007

To piggyback on this question, anyone know of a place in New York City?
posted by exhilaration at 3:14 PM on August 12, 2007