Whether you're located in a seaside state or hundreds of miles from any large body of water, quality seafood can be hard to come by. With all the fish and shellfish-related considerations, finding a filet at the grocery store that you feel confident about is daunting. Seafood delivery services can help facilitate top-notch catches accompanied by loads of information and ordering options.
As a former commercial and charter fisherman, as well as a raw bar tender, I know good — and bad — fish when I see it. We tried out dozens of delivery services, assessing sustainability, fishing practices, the catch's freshness, taste, and texture, as well as ordering options and packaging.
If you're curating a surf-and-turf dinner, find more of favorites in our guide to the best meat delivery services.
Top three seafood delivery services
Wulf's Fish is a Boston, Massachusetts-based purveyor that specializes in seafood (including kelp) from the Atlantic seaboard of the U.S., including fillets, whole fish, shellfish, but you'll also find a host of caviars and roes, as well as farmed fish from far and wide.
Sizzlefish specializes in North Atlantic seafood, but still offers an array of options at affordable price points, from Soft Shell Crab to Chilean Sea Bass.
Blue Circle offers serviceable frozen fish from decent fishing practices at prices most of us can agree on. Enjoy a varied selection of frozen fish and ready-to-eat options ranging from wild-caught cod to Salmon breakfast links.
Wulf's Fish
Wulf's Fish is a Boston, Massachusetts-based purveyor that specializes in seafood (including kelp) from the Atlantic seaboard of the U.S., including fillets, whole fish, shellfish, but you'll also find a host of caviars and roes, as well as farmed fish from far and wide.
What we like
What we don't like
The brand's list of offerings is dizzying, but we love anything from the Atlantic coast. Scallops, tilefish, Acadian redfish, and cod are all favorites we've tried and are plucked from nearby waters.
Don't overlook the options from further afield: Wulf's also sells the illustrious Ōra King salmon from New Zealand, which is championed by a long list of high-profile chefs including those at Nobu and Per Se.
The salmon poke packs are ready to be dressed and tumbled over rice, an ingenious and convenient offering for those making poke, ceviche, and other raw dishes. Read more about the brand's practices here.
Citarella
Citarella's selection is high quality and quantity, from wild soft-shell crab and Beluga hybrid caviar to Flounder and Dover Sole. All their fish, shellfish, and sea-sourced options are as fresh as can possibly be short of buying it off the dock or catching it yourself.
What we like
What we don't like
If you want fresh — not frozen — seafood delivered to your door no more than a few days out of the water, Citarella is your go-to. Sure, you'll pay for it, but everything comes fresh and expertly wrapped in wax paper, ready to eat. It's even patted dry and packaged with drying cloths so that when your fillets, prawns, or scallops arrive, they are ready to cook or eat right away.
I had to try the organic Madagascar shrimp from the first organic shrimp farm to get any attention. They arrived with the fresh, glassy sheen I am accustomed to finding on shrimp I purchase from friends dockside, not the opaque, desiccated appearance of frozen, or once-frozen shrimp you find in supermarkets. Citarella's Madagascar shrimp are sweet, they offer a firm crunch (provided you cook them well), and the heads, if you're into that sort of thing, are divine. Also, there's no deveining necessary.
The bottom line with Citarella is that, yes, it's expensive, but if you don't want to leave your house, or if you happen to live hundreds or thousands of miles from the nearest coast, it is the best you're going to do across the board. This sort of thing is a special-occasion purchase for most of us. Why risk botching it?
Real Oyster Cult
Sold in 20-, 50-, and 100-count portions, Real Oyster Cult’s offerings are prime specimens and cleanly rinsed. They deliver anywhere in the country for as little as $1.45 per oyster.
What we like
What we don't like
The best oysters come from northern reaches, starting north of San Francisco on the West Coast and around Massachusetts on the East Coast. These are smaller, more delicate oysters, with deep cups and briny but complex meat — they're the ones you pay upward of $4 apiece for in upscale oyster bars.
The great thing about receiving oysters this fresh (and live) is that they'll happily live in your fridge for at least 10 days, and we can attest to them holding up for at least five. We tried three different oysters ranging from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Prince Edward Island, Canada. Every single one had a deep cup, a very happy oyster inside, and a very healthy amount of elixir still trapped inside — all good signs, as this reporter, who once tended upscale oyster bars, should know.
Rastelli's
New Jersey-based Rastelli's, which has been around since the 1970s, may be known for its meat, but don't sell them short when it comes to seafood. From gourmet salmon burgers to fresh filets they offer fresh, high-quality fish.
What we like
What we don't like
New Jersey-based Rastelli's, which has been around since the 1970s, may be known for being one of the best meat delivery service, but don't sell them short when it comes to seafood. The shrimp is perfectly processed and we can't recommend it enough, but the salmon is the real winner here.
It's brought in from Scandinavia and is sushi-grade, to which yours truly can attest. I tried three different fillets as sashimi at three different times and was consistently wowed. If you want the best Atlantic salmon you can find, and you're looking to make sushi or sashimi, this is the spot to get it.
Purefish
The company offers neatly portioned and thoroughly cleaned restaurant-quality cuts without so much as a pin bone or scale in sight. In the custom box, you can choose your own 8 trays of fish that come packaged in oven-ready aluminum trays.
What we like
What we don't like
PureFish is the best in the business when it comes to quality packaging. Whatever you order, it will arrive on an oven-safe aluminum tray with portions for two, shrink-wrapped, and absolutely free of any air or water. The immaculately trimmed portions we received didn't even need drying. We added seasoning and put it right into the oven on the tray. While you can find more adventurous and arguably sustainable seafood elsewhere, there's nothing as convenient and fresh.
Everything we tried was outstanding, from farm-raised salmon and steelhead to wild-caught yellowfin tuna. We sampled some of the tuna and salmon raw and found it to be perfectly good as sashimi. If you're looking to stock up on easy but quality meals for two, we highly recommend giving PureFish a try.
The Crab Place
If you're after Maryland blue crab in all of its delectable forms, ginormous U-10 (10-count to a pound) sea scallops, or shrimp the size of your palm, The Crab Place has a well-deserved legacy of efficient and delicious delivery.
What we like
What we don't like
We tried crab cakes, shucked oysters, live oysters, shrimp, and some of the largest scallops we've ever seen. Everything was good, but we really have to highlight the U-10 (10-count per pound) scallops. You'll want to follow the seasons and pick your seafood accordingly (seek out those massive scallops in winter and spring), but know that everything is coming right into port and shipping out to you almost immediately.
Also, a note to crab cake connoisseurs: do not be wary of these crab cakes. Though elsewhere they are almost always deceptively filled with bread crumbs and/or mayonnaise, The Crab Place's are the real deal.
Sizzlefish
Sizzlefish specializes in North Atlantic seafood, but still offers an array of options at affordable price points, from Soft Shell Crab to Chilean Sea Bass.
What we like
What we don't like
Sizzlefish specializes in North Atlantic seafood, and the cod is right up there with Sea to Table's. Cod, which is increasingly substituted with Alaskan black cod and true cod, is not the easiest thing to find anymore, but it's worth seeking out when and where you can.
Our other favorite options are the (Alaska-caught) salmon and halibut, as well as the North Atlantic cod.
You can get weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and even once-every-five-week deliveries of 12- or 14-serving boxes, and shipping is included. You can also place one-off orders of everything from sea scallops to crab cakes and softshell crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, calamari, and king crab legs.
Wild Alaskan Company
Wild Alaskan Company delivers wild-caught, sustainable seafood from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to everywhere in the US.
What we like
What we don't like
Our favorite from Wild Alaskan Company is the Wild White Fish Box. The fillets are perfectly packaged and vacuum-sealed, and as far as frozen seafood goes, it is top-notch.
The salmon, which is skin-on, has been a little hit-and-miss for us, and we've had several pieces arrive with the vacuum-sealed bag broken, resulting in brown and oxidized meat. This wasn't a reason to discard the fish or discount the brand — it happens from time to time, as vacuum-sealed bags can break in transit — but we encountered the same problem twice. However, other pieces of salmon from the same boxes turned out to be some of the best we tried.
Still, our favorite option is the Wild White Fish Box. These fish were skinless and perfectly filleted, and this is why we recommend Wild Alaskan Company.
Get Maine Lobster
If you want the best and freshest lobster that you can get your hands on without going down to the docks or hauling them up yourself, this is the place to shop.
What we like
What we don't like
Get Maine Lobster deals in the freshest available seafood from Maine. Note that live lobsters arrive fresh, and not frozen (there are options for frozen seafood too). You will want to eat it the night it arrives or the night after that.
Lobsters are plucked from the water the very morning of the day they're air-mailed to you — ours nearly kicked the box off the kitchen counter upon receipt — and tails are never more than a few days out of the water by the time you get them. The same goes for the scallops. I ate them raw and they were fresher than the ones I've had at most sushi bars.
You're going to pay a premium if you go with Get Maine Lobster, and while other brands' lobsters are flash-frozen and of high quality, Get Maine Lobster's offerings are undoubtedly the best and the freshest.
Crowd Cow
You might not think to look to a brand called "Crowd Cow" for seafood, but lo and behold, we tested halibut, Maine lobster tails, and Icelandic-farmed Arctic Char, and everything was in spectacular shape.
What we like
What we don't like
While Crowd Cow does not offer a large selection of seafood, we find that to be more comforting. Oftentimes, the more on a menu, the more likely it is that something isn't up to snuff.
The halibut was a little on the expensive side, but the two Arctic char fillets were a steal. The lobster tails, though smaller (maybe about 4-5 ounces each), were an absolutely fair price. While you can do better, you might not find better packaging. It's not the most eco-friendly stuff, with a thick plastic tray, but it seems to work better than the standard vacuum-sealed bag.
Crowd Cow, like Sitka Salmon Shares, does use corn-starch-based foam and recycled plastic, as well as dry ice, to deliver your goods, though, which we appreciate far better than the run-of-the-mill styrofoam box, which needs to go.
Sitka Salmon Shares
This is a CSA-style business that offers a rotating variety of species. Overall, you're getting more and higher quality Alaskan seafood than you'd get at your typical grocery store fish counter for the price.
What we like
What we don't like
Sitka Salmon Shares works like a community-supported agricultural (CSA) co-op, only with fish, otherwise known as a community-supported fishery (CSF).
The benefit for you is that Sitka Salmon Shares' fish is blast-frozen at -50 degrees Fahrenheit and expertly vacuum-sealed, so you can confidently load everything into your freezer and expect it to stay free of freezer burn and oxidation.
The benefit for the fishermen is that by working within the cooperative, they're getting paid more than they would if they were selling their fish to processing plants — Sitka Salmon Shares has its own processing plant, and a strict set of handling processes, leaving you with higher quality fish than you might get at a large-scale processing plant.
Sea to Table
On every Sea to Table purchase, you’ll get essential information about your catch right on the label. You'll know exactly how and when your fish was caught, as well as where it was landed, and you'll get a very reasonable "best by" date.
What we like
What we don't like
We like how Sea to Table vacuum-seals cuts of seafood, with not a pocket of air or ice trapped inside. You'll find delicately handled fillets and scallops, with nothing broken, nothing mangled, and no unsavory bits like oxidized meat or bloodline, which tend to be offensively pungent upon thawing (and don't do your health any favors either).
Sea to Table isn't just among the most accountable brands we found; it offers some of the more sustainability-minded catches. Think skate (an oft-overlooked finfish in the US; a delicacy across the Atlantic), Gulf of Maine redfish, and West Coast Dover sole. Try it all.
Of course, you can order all the salmon you want through the brand, but our favorite option is the Fish Lover's Box, which will get you sockeye salmon, Pacific cod, Gulf of Maine Redfish, Wild Gulf Shrimp, and Petrale Sole sole (12 six-ounce servings in all)..
Blue Circle Foods
Blue Circle offers serviceable frozen fish from decent fishing practices at prices most of us can agree on. Enjoy a varied selection of frozen fish and ready-to-eat options ranging from wild-caught cod to Salmon breakfast links.
What we like
What we don't like
On the more affordable end is Blue Circle Foods, which bills itself as a brand on a mission to make ethically-caught fish more sustainable. I did a little digging to find that Blue Circle is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified, and most of the brand's offerings are considered "good alternatives" by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program, which I prefer to go by.
I chose to try Indian Ocean-caught yellowfin tuna steaks from Blue Circle, which the Seafood Watch calls a depleted species. The brand's tuna is purportedly pole-caught using traceable and sustainable methods and then injected with beetroot for coloring, but when it comes to wild seafood catches taking place thousands of miles away, things can get mixed up. That's often the price you pay for buying inexpensive fish.
I enjoyed searing and slicing the yellowfin steaks, and was impressed by the freshness and quality. If you prefer salmon, Blue Circle's is farm-raised, and the brand's salmon nets are only filled to 2% capacity, to minimize the burden on their farming grounds. Blue Circle also sells ready-to-cook meals and "Happy Fish," which are fish-shaped fish sticks for the little ones.
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Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@jkmperu.com.
