It pays to comparison shop for fish, shrimp and rotisserie chickens

Whole Foods Market in Paramus has the best seafood counter in northern New Jersey (2018 photo).



By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

You'll find some of the freshest seafood at Whole Foods Market in Paramus -- and some of the highest prices, too.

I was looking over the wonderful fish display on Tuesday and noticed wild-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp for $16.99 a pound.

I just happened to be carrying the sales flier from Fairway Market in Paramus and pulled it out to show the Whole Foods fishmonger.

Fairway has wild-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp on sale for $7.99 a pound through Sept. 5. 

Fairway calls its shrimp "jumbo," while Whole Foods says there are 16 to 20 shrimp in a pound. They could very well be the same shrimp.

Whole Foods does have wild bay scallops from Mexico on sale for $7.99 a pound, a discount of $4 a pound -- as part of a "Madness Sale" that ends today.

Wild-caught, meaty hake fillets from the U.S.A. are $5.99 a pound, a savings of $3 a pound. I've tried these and they are terrific eating.

Whole Foods also has a sale on Jersey Fresh peaches at $1.19 a pound -- about what I paid on Monday at Costco for large peaches that were distributed by a New Jersey company, but appear to be from South Carolina.


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I also noticed Whole Foods' naturally raised rotisserie chickens now are $8.99 each -- up a dollar -- but you can save $3 by buying two for $14.98. I rate this chicken tops in North Jersey.

On the coffee line at Whole Foods, I said to the woman in front of me, "This store should give out more free samples."

She agreed, and said that's why she likes shopping at Costco. I told her she'd find great free samples, especially cheese, at Jerry's Gourmet and More on South Dean Street in Englewood, and not to miss Balthazar Bakery on that same street.

This morning at H Mart in Little Ferry, I picked up two dozen black figs from California for $7.99, and the ripe one I ate after breakfast was like sugar.

I had a cheese omelet filled with pesto, accompanied by the Korean supermarket's stewed tofu in red-pepper sauce, and cabbage and radish kimchis.

A bad day at Whole Foods Market

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A tangerine. Whole Foods Market mixed a sign for oranges with apples.

The employees of Whole Foods Market in Paramus weren't have a good day on Sunday, and I suffered the consequences.

When I walked into the store in Bergen Town Center, I saw a big bin full of apples with two signs -- one offering navel oranges on sale and the other offering apples.

I pointed out the sign for the oranges to an employee, but she merely gestured, saying the oranges had been moved. And, anyway, there also was a sign for the apples, she said, making no move to remove the sign for the oranges.

Moving on, I saw tangerines on sale for $1.49 a pound and picked up two, and organic Bartlett pears, also on sale for $1.49 a pound. 

But I picked large, expensive tangerines that were mistakenly mixed with the sale tangerines, and at the register, I was charged for the more expensive Bosc pears. 

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I returned to the store this morning, and got back the $4.21 I was overcharged. Unlike some ShopRites when you are overcharged, Whole Foods doesn't refund all your money and give you the item for free. 

While there, I put that $4.21 toward the purchase of thick, meaty hake fillets, on sale for $5.99 a pound or 25% off. This cod-like fish is discounted through Tuesday, a fishmonger said.