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Veiny Shrimp
updated: Nov 08, 2012, 11:56 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I had lunch yesterday in what has been considered one of the best restaurants in Montecito, (the Montecito Cafe). The salad had 4 big shrimp in it but when I went to eat them, the veins were still on them. First I thought it was an oversight but all 4 were that way. I have never been served a shrimp that hasn't been deveined. Am I missing something here? It tasted one and it was nasty.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 340595	2012-11-08 12:02 PM
Depends, sometimes shrimps are served not deveined. They won't hurt you, it's a visual thing only like removing seeds from tomatoes for sauce.
COMMENT 340597P	2012-11-08 12:06 PM
Did you speak to the manager about it? If they don't know a customer is dissatisfied, they can't fix the problem.
COMMENT 340602P	2012-11-08 12:19 PM
Oh the horror! Here is a tip. When you go to one of the best places in Montecito and you do not get something that is up to your standards send it back.
COMMENT 340604P	2012-11-08 12:20 PM
594, Wow, how cool is this? Edhat has 2nd or 3rd world readers. Me, I find deveined shrimp very unappetizing.
COMMENT 340605	2012-11-08 12:23 PM
Shrimp with veins go so well with gmo chips. Restaurants are for profit, if you want to eat well eat at home. I always remove the intestines from my shrimp, no problem.
COMMENT 340608P	2012-11-08 12:26 PM
total turn-off for me as well though I probably would have sent the dish back. I like shrimp, I don't like poop.
COMMENT 340611	2012-11-08 12:28 PM
Wow, where did these rude posters come from?? Go away. "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."
COMMENT 340612P	2012-11-08 12:29 PM
Montecito Cafe is not in Montecito. Coast Village Road is part of Santa Barbara City.
COMMENT 340614	2012-11-08 12:32 PM
612 - Uh... ok....
COMMENT 340615P	2012-11-08 12:33 PM
Lovey: My shrimp need deveining! Thurston: Call the chap who did your legs. Muffie: Yip yip yip!
COMMENT 340616	2012-11-08 12:33 PM
Yes, you should have said something. Problem with that, you have the possibility of the cooking staff or waiter taking revenge on your dish for inconveniencing them. Paranoid? Nope - I used to work in a high-end restaurant and it truly is the staff's individual day-to-day attitude. The best thing to do? You mention it to the waiter - when he/she offers to correct the situation, ask if you can order something else. It doesn't matter to the waiter, they don't pay for another meal. The cooks don't care - easier to make than to fix. The management appreciates it because it's a minimal cost to find out and correct a problem.
COMMENT 340619	2012-11-08 12:47 PM
Gross!!
COMMENT 340622	2012-11-08 12:54 PM
As a connoisseur of many Food Network shows (I'm too broke to go out for dinner), I do know for a fact that a shrimp that has not been devined is a travesty indeed and worthy of getting a chef chopped from the show "Chopped". I would have sent that back ASAP!
COMMENT 340623	2012-11-08 12:55 PM
I eat the beer boiled shrimp at Brophy Bros with the vein. Also eat local ridgeback with the vein. But they are small. It sounds like they should have been deveined.
COMMENT 340625	2012-11-08 12:55 PM
The thought of eating an animal's digestive tract with you know what still in it is just so utterably stomach turning.
COMMENT 340630	2012-11-08 01:11 PM
First off, call the manager rather than trying to defame a business on the Internet.
COMMENT 340631	2012-11-08 01:16 PM
630 - it's not defamatory if it's true.....
COMMENT 340633	2012-11-08 01:17 PM
The 'Cito Cafe is a nice place with responsible management. If you had told the manager or even your server, I can guarantee they would have fixed it. You pay for your food. If you do not like it, send it back. And be kind always.
COMMENT 340643P	2012-11-08 01:27 PM
Sounds like menudo of shrimp.
COMMENT 340644	2012-11-08 01:31 PM
I too get queasy when I see that line of shrimp poo still hanging on. But the fact is that it won't hurt you. And why is it that this turns our stomachs but eating the butt muscle of a cow or a pig doesn't? And how many of our vegetables spend their growing lives surrounded by poo? Poo makes the world go round.
COMMENT 340653	2012-11-08 01:40 PM
Just came back from a lovely lunch at Montecito Cafe. Delicious as always. Had I read this beforehand tho, I would have mentioned something to them. It is important for a restaurant to know when a diner is unhappy. As an aside - had a fabulous dinner at Maggie's this week. Attentive service, beautifully prepared food, desserts to die for.
COMMENT 340655P	2012-11-08 01:40 PM
So funny to read how meat-eaters are forever in denial that their meat used to be a living creature. Poop. Oh, the horror. I had a friend who had a hissy fit when her baked fish came to the table with the bones still in it. She didn't want to know about her meal ever having had its little life cut short to fill her belly.
COMMENT 340660	2012-11-08 01:49 PM
655P - In the real world, that fish was part of the food chain and destined to have it's "little life" cut short.
COMMENT 340663	2012-11-08 01:59 PM
I agree that if you have a problem with someone it's best to take it up with them, not behind their back. Had you taken it up with the manager who told you your thoughts and instincts were wrong then by all means you should seek revenge by taking it up with the community at large. But without giving the restaurant an opportunity to make it right puts you in the wrong. 0608.... I hope you don't drink alcohol: it's yeast poop in case you didn't know.
COMMENT 340678P	2012-11-08 02:25 PM
604P here, I meant to say, un-deveined shrimp. Ugh.
MTNDRIVER	2012-11-08 02:28 PM
Definitely should have said something. Somebody messed up, probably a prep chef. Needs to learn!
COMMENT 340693	2012-11-08 03:08 PM
better a shrimp than a hotdog
COMMENT 340708	2012-11-08 03:44 PM
For those critiquing every little thing...maybe it didn't occur to the OP to report this to a manager or complain til later? Sheesh, so critical and self-righteous some of you. As for the actual issue, I think it's unusual for shrimp to be served this way on purpose and more than a tiny, missed vein section seems like it's either on purpose or totally clueless. I agree that it could have been a prep cook who didn't know, but calling the place now and letting them know might help them sort out what happened. It's not continental and it's not a new thing, shrimp should never be served without being de-veined first and someone just made a mistake, I think!
NAN THE NANNY	2012-11-08 04:07 PM
It's now happy hour! Grab a beverage and keep the comments joyful. -Nan
NATURE BOY	2012-11-08 04:43 PM
615P for the win!!!
COMMENT 340771P	2012-11-08 06:58 PM
Montecito Cafe has never disappointed us over the years and the coconut cake is the best. A discreet, well mannered friend who always eats slowly when first having the coconut cake downed it rapidly.
COMMENT 340788P	2012-11-08 07:51 PM
I would definitely say something and get the shrimp replaced, especially at a nice place like the Montecito Cafe. Eating poop is not good under any circumstances, yuck.
NATURE BOY	2012-11-08 09:11 PM
Peel & eat beer-boiled shrimp, like mentioned at Brophy's, can not be de-veined since they're still in the shell. And a micro-gram's worth of natural poop is absolutely nothing to worry about or gross-out about at ALL. It's eating digested plankton. No biggie whatsoever.
COMMENT 340910P	2012-11-09 08:42 AM
You're eating an animal. What's the difference between eating its muscle and eating its vein?

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