14 Seafood Dishes Anthony Bourdain Loved

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When people talk about Anthony Bourdain and seafood, one of the first points that usually comes up is his famous "Kitchen Confidential" tip for eating out: never order fish on a Monday, because it will almost certainly be old. The second story that invariably comes up is how, years after he made that statement, Bourdain backtracked on his seafood buying advice, saying America's culinary landscape had evolved, and that any restaurant worth its salt was selling fresh seafood every day of the week. Needless to say, Bourdain's connection with fish went well beyond when to order it. There were multiple seafood dishes near and dear to his heart.  

The much-loved chef took foodies on many epic journeys via "No Reservations," "Parts Unknown," and a host of other shows. He tried all kinds of food in all corners of the world, and his knack for discovering hidden gems anywhere he travelled was unparalleled. Given his love of adventurous eating, the list of seafood Bourdain loved is long and predictably varied, from a simple soupe de poisson to arguably the world's most famous sushi. "Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, moribund," Bourdain wrote in his book "Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook." This list of 15 seafood dishes Anthony Bourdain loved is us reaping the benefits of the words he lived by.

Growing up, Anthony Bourdain spent several summers in France, and this simple seafood soup always transported him back to his childhood. Soupe de poisson is a humble dish from the south of France, made by simmering the flesh and bones of cheap fish like porgy or whiting — prompting Bourdain to label this dish as the "peasant cousin of a bouillabaisse." Bourdain's soupe de poisson recipe, published in 2004's "Les Halles Cookbook", builds layers of flavor using onions, garlic, tomatoes, orange peels, and pastis, the anise-flavored French aperitif you should try.

Anthony Bourdain's beloved soupe de poisson could be described as peasant food, but this dish is the opposite. Le Dôme, located in Paris' Montparnasse district, is a seafood restaurant Bourdain called a must-visit. The dish in question is what Bourdain eloquently described (via Time Out) as "The royal deluxe version of the best shellfish tower in Paris: oysters, clams, shrimp, big f******g crabs and also the classic langoustine, periwinkle and whelks." We're sold.

When Anthony Bourdain shot a 2006 episode of "No Reservations" in Lima, Peru, he visited a decades-old, husband-and-wife-run cevichería in town. The spot was called Sonia, and boy, did Bourdain load up on ceviche, Peru's national dish that's now a global favorite. He had four types of ceviche, including ceviche de conchas negras, or black clam ceviche. Incidentally, the next time you're making one at home, remember to use thicker cuts of fish, which both Bourdain and Eric Ripert agreed are the key to a great ceviche.

Uni is the only edible part of the sea urchin, and one that people tend to either love or hate. Bourdain sits firmly in the love-it camp — so much so that he used the delicacy as a test on first dates! "When I was single, I would take people to sushi ... and if they didn't eat the Uni, there was really no chance of a relationship," he said in a 2016 interview (via Thrillist). If you want to give sea urchin a shot, here are some failsafe toppings to get the most out of fresh Uni.

Yes, Anthony Bourdain loved to eat, but he also loved to cook. On an episode of "On the Table," the cooking show where Bourdain's bestie Eric Ripert asked fellow chefs to open up about their journeys, the pair made a masterful Portuguese seafood stew, using octopus and octopus stock as a base to create a rich soup that tastes great fresh and even better the day after. In case you're wondering why soups and stews taste better the next day, it's because of molecular changes that are triggered over time.

Was Bourdain partial to seafood stews? Or was he just a fan of wholesome food? We'd lean towards the latter, especially considering the TV host's enjoyment of a hearty Cioppino from Tadich Grill. It's the seafood stew that Bourdain recommended in San Francisco, and also where it was invented in the mid-to-late 1800s. If there's absolutely no way you can get to the Bay Area to satisfy your shellfish craving, here's a classic, slightly spicy Cioppino recipe for you to try.

While everything about this dish screams classic Southern comfort food, there's something different about New Orleans-style shrimp and grits; the simplicity of its of creamy corn and fresh shrimp amped up by onions, celery, and peppers. Anthony Bourdain loved the shrimp and grits at Cafe Atchafalaya in New Orleans, saying that the restaurant's Creole menu delivered consistently, adding that "the shrimp and grits are a standout."

While there are tagines featuring lamb, chicken, and kefta on our list of 15 traditional Moroccan dishes you must try at least once, the one Anthony Bourdain recommended was a fish tagine served at the Saveur de Poisson in Tangier, which he ate while filming "Parts Unknown." Tagines are slow-cooked North African stews that combine vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, and aromatics with meat or fish. The tagine Bourdain loved had monkfish, calamari, and baby shark, with locally sourced spinach and herbs.

"Why, why, why can't I get Sicily right?" Bourdain wrote on Tumblr about the region where he recorded one episode of "No Reservations" and another for "Parts Unknown." He wondered whether it was a place designed around tourists seeking Godfather-related experiences, and felt like "an outsider looking in." That was until he ate spaghetti al nero di seppia (spaghetti in cuttlefish ink) at Piccolo Napoli in Palermo. "This is what I've been waiting for," he said about the dish. "This is what I wanted Sicily to be, something to soothe my shattered soul."

Sukiyabashi Jiro is the opposite of a hidden gem. Owned by Jiro Ono and immortalized in the 2011 documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," this 10-seater sushi restaurant located in the basement of an office building defies conventional understandings of prestige. Anthony Bourdain couldn't get enough of Sukiyabashi Jiro — he picked it as his ideal last meal in a 2016 article for The Guardian. "The rice is always perfect, the seaweed the right consistency and not soggy and the fish at the carefully regulated, preferred temperatures that Jiro works so hard to ensure," he wrote.

According to Anthony Bourdain, there are no better places to eat in the world than Chef Masa Takayama's Restaurant Masa, perhaps the most expensive restaurant in the US. After filming with Chef Masa for "Parts Unknown," Bourdain wrote on Medium, "When you are sitting at the sushi bar at Masa, eating the most insanely high-quality rice and fish in the world prepared by the man himself, you can be assured that though someone somewhere on the planet might just possibly be eating as well as you, NO ONE is eating better."

In a "Parts Unknown" episode, Bourdain said it's often pointed out that he goes to Swan Oyster Depot anytime he films in San Francisco. "Yes, that's correct," he said, "true love cannot be denied." It was among the restaurants Bourdain practically worshipped, and he loved this spot for the crab backs. "I guess somebody throws this away ... they tear the legs off and eat them ... Stupid people," he said, mopping up the juices from the shell. "All that good stuff. Brains, fat, and magic. It's like unicorn juice."

There's a long list of Indian seafood dishes you have to try at least once, and Anthony Bourdain would probably have liked to add this dish to it. Toddy shops are essentially dive bars in the southern Indian state of Kerala serving alcohol made from fermented coconut palm sap. Bourdain ate — and drank — at the Mullapanthal Toddy Shop in Kochi, where he enjoyed a local delicacy called Karimeen Pollichathu: pearl spot fish marinated in a spice blend, then wrapped, steamed, and served in a banana leaf.

What's not to love about a good old shrimp po boy? A New Orleans classic, a traditional shrimp po boy recipe usually features fried shrimp, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes loaded into French bread rolls. Anthony Bourdain's go-to shrimp po boy was an off-the-menu order at Domilise's in New Orleans, made with deep-fried shrimp, Swiss cheese, and roast beef gravy. Like everything else on this list, it sounds absolutely epic.