Italian seafood

Not ALL seafood, but a lot of it does. Depends on what you order. I don't like getting fish with eyes looking at me while I eat them. I normally just cover the head with a granish or something. I'm sure you can order a whole fish without a head.

Thanks for all of the info guys. I personally don't mind if my seafood has the head on it, but it just must be a girl thing. Because my girlfriend insists she won't eat seafood with the head on it. I told her I'd cut it off for her and put it under a napkin or something and she said that'd be fine as well.

Thanks for your reply. I'll let her know that she just might have to deal with a fish with a head and eyes on it haha. I just have heard it's considered rude in Italy to "special order" your food. Is this true or not?

It is definitely frowned upon to make lots of special requests ie this on the side, substitute that, no cheese, etc.

If you order a grigliata di pesce or something like that, get ready for heads galore. Safest bet might be Filetti of fish, or a pasta dish with calamari, clams, mussels etc :=)

And keep in mind that "seafood pasta" will come with a whole prawn or two intact - meaning head. Of course when we lived in Mobile and you went to a shrimp boil you had to deal with heads on the shrimp so it's not just Italy.

I don't care if there's a head on my plate or not. I don't eat it but it also means I can simply not remember if that was the case when we ordered seafood in Italy.

However, what I do remember is a very memorable dinner we had in La Spezia. The owner of the restaurant "O SOLE MIO" saw that I used a phrasebook to figure out the menue so he took the menue away from us and came back showing us a WHOLE fish, i.e. incl. head, just as it had come in from the fishing boat in the morning, and suggested he'd prepare it for us with some pasta and fresh veggies. And that dish was fabulous. I'm pretty sure there was NO head with that dish ;-)

FWIW, avoid ordering fish on a Sunday in a big city. We discovered that it's not delivered fresh that day. We ordered a fish plate on a Sunday evening. The waiter/manager brought it to our table and it was, frankly, inedible. When we said it wasn't to our taste, the waiter told us, in Italian "Oh, yeah, fish on a Sunday is really iffy." Then they brought us a lasagna to die for. And they didn't charge us for the fish.

I don't know if it's rude or not, but I have never heard of anyone being bothered by seeing the fish head and eyes on a plate. In many European countries it's a common thing for the fish to be served like that. Actually I like it with a head.
BTW, sometimes the fish winks to you (well, to your girlfriend).

James - I understand exactly where you girlfriend is coming from. We went to Spain a few years ago and I quickly learned that their shrimp comes with heads, eyes, everything - HORRIBLE. I could not eat it. I love shirmp but I just don't want to think it was an animal. I am still teased by my husband and friends. At least it made for a great story.

You could always apologetically ask for the fish "senza testa" - "without a head".

Who cares, cut off the head!! Sorry but are you people children or adults????

I'm an adult. As is she. She's just not used to eating food that has a head on it. Just like most Americans. It's a culture thing. She's never been outside of the USA so this is something that's completely new to her. Relax buddy.

It would always be safe to order a filet of fish. I know the tasty Venetian dish Soglio in Saor uses filet of sole, not the whole fish.