This holding tank in the window at Oriental Seafood always attracts a lot of attention from locals as well as tourists passing by. They constantly replenish their selection of shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and fish, some of which are quite ugly but tasty. It costs substantially more to eat swimming seafood, but we Chinese think it's worth it.

This restaurant also sometimes has fresh mantis shrimp, better known as "pissing shrimp." It got its picturesque name because people believed that this type of shrimp cures incontinence. It is delicious in the "salt-baked" style, which is actually floured and quickly deep-fried.

Oriental Seafood, 12 Elizabeth Street, New York, New York 10013