Sand dabs is a signature dish of United States; we have verified places to eat it in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Small Pacific flatfish, floured and pan-fried whole with lemon butter, an old Monterey coast grill order that Carmel's seafood houses still honour. Start with where to eat Sand dabs in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Sand dabs · Carmel-by-the-Sea

Small Pacific flatfish, floured and pan-fried whole with lemon butter, an old Monterey coast grill order that Carmel's seafood houses still honour.

Pacific sanddabs school on the sandy bottom of Monterey Bay, and for over a century they were the workaday fish of the California coast grill: too small and delicate to travel well, so they stayed a regional treat. The classic treatment survives almost unchanged, lightly breaded, pan-fried and finished with a lemon butter. At Flaherty's in Carmel they arrive dusted in sourdough crumbs under a lemon tarragon beurre blanc, one of the village's most local plates.

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Where to eat Sand dabs in Carmel-by-the-Sea: the editor picks