Sea Bounty Mussels, Williamstown.

An afternoon drive down to Williamstown on Sunday afternoon and a wander down the local pier, led us to the freshest and cheapest Mussels in town!
On Gem pier at Nelson Place every Sunday is the 'Sea Bounty' mussel boat. From 10:30 every Sunday this boat sells Mussels which are grown locally in Port Phillip and Westernport bays.
We bought a kilo of the freshest Mussels for $4kg! Usually they're about $7 a kg at the Vic Market. The boat also sells freshly shucked Oysters (I think they were a dollar each) and prawns (can't remember the price).

We took the Mussels home, which were packed with ice, to keep them fresh and decided to cook up some Chilli Mussels with some lovely Italiano pasta from Piedemonte's in Fitzroy. Usually when I cook Mussels, you have to pick through them and throw out the open ones prior to cooking. I had none that were opened! Once we had cooked the Mussels, we were amazed to find that every single Mussel had opened! I've cooked a lot of Mussels before and have never had 100% strike rate. How's that for freshness? The Mussels were big and they tasted great - like the ocean, as you'd expect!

If you're around Williamstown on a Sunday or feel like a drive - make sure you drop by this fantastic little boat and pick up some of the freshest seafood I've tasted. These guys are there until sold out, so you might like to get there early. You can call them directly on the boat on a Sunday if you like to make sure they're still there - I got their number: 0438 520 842.