“This is not a very long review except to say I have purchased five of these, two for myself becuase they are they best I've ever seen, and three as presents for the chefs who have used mine and then say exactly the same thing.”
“This is an unremarkable $15 fish spatula paired with $50 handles, and a $85 logo.
I was excited about the New West fish spatula. It looked like it would be a premium utensil with some premium handles and premium fit and finish. For $150, you would certainly hope so.
What I received was an ISO standard mass produced stamped stainless steel fish spatula with a brushed finish and a New West logo, featuring a very nicely buffed set of ironwood scales fastened with large headed brass rivets. Those scales are aesthetically quite lovely upon first inspection.
The butt of the scales was nicely rounded but the edges were only just radiused. The front end of the scales were squared off 90 degrees to the blade of the spatula, with zero radius or relief, and weren't quiiiite even with each other. I feel like some level of radius, bevel, or other more graceful transition from scales to blade wouldn't have been amiss for the tariff paid. It does not appear that epoxy was used to bond the scales to the handle, but I can't be certain about that.
The side edges of the spatula itself were not *sharp*, per se, but it was clear that they weren't really finished (apart from maybe a stone tumble or something) after the stamping operation and needed some cleanup to smooth them out. Similarly, the working edge of the spatula was somewhat rough, definitely not smooth, and needed some work to clean it up so that it could actually make full-width complete contact with a cooking surface.
This would have been a fair deal at $50 or $60, but at $150 before shipping, Mr. price paid and Ms. quality delivered aren't even nodding aquaintances.”
“We cook on cast iron and carbon steel pans a lot. A fish spatula is handy for delicate foods and also for scraping stuck-on foods. This spatula feels well made and the handle is good looking!”
