"barnyard" mussels

[rascal]

Had a dinner at an otherwise nice restaurant last night and my fiance got a mussels dish that she had to send back... the mussels tasted kind of like what it smells like when you walk into a horse barn. Is there any reason non-spoiled mussels would EVER taste like that?

Kind of disappointing because we have always had good luck at this place before.

[JohnnyH]

The mussels weren't necessarily "bad" as in spoiled, they may just have been "not good." Mussels are filter feeders, and if they filter water that isn't exactly clean (use your imagination), they'll end up picking up the flavors of whatever pollutants are present. I've had the experience you describe -- nothing's worse.