So I've heard the references to the novel's metaphors (Raptor taxonomy being purposely incorrect, Hammond's Elephant, The Dragon Curve, and others) as well as the movie's references (The seatbelts, the flea-circus, "spared no expense!", etc) BUT, i've never heard anyone mention the Sea Bass.

Chilean Sea Bass is a marketing term first used in the 1980's for the sale of Patagonian Toothfish; a decidedly less sexy name for a fish. Toothfish is in no way related to Sea Bass, but does have somewhat similar characteristic to Sea Bass - being a slightly oily, semi-firm fish. Because of the cost of Sea Bass, Chilean Sea Bass was a popular alternative that had quickly become a hot-buy at a steep cost; ironically for a less than ideal fish.

So "Spare No Expense" Hammond was serving a cheaper alternative to real Sea Bass that has no actual relation to REAL Sea Bass at all. Yes, John Hammond was serving up a phony with a fancy name and everyone was LITERALLY eating it up - except for Ellie; who was visibly repulsed by the meal and interestingly enough, was the first person to openly question the integrity of the creations themselves (While Malcom questioned if the park itself would fail, Dr. Sadler was the only person to state that the eating of local fauna was questionable behavior for the "dinosaurs") Ellie was both figuratively and literally unable to stomach Hammond's lies.