Billingsgate Fish Market

[ttcycle]

I've been meaning to go to the fish market for years...

I'm a big fan of fish and just want to go to see the variety, get a bargain and go for the experience!!

Two things putting me off - the early starts - 4:30-5am start for the best stuff and it closes at 8:30am! Plus, I live quite far from the market.

Still would love to go...must make time for it.

Any of you lot been?
One of my uni mates' dad worked there for a long while and now is retired in Cypress...!

 

[Fnaar]

Not been to the 'Gate, but been to some wonderful ones in Spain...

 

[ttcycle]

Ahh - Barcelona is one of my favourite cities - not been to other parts though.

The boquiera (sp) market there is fantastic - the freshness and the affordability of food in general puts the fare up for offer in this country to shame - good food is just so expensive!

I wish it wasn't this way.

 

[Panter]

Been a couple of times, it's very interesting and you can get some some really fresh fish, cheap.

Cast a critical eye over the tropical stuff though, there was a particularly mangy looking dolphin last time I went that looked as if it had been bought over in a rowing boat by the state of it! (the fish, not the mammal)

 

[661-Pete]

I didn't even know, that ordinary members of the public could buy at Billingsgate, I thought it was trade and bulk buy only. Live and learn! Ah well - afraid it's a long way away from my 'patch'...

What I'd like to know, is where the excellent 'back of a lorry' fishmonger who used to set up a stand in our local street market, on Saturdays, has gone to. Based in Hastings, I believe, had fish so fresh you could almost say hello to them before you buy! And their plaice! Plaice has, in the past, been somewhat less than a favourite for me, but after sampling the tasty monster plaice from their counter ....

But alas! They haven't shown up for several weeks now. We've asked the other market traders, they say the stall holders haven't surrendered their permit, but no-one can shed any light.

 

[661-Pete]

Been a couple of times, it's very interesting and you can get some some really fresh fish, cheap.

Cast a critical eye over the tropical stuff though, there was a particularly mangy looking dolphin last time I went that looked as if it had been bought over in a rowing boat by the state of it! (the fish, not the mammal)

I've seen dolphin-fish (also called dorado and mahi-mahi) in Waitrose now and again, but not really tempted, it looks rather dull, pusillanimous and pathetic. This is what dorado ought to look like!

I snapped these on the quayside, during a trip to the West Indies several years ago. And we had them several times in restaurants, they tasted delicious!

 

[Arch]

I've been meaning to go to the fish market for years...

I'm a big fan of fish and just want to go to see the variety, get a bargain and go for the experience!!

Two things putting me off - the early starts - 4:30-5am start for the best stuff and it closes at 8:30am! Plus, I live quite far from the market.

Still would love to go...must make time for it.

Any of you lot been?
One of my uni mates' dad worked there for a long while and now is retired in Cypress...!

Don't think of it as an early start. Find a good club or something in the right direction, and party the night away, and then go before you go home to bed! It sould be like all the smart toffs in the 20's, tumbling out of clubs in Covent Garden as the costermongers were starting up...

I can understand the attraction - it's partly the 'other-worldliness' of it, things you never see because they happen out of sight, or at the 'wrong' time - the men who clean the sewers, or the tankers that pick up milk from farms.. Part of the FNRttC feeling too I guess, being up and active when the rest of the world is asleep.

 

[mr Mag00]

or the tankers that pick up milk from farms..

24/7 these days it seems on our rural roads

 

[mcshroom]

24/7 these days it seems on our rural roads

Definitely all day round here

 

[zigzag]

excellent market and highly recommended. we go there every once in a while (getting up early is the hardest bit), it's one tube stop away, or half an hours ride by bike from where i live. take a big rucksack as you'll end up buying lots of stuff and most of it is heavy. good place to go if you have guests visiting who like seafood.

i wonder if smithfield market is as good for meat as billingsgate for seafood?

 

[GordonB]

I originally trained as an Environmental Health Officer and we had to learn fish identification and be able to tell good stuff from bad. Most of the training was at Billingsgate, and we did indeed get up in the wee small hours to get practical experience. I became fairly good at recognising good quality fish and for a couple of years my mate, who was also a student EHO, and I would go there once a month to buy fish for the office, half a dozen boxes of cod and haddock and a few boxes of plaice, dabs, skate etc. We dressed the part and following the lead of the real traders we would haggle furiously for good stuff. On our return we set up our little enterprise in the council car park, arriving by 0800 because of the early start, and having passed the word around the previous day our co-workers would come to collect their order as they arrived for work. All stored in the lab fridge for the day and Dave and I would make enough from the sales to pay for the petrol and get for free our own fish and a couple of lobsters, whilst able to say hand on heart we were doing our practical training! Happy days!

I also trained in meat inspection at Smithfield but and have bought from there, anyone can, but just like Billingsgate you need to know what you are doing and what the going rate is.

Although the fish at Billingsgate is good, nothing beat the fish my dad and I used to get from North Shields fish market when I were a boy, apart from stuff I've caught myself and cooked on the beach.

Gordon

 

[Paulus]

excellent market and highly recommended. we go there every once in a while (getting up early is the hardest bit), it's one tube stop away, or half an hours ride by bike from where i live. take a big rucksack as you'll end up buying lots of stuff and most of it is heavy. good place to go if you have guests visiting who like seafood.

i wonder if smithfield market is as good for meat as billingsgate for seafood?

Yes it is. You can go down there and buy what you want. You can get your meat cheaper than the supermarkets and local butchers, you just have to go around and see what the prices are.

 

[ttcycle]

Good to know, what times does Smithfield open for trading? May be worth doing both on the same day!

 

[Panter]

I've seen dolphin-fish (also called dorado and mahi-mahi) in Waitrose now and again, but not really tempted, it looks rather dull, pusillanimous and pathetic. This is what dorado ought to look like!
[attachment=2245:dolphins.JPG]
I snapped these on the quayside, during a trip to the West Indies several years ago. And we had them several times in restaurants, they tasted delicious!

That's the fella's

I was fortunate enough to be chomping on home caught Dolphin just a few days ago, seems like a lifetime ago now though back in the cold, damp UK!

 

[snorri]

Don't think of it as an early start. Find a good club or something in the right direction, and party the night away, and then go before you go home to bed!

You're a bad influence on the young people Arch , but I like your style.