Billingsgate Market, Docklands, London

RE: PASSIONATE ABOUT FISH COURSE AT THE SEAFOOD SCHOOL

Couldn’t find the exact match, so am posting on the Billingsgate section.

LOVED the course by Duncan and Sue. They are both incredibly knowledgeable about the various aspects of the fishing industry, and more importantly for those spending all day Saturday with them, they are also lovely people.

We went in knowing literally nothing about fish except that we like to eat it. Duncan kicked off with a spectacular display of fish that we would shortly get to work with, each with our individual work stations and tool sets. We not only had great fun throughout the course, but we also learned quite a lot.

Tea breaks were a nice touch, and although Sue kept apologising for not offering enough, lunch was actually hearty and filling. We even got to take home copies of the recipes.

These are clearly two people who are passionate about fish, and that passion is contagious.

The only constructive criticism I can come up with, and I’m really struggling here, is that the course is so chock-full, we didn’t label our fish and when we got home with our kilos of prepped fish, we couldn’t figure out what was what. But that’s a product more of our fish-ignorance — and wine consumption at lunch — than any failing of the course itself!

Also we did find an 8.30am start on a Saturday morning difficult, but that’s because we are simply lazy. And being there early, we did unexpectedly benefit from Billingsgate Market being open and allowing us a wander around the fishmongers who still had stock available.

Definitely a place all seafood lovers in London should visit at least once in their lives!

Getting there is a bit hard, as most of the fish are gone by 7:30am, and the Docklands isn’t exactly central!

But once you’re there you can’t help marvel at the range of fish available, some of which you would never have known existed before!

Everything is sold in kilos, boxes, and big bags, so be sure to plan a massive seafood feast if you plan to buy anything!

I love Billingsgate… It’s the best fresh market in London and probably for any city in the UK.

Billingsgate is a fish market, open Monday to Saturday with a random ‘Sunday Market’ recently just opened. The market itself is 95% seafood and golly, this great seafood.

To best enjoy Billingsgate it is important to arrive early, 5.45-6.15am is best and this is when the market is at its most busy (and fresh) after this some prices may come down but you’ll get what other people didn’t want…

They do… crab, eel, prawns, salmon, snapper, squid, cuttlefish, Oysters, Tuna, Swordfish, sardines, lobster, halibut and in fact pretty much any seafood possible. As the other reviewer mentioned it may still well be alive :D

My favourite are the giant prawns sold by one of the stalls in the second row near the entrance (Asian guy selling them as at March 2008), for around £30 you get a two KG box of the largest (five inch when straight+) prawns that are perfect for a BBQ. Take their heads of and cook those to make a broth pefect for flavoring soups or using as a stock….

Anyway, they also do culinary courses, (teach you how to prepare fish), market tours and have a few Cafes in the building. So overall, it is a very good place and I only shop fresh seafood here, not anywhere else. Seriously if you goto a Chinese supermarket like Loon-Fung or Sainsburys or whatever, chances are it’s worse than Billingsgate, and more expensive!

Most Londoners know about the fishmarket in the shade of Canary Wharf, it is the cities famous fishmarket. The market was established around 1700 and the market is open to all the public. Sales to the tourists and public are booming, as increasing numbers of shoppers from London and surround visiting this market frequently. The fact that prices are a third of the London city prices one can expect a lively and crowded market. Exotic imports counts for about 40% of the daily deliveries, flown in direct to Gatwick. Some of the fish is still alive on offer, can it be more fresh? Red Snappers is selling for about 5 pound a kg and a full box of sardines is on sale for about 2 pound. Ask the fish mongers for advise and you will have the best dish you can imagine. Just cook it or eat it as sushi, or marinate it for later, or deepfreze your purchases, enjoy with your friends.