Fishy Fishmongers

Day three in the Buy Local experiment and time for a new addition – the fishmonger. I’ve now located my favorite green grocer. He has a gorgeous selection, fantastic prices (80p for a kilo of new potatoes? Really!?!) and most of all, a sense of humor. A typical exchange: ‘How’re you doin’ today, darling?’ ‘Just fine, thanks, and you?’ ‘I can see you are fine, love’ etc. etc. Love it. But the lack of an easy, cheap and quality fishmonger has been troubling.

Living in Soho, everything else is at our fingertips:

In need of fresh veg? No worries, just pop to Berwick Market during the week, meander down the South Bank to Borough Market on Saturday and stroll to the Marylebone farmer’s market on Sunday.

A good cut of meat? Simple! Blackfoot Butchers has opened on Charlotte place. Owned by the inspired foodies behind The Salt Yard and Dehesa, they have a limited but delicious selection and their chorizo is, as Michael Steele would put it, ‘off the hook.’

Piping fresh bread? Any number of bakeries would suffice, though I’m partial to the delicious breads found at the Neal’s Yard Dairy shop found in Covent Garden.

Delicious fish? Well...on Saturday there’s Applebee’s at Borough market. I’ve never had a bad purchase there and they are surprisingly reasonable. The shop always smells like the fresh ocean, rather than the fishy odor found in other stalls. Sunday? We’re out of luck, basically. And during the week? Chris has tried a renowned fish shop in Notting Hill, but the quality of their product is inversely related to the price. And not in a good way. Recently we bough shrimp for £20.00. Frozen. They were acceptable, but if I’m spending that much? I want some damn good shrimps with the shells still on. So today, armed with an easy preparation for pan-fried salmon, I ventured out to the fishmonger at Berwick market.

I shall have to report on the quality tomorrow, but the service was superb. He cut two gorgeous slabs of salmon for me (for under £10.00!) and sold them to me with a smile, a joke and a laugh. You couldn’t ask for better service.

All of this reinforces my belief that food shopping should be FUN. It’s not a chore, a necessity or a burden, if you go to the right places.