Sushi Time

Finding a decent fishmonger in central London is difficult. Prove me wrong someone, prove me wrong. All the ones I come across are usually in a section of a supermarket chain (not the freshest array at all) and/or sells seafood in plastic packaging. I mean, I'm living on an island FFS and yet it is so so hard to find accessible fresh seafood. The closest traditional fishmonger to me is in Borough Market but I'm not always impressed with the pickings they have available. Borough itself is a bit touristy so they also like to inflate prices accordingly.

Smee and I have been to the Billingsgate Fish Market several times and replenish our freezer after each visit. It's mighty cheap and the assortment of seafood is enviable. The 4am wake up in order to get to the wholesale market is another thing altogether. The fact that a lot of the stock is sold only in bulk does not fare well either.

Well, Smee did a little bit of digging and discovered that an excellent fishmonger was in nearby Angel. Yay! *clap clap* After reading several gleaming reviews - here, here and here, we really had to go and see it for ourselves. Luckily for us, a direct bus transported us from home to Steve Hatt.

The actual store is nothing impressive - just glass windows and polystyrene signs identifying the fish and it's price. However, there goes the old saying 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'. The seafood all looks it's freshest and delish (even in it's raw state). The prices while not bargain basement like Billingsgate are on par or at times cheaper than your average supermarket. What will impress you is the queue outside the store especially on Saturday. Steve says he's not open on Sunday and Monday because if you buy a fish on either of those days, then it was caught on Friday - not fresh!

Hooray for Google's streetview. Steve Hatt storefront.

Once you've paid your debt to the queue, you'll be greeted by one of many Steve Hatt's fishie-men. They'll take your order, ask you if you want your seafood cleaned, gutted, scaled, de-boned, cut a certain way.... that's service! They sure know their produce too and will happily answer any queries. Be wary of the puddly floors and I strongly recommend you don't wear opened toed shoes. I'm more than content to stand outside while Smee does the ordering.

We bought a bundle of bamboo/razor clams and instead of steaming them as we normally do, we threw them under the griller with a bit of garlic and lemon. Yummy!

We also got some sashimi grade salmon and tuna. A few other accompaniments were purchased so we could make our own sushi platter.

Yum! That's all I need to say.

Yeah... we stuffed ourselves. What else is new?

So yes, if you're after a fishmonger and live around the N1 area I strongly recommend Steve Hatt!