When looking for fresh fish in Sydney, there’s no better place to head than Sydney Fish Market.
Established in 1945, today Sydney Fish Market is the third largest seafood market in the world, in terms of variety and is the largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.
Both locals and tourists swarm here in their hundreds, if not thousands every day of the week in search of the latest and freshest catch of the day. But it’s not just people who venture here, even the seagulls know this is the place to come for a good bite to eat, and if you’re not careful they will swoop down when you’re not looking and steal your fish!
Every day you can find up to 100 different species of seafood traded here with more than 14,500 tonnes of seafood traded every single year, so deciding what seafood delicacy you want to try or buy can be difficult, especially if you are as indecisive as me!
There are plenty of cafes and restaurants to sit down at and have a meal and the salt and pepper calamari is a must! Doyles is famous here and you can try delights such as Doyles Famous Beer Battered Fish and Chips for $17.90 or the Famous Hot & Cold Platter with Whole Lobster Mornay, King Prawns, Blue Swimmer Crab, Smoked Salmon, Oysters, Prawn Cutlets and Fish & Chips for $110.
If you love sashimi, sushi or oysters then you will not be disappointed, there’s plenty of those here too and even a sushi bar to try. You can also buy sashimi straight from the seafood retailers themselves which come beautifully presented.
I have to say I absolutely adore fish and seafood, perhaps more than meat, although I have to admit I do love a good juicy steak that melts in your mouth! However when I wander around the fresh fish counters, the colours are the first thing to hit me, the vibrant reds and oranges of the beautiful filleted salmons and ocean trouts, or the size of the King Prawns which are larger than my hand and then you’ve got the Moreton Bay Bugs, Lobsters, Blue Swimmer Crabs and I’m literally in fishy heaven.
With so much choice, my mind is ablaze with options, but I do know I am looking for fish for my supper tonight. It’s just deciding whether we want a whole fish like a Snapper and cook that on the BBQ with lots of butter and lemon or go for a fillet. On this occasion the colours of the salmon draws us in and we go for the fillet, but I have bought numerous whole pieces of fish for the BBQ and they are divine.
Much of the same seafood can be found at each of the retailers, but I do like Peter’s best. However I like to look around each retailer as well just to admire the fish and check out the competition…does anyone else do this? I still get excited when I see a live crab moving and wonder to myself if they ever do make a run for it?! Run crabby run!
As well as fish, there is Vic’s Meat Market which is simply a treat to visit. All types and cuts of meat can be found here including steaks, pork, ribs, chicken, sausages, veal and so much more. We end up buying two pieces of veal, two rib eye fillets and 2 marinades, coming to $35. Absolute bargain!
Greengrocers are here too and a gift shop if you are looking for a souvenir or something for the kitchen. You can even treat yourself to an ice cream on a warm summer’s day from the ice cream van.
If you really are a fish fanatic or just want to learn the ins and outs of cooking then the Sydney Seafood School is on site and is Australia’s leading cooking school with all types of classes available.
To see the fish market in full action then the best time to visit is early morning and there is a behind the scenes tour you can attend costing $35. On this tour lasting between 1 hour 30 minutes and 2 hours you can learn about the history of the Sydney Fish Markets and see the fish auction in full swing as well as witness oyster shucking.
We drove here today and only cost us $3 if you stay less than an hour, but for anything longer then I would recommend parking somewhere else as it can get pretty expensive. The Light Rail station is close by and it’s not too far from the city.
So the next time you are looking for a nice piece of fish, or meat for that matter, make sure you head down to Sydney Fish Markets – you won’t be disappointed!