Sydney Fish Market
Bank Street, Pyrmont, Sydney
One of the largest seafood markets in the world, Sydney Fish Market features wholesale auctions, several seafood retailers, a wine shop, fruit and vegetable market, a cafe and a couple of restaurant, even a bakery all under one roof. A one stop shop for seafood lovers. We arrived early Saturday morning to check out all the tasty fresh seafood SFM has to offer.
Arriving with an empty stomach, we stopped by the first eatery we saw - The Fish Market Cafe. We ordered the mountainous seafood platter. Piled high to the sky, this platter featured baked oysters, scallops, baby octopus, calamari, battered fish and fries. A lot of fries. Perhaps too much fries. Everything was deep fried or super greasy. I can't say I was super impressed with it. It seemed like a waste of super fresh seafood.
Learning from our mistakes, we strolled through the entire market before stopping for lunch. All the seafood retailers offered similar things. Fresh oysters sold in dozens, sashimi bar, fresh seafood not for raw consumption and a small kitchen with more deep fried products. We finally settled on Nicholas Seafood. Serving a selection of dishes that were not deep fried, Nicholas Seafood even offer the option of cooking the food how you want it. We weren't feeling too creative so we opted for the steamed lobster and prawns with a half dozen of fresh oyster combo instead. All the shops offered fresh oysters but the thought of pounding back a dozen oysters in one sitting didn't seem like a brilliant idea to me at the time. Even though they were fairly small, extra oysters in my stomach = less room in my stomach for other tasty food. I must say though that they were super amazing! Shucked and cleaned on site, the oysters are flavoured with salty seawater and lemon juice, the meat was sweet and creamy and went down smooth. Mmm. Mmm good. I almost wanted to buy a tray and devour them on the spot. The lobster and prawns were pretty amazing as well. The meat was sweet and cooked just right.
In addition to the platter, we each got an abalone. 'cause that's how Asians roll. We can't turn down abalone. Cooked with ginger and scallions, the abalone was a bit over cooked. A little disappointed but decent overall.
We headed to De Costi Seafood next to pick up some sashimi. They appeared to have the freshest and offered the most variety of sashimi that day. We ordered approximately 100g of salmon, tuna, yellowtail and snapper. Upon ordering, the fillet is cut into super tiny slices. Perhaps too small of a slice. I grabbed at least three pieces at a time. It was so good. Mmmmm...
The only issue we had was trying to find a table. Since it was a beautiful weekend, the place was packed. All the picnic tables were filled. I guess the lesson here is eat early, or eat late but don't eat at noon. Sydney Fish Market, if you love seafood, check it out! You won't be disappointed!
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