Friday, May 01, 2009

The Chelsea Fishmonger Rex Goldsmith





Rex is one of my food heroes.
He took over this small Chelsea Green Fishmongers shop as he expanded from his original outlet on Secretts Farm in Surrey. He recently opened another in Guildford.
Rex and his team led by Matt know how to buy fish and hence you will always find amazing fresh seasonal fish mainly from British waters.

The best fish I have bought in London over the last 15 years has come from here - superb Red Mullet , Dover Sole, Brill , Turbot , Sea Bass , John Dory , Clams , Mussels , Razor Clams ,Cornish Crabs and Crab Meat as well as fanatstic Scottish Langoustine and Scallops .

A fishmonger in Islington once tried to sell me a faux Red Mullett so I never returned, then again its the most overated Fishmonger in Britain.

By the way the person who owns the "Chelsea Tractor"parked outside the shop bought some smoked haddock for a fiver and paid £85 for a wash and blow dry at Real the Hair Salon next door !

10 Cale Street,
Chelsea,
London, SW3 3QU.
Tel: 020 7589 9432
http://www.chelseafish.co.uk

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That Islington fishmonger is actually not bad. Expensive, but not bad. Frankly in my experience the standard of fish in London is pretty poor wherever you go - whether from a fishmonger or supermarket. And it's way too expensive. In Spain a couple of weeks ago I went into a supermarket and saw a fantastic display of fish behind the counter - fresh clams for 4 euros a kilo, monkfish and hake for the same price. And all of it was in spanking fresh condition. And I'm guessing that not all this fish is from Spanish coastal waters, (I'm sure hake is from around the UK isn't it?) so proximity isn't the answer; just a willingness to treat fish as an everyday source of food, not an expensive treat. Simple economics - higher demand, lower price. By the way, I was looking for some brill the other week in that aforementioned Islington fishmonger. He didn't have any, and suggested mackerel instead. What does that tell you about his knowledge of fish?