Despite the close proximity to where I live, I only visited the fish market once. It’s not like I was not interested, but I kept postponing to go until a friend took the initiative. Sydney Fish Market is located in Pyrmont, and it is open everyday from 7 am except on Christmas Day.
Sydney Fish Market
It is said that the fish market is the third largest in the world in terms of seafood varieties. The world’s winner is of course Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. I regretted that I didn’t go last time for the auction because I failed to wake up early. At least, I have another excuse to visit Japan again.
In terms of freshness, I have no clue if the seafood traded in the market is at its best. One time I told a friend that fresh fish should have red eyes, but I was totally wrong. Not to mention that my sense of taste is sometimes so distorted that I can’t tell if the food is already spoiled. However, looking at the visitor numbers and the trading quantity, I can say confidently that people are quite satisfied with the quality offered at SFM.
There are a lot of different shops, offering similar kind of seafood at different prices. I would recommend to spend some time exploring the shops to see the best deal you can get. Not only fresh seafood, but cooked or made-to-order are also available. The only things we need to prepare are the money and appetite, of course.
King Mudcrab
Opening live oysters
My friend and I ended up with fresh oyster, sweet caramelized unagi (freshwater eel), chuka wakame (sesame seaweed salad, yum!), assorted sashimi slices (salmon, tuna, kingfish), and fried fish with sweet and sour sauce. For what we got, we spent a round AUD 70 (not so cheap, but quite reasonable here). It was kind of seafood overload, hopefully not cholesterol overload though.
Shops in SFM
Lunch at SFM
View from SFM
Berry Basket 