Buy fish at Billingsgate Market

Billingsgate Market has been London's fish market since the sixteenth century, when the riverside market at Billingsgate Wharf was the centre of fish trading. In the nineteenth century, the Market moved to Lower Thames Street, before relocating to Docklands in the 1980s.


Today, the Market is the UK's largest inland fish market, and sells fish from around the country and the world. The market runs from 5am from Tuesday to Saturday, wrapping up around 8.30am, and when your author popped along yesterday morning, it was in full swing, with some of the earliest profanities he has ever heard.

Crates of live British crabs sat alongside huge tuna, small sharks and conger eels, whilst the Asian and African fish specialists stocked an exotic array of produce from around the world. It's just a shame that it seems to be almost impossible to get the fish smell out of hair and shoes...

For more on Billingsgate, see www.billingsgate-market.org.uk

Take a wander in Leadenhall Market

One of the problems with the City is that, whilst a lot of it is made up of very attractive architecture, the City is pretty dull and one often wonders whether much of it is worth the effort. It's either full of bankers or it's the weekend and you feel like you're the only on who has survived the apocalypse.


Leadenhall Market is worth the journey though. Designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones, the architect of Billingsgate and Smithfield Markets, the Market apparently takes its name from a lead-roofed mansion that stood on or near the site in the 14th century.

Nowadays it is home to a range of shops, bars and cafes and also hosts daily market stalls from Monday to Friday selling food, gifts and other overpriced tat. There are also frequent free events in the market, and it is home to the Lamb Tavern which itself host a range of events, including free comedy nights.

For more information, visit http://www.leadenhallmarket.co.uk

_{^Picture from Flickr courtesy of kcdsTM^}

Have a good feed at Masters Super Fish

Masters Super Fish, at 191 Waterloo Road, SE1 is an excellent fish and chip restaurant serving fish fresh daily from Billingsgate Fish Market, and fried in ample portions.


Whether or not the twee interior and aged paintwork is deliberate is anyone's guess, but it can be hard to find a decent, reasonably priced chippie in London, and many poor ones exist, especially around Waterloo. Someone once told your author that you can tell a good chippie by how many taxi drivers and old age pensioners are present and at the last visit the count was good.

Sure, it's not super-cheap, but will probably set you back no more than a tenner and you wont need to eat for the rest of the day.

For more information, the Time Out review is at http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/9384.html.

_{^Picture by Kai Hendry^}