T and T: Sydney Fish Market

Sydney Fish Market reminds us again and again why we love seafood and how deprived we are of a huge variety of seafood lacking in Chicago. While we are fortunate to live a stone's throw away from fresh seafood Chicago wholesalers who are open to the public, nothing compares to the selection one will get when living close to the sea. As the second largest fish market outside of Japan, this place is a must-visit for anyone who loves seafood. If you are just visiting Sydney, like us, and could not possibly make a seafood purchase in hopes to prepare and cook them for dinner (unless if you have a kitchen in your hotel room!), you will not be left out in enjoying the fresh seafood. Join the throngs of seafood lovers at the Fish Market and feast on freshly shucked oysters, sashimi, and a variety of cooked seafood dishes right there at the market. Order the food from the various vendors, bring them over to one of the tables, and go into a seafood mania.

We arrive early in the morning just shortly after 9am and see an impressive number of people seated at the tables who are already halfway through eating their oysters, lobsters, prawns, and whole fish. No it isn't a crazy idea after all that T and I are planning for breakfast that involves oysters. We start with two dozen freshly shucked rock oysters. Sashimi is sold according to weight and the employee behind the counter slices the fish according to how much we want for the tuna and salmon. The sea urchin sashimi is sold by the box and we decide on that as well. The grilled whole snapper is well seasoned and served with a side of fries. Oh my. We are in seafood heaven.

We walk our food off by strolling along the many seafood retailers in the other sections. The variety of fish, prawns, oysters, crabs, and shellfish are more than we know by heart or have seen. We come across bugs, a type of Australian crustacean (we later ate these delicious crustaceans-- grilled-- in Melbourne). We discover something new, then further discover how much we love it, and then of course remember that we can only get bugs in Australia. Oh, we'll return for more.