The Fishmonger Ltd
Trafalgar Rd
So. Here it is at last, and very pleased many of us are to see actual quality fooderies finally coming to East Greenwich - aw- c'mon - it's hardly far for you Westerners to trudge across the park in your green wellies and barbours... ;0)
It's all clean and bright, and though some of the shop has a distinctly "unfinished" feel to it - there's a tantalising Global knife cupboard and price list but no knives and several empty shelves in the display cabinet, I guess the main priority is to get the place open - niceties come later.
The one area which WAS absolutely stuffed to the gills (oops - sorry...) was the main event - the fish counter. Julian, one half of the young couple who are bravely setting out in the pescatorial world, is just getting himself acclimatised to the daily 4.00am visit to Billingsgate - there are no dark circles under the eyes yet, but with opening hours that currently go to 7.00pm, that will only be a matter of time. He confessed that he had been nervous that Billingsgate would be having an "off day" on Fishmonger's debut, but from what I could see, his worries had been for naught. There was a fine display - from eye-bright bream to shiny monkfish, giant king scallops to scarlet sashimi tuna, all beautifully arranged on the classic bed of ice.
Elsewhere in the shop are lemons, limes and fresh herbs in wooden crates and racks with spices and dressings. There are various cookbooks - some of which are clearly for sale, others - vintage, by the look of it, are more for getting ideas from. I am sure that as the shop matures, it will fill out with other accoutrements.
As you go in, there's a gorgeous old vintage dining table stacked with crusty bread, which has been locally sourced (not, I am glad to say, from Greggs...) fish kettles and other paraphernalia. It also has a collection of "Fishmonger Ltd" bits and bobs - good to get in there quick with the merchandise, I always say. You can get reclaimed hardwood chopping boards with the Fishmonger Ltd logo stamped discreetly in the corner (make sure you scrub that bit well, eh?) and some snazzy Fishmonger aprons so you don't get guts down your gut.
Of course you don't need to get anywhere near guts if you don't want to. Julian gutted and scaled my fish for me while I (and, ahem, a bit of a queue behind me) waited. I am sure it will speed up with time - and it was beautifully done. Presumably his partner will come in for busy times - once they know when those will be - at the moment the opening hours are long, but they intend to revise them once they've been open for a while.
They plan to have tasting sessions and fishy-type classes - I hope they do this soon. I've suggested they get together with Theatre of Wine for occasional evening sessions - champagne and oysters, anyone? They should also put suggested wine at the bottom of their recipe cards, IMHO. Incidentally, don't miss the lovely marine-inspired display in Theatre of Wine just now, created, presumably, to welcome the new kids on the block...
I've just realised that this reads a bit like one of the advertorial articles in local rags that I'm always going on about how much I hate. This is pretty much unavoidable just now - the place is so new I can't really say much other than the fish is good and the rest looks as though it will come given a few weeks. I'll revisit in those few weeks to give a more detailed critique...
Update: This shop goes from strength to strangth. They are friendly, helpful people, doing their best to make a truly exciting business. It's now full of shelves of itneresting foods, equipment and books - not to mention a giant bowl of daffodils. This has already become one of
The Phantom's Favourite Haunts
So. Here it is at last, and very pleased many of us are to see actual quality fooderies finally coming to East Greenwich - aw- c'mon - it's hardly far for you Westerners to trudge across the park in your green wellies and barbours... ;0)
It's all clean and bright, and though some of the shop has a distinctly "unfinished" feel to it - there's a tantalising Global knife cupboard and price list but no knives and several empty shelves in the display cabinet, I guess the main priority is to get the place open - niceties come later.
The one area which WAS absolutely stuffed to the gills (oops - sorry...) was the main event - the fish counter. Julian, one half of the young couple who are bravely setting out in the pescatorial world, is just getting himself acclimatised to the daily 4.00am visit to Billingsgate - there are no dark circles under the eyes yet, but with opening hours that currently go to 7.00pm, that will only be a matter of time. He confessed that he had been nervous that Billingsgate would be having an "off day" on Fishmonger's debut, but from what I could see, his worries had been for naught. There was a fine display - from eye-bright bream to shiny monkfish, giant king scallops to scarlet sashimi tuna, all beautifully arranged on the classic bed of ice.
Elsewhere in the shop are lemons, limes and fresh herbs in wooden crates and racks with spices and dressings. There are various cookbooks - some of which are clearly for sale, others - vintage, by the look of it, are more for getting ideas from. I am sure that as the shop matures, it will fill out with other accoutrements.
As you go in, there's a gorgeous old vintage dining table stacked with crusty bread, which has been locally sourced (not, I am glad to say, from Greggs...) fish kettles and other paraphernalia. It also has a collection of "Fishmonger Ltd" bits and bobs - good to get in there quick with the merchandise, I always say. You can get reclaimed hardwood chopping boards with the Fishmonger Ltd logo stamped discreetly in the corner (make sure you scrub that bit well, eh?) and some snazzy Fishmonger aprons so you don't get guts down your gut.
Of course you don't need to get anywhere near guts if you don't want to. Julian gutted and scaled my fish for me while I (and, ahem, a bit of a queue behind me) waited. I am sure it will speed up with time - and it was beautifully done. Presumably his partner will come in for busy times - once they know when those will be - at the moment the opening hours are long, but they intend to revise them once they've been open for a while.
They plan to have tasting sessions and fishy-type classes - I hope they do this soon. I've suggested they get together with Theatre of Wine for occasional evening sessions - champagne and oysters, anyone? They should also put suggested wine at the bottom of their recipe cards, IMHO. Incidentally, don't miss the lovely marine-inspired display in Theatre of Wine just now, created, presumably, to welcome the new kids on the block...
I've just realised that this reads a bit like one of the advertorial articles in local rags that I'm always going on about how much I hate. This is pretty much unavoidable just now - the place is so new I can't really say much other than the fish is good and the rest looks as though it will come given a few weeks. I'll revisit in those few weeks to give a more detailed critique...
Update: This shop goes from strength to strangth. They are friendly, helpful people, doing their best to make a truly exciting business. It's now full of shelves of itneresting foods, equipment and books - not to mention a giant bowl of daffodils. This has already become one of
The Phantom's Favourite Haunts
Labels: Favourite Haunts, Food and Drink, Shopping
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
15:11
13 Comments:
Greenwich girl, can you help? This lovely lovely shop is now apparently only open past 5pm on a FRIDAY night! What are us poor office slaves to do? Friday night is never free for grocery shopping, most people are dead on the sofa, out for the evening or setting off for the weekend, no? Please can you knock some sense into them? I use local shops whenevr I can but now I've had to return to getting my fish from M&S and Waitrose again. (I live across the road from this shop!)Presumably they are now only aiming for the wealthier Greenwich community who doesn't have to work office hours?? Is it too much to ask for a weekday to be a later closing time instead? :(
email them with a friendly plea:
info@thefishmongerltd.com
I'd say that was spot-on - last time I was in there he was saying that they're keeping an eye on opening times, trying to find out the ones that are best for the neighbourhood. Now is the time to make your voice heard. If you let them know that a late weekday night is important for lots of working people I'm sure they'll bear it in mind. After all they are new to all this - and are having to get used to new ways of working.
An email is good - but why not go in and talk to them (if you can catch them open?) I've seldom met friendlier and more willing-to-work-things out people in my life.
I suppose their delivery service would be of a similarly useless timing?
Good luck! I'll mention it myself next time I'm in - but frankly I'm just another customer to them.
thanks , will do but sadly I'm not around much at weekends so looks like I won't be able to get in there anymore. Am already back on a regular diet of 'make-do' supermarket fish and a little something from Theatre of Wine to wash it down!
Well - when WOULD be good for you? I find myself thinking Thursday nights - people could buy their weekend requirements including any Friday night dinner parties.
Let me know - maybe we could ask around and find a suitable day for a late night. In the meanwhile I'll email them - but let's face it - I have no more power than anyone else!!!
You're right, The Fishmonger Ltd was doing great business for a few weeks but the ongoing and seemingly never ending roadworks in Greenwich have seriously affected trade and without a few more customers braving the traffic on Trafalgar Road, the future's not looking so rosy for them. So come on everybody, let's not see such a great place close down - let's all go buy some fish...
The fishmonger does deliver so maybe that will be helpful to some. Another idea to make the shop more profitable would be to make half the shop into an upmarket fish and chip shop, and maybe use some of the more interesting fish they have around that day. Other parts of town have good chippies, I think it would go down very well.
Maybe they could take over the kebab shop next door...
You will not find a better bit of fish in Greenwich. I shop here regularly and have yet to be dissappointed. The fish is consistantly fresh and the advice is always spot on. Whats more the service is always curtious, which I think cannot be overrated. If the opening hours are a problem for you then pop in before work, I work opposite them and they are always open early, no matter when I seem to get in.
I've just spent nearly an hour getting to this bit of piscine heaven from Charlton via the endless roadworks but the shop's a delight and the whitebait looks terrific.
How's the new shop in Royal Hill doing?
Does anyone know if they have closed down? I always call ahead to check if they have what I need as it means a detour on the way home but there is never any reply now when I call and when I drove past there twice the shutters were down (weekday around 4pm). I do hope it's just a glitch...Anyone know?
These guys have opened up just around the corner from The Creaky Shed and Drings on Royal Hill. They seem to be doing good business and were definitely open today when I walked past.
I bought some salmon from the Trafalgar Road shop today, and very nice it was too. They do seem to keep rather irregular opening hours nowadays though; I suspect the West Greenwich branch has taken a lot of trade away from the original shop. If it's a quiet afternoon they may pull the shutters down early.
There's only one answer - keep shopping at the local independent shops to keep them open!
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