Published on 12, July, 2020
For the first time ever I went to a fishmonger's shop with my mum. I've always had a kind of phobia of butcher's and fishmonger's shops.
Anyway, the staff in this fishmongers were all my worst fears confirmed. My mum asked the young woman behind the counter if any of the fish were local.
A young man and an older man both heard the question too. There was a silence for about 5 seconds while they looked at us like we had three heads.
Then the older man stepped in, and looking at the fish in the window and said with some disdain or annoyance the mackerel was probably local.
We bought a plaice and it was tasty enough but mine had a few bones still in it. we won't be going there again.
The thing that amazes me though is for a fishmonger's to keep going in today's economic climate they must have plenty of repeat customers. I just wonder why. The fish was more expensive than a supermarket, and in my opinion it's only worth paying more if the fishmonger is able to tell you about where the fish have come from.
I wouldn't say it's bad service - you just caught them off-guard. I doubt anyone else asks them anything about the fish so their lack of training and not having a pre-prepared answer meant you got 'glitch mode' - which you can perceive as poor service.
That's another way of looking at it. If most customers don't ask, I find that pretty disappointing. I've seen cookery shows where chefs have eaten fish caught minutes ago on a ship and they tend to say they're the best they've ever had. Maybe a lot of people don't realise how important the freshness of the fish (which would diminish if it had to travel more).