Kusadasi Fishmarket

We needed some fresh fish, so off we went to look for a little fish market. In the past few ports the fish markets weren't great if there were any, but Kusadasi has a market in walking distance to the ship. It is not too big, but I was amazed by the variety of fish available, Seabream, Dorado, Sardines, Mackerels but then as well a couple of beautiful John Dory, Gurnard, Monkfish and Red Mullet. There were loads of Prawns as well, but I wasn't so sure if they were frozen before, as it often happens, or fresh, even so i was assured that everything is very fresh......yes freshly defrosted! But still I was in heaven, the fresh black mussels looked already delicious and I couldn't wait starting to cook them........then the big shock came when I enquired about the price. I know I look like a tourist and working on one of the cruise ships doesn't make things cheaper, but I nearly had to sit down, 10 US$ per kg mussels was the very cheapest I could get. The Mackerels and Sardines were around 16 US$ and John Dory and Red Mullet were up there in the late twenties and early thirties. Usually in Rhodes I get a delivery of fresh fish, Seabream and Dorado for an average of US$ 8.50 and the Mussels I get for US$ 6.
So here on the fish market we started off with drinking some tea, exchanging some words about how business is going and then we started to handle about the fish, how much...what is your best price...OK, but I need 2 kg of this fish, what is your best price on that......no that is too much, all I am prepared to pay is......and so it goes on. I am not a good negotiator, usually (especially in the Far East) I would think (or even say) Oh Wow, that is so cheap!!!! But here I have to be tough.....I think when I walked out of the fish market I didn't get a good deal but at least I could negotiate the price down by quite a bit. I am sure so that the shop owner has a good laugh thinking that there goes an other tourist and I was able to take the money out of his pockets.

The fish was absolutely beautiful, totally fresh, nice tasting, firm and just lovely. I only got some Sea Bream and Dorado, the only fish that was more or less in my budget, but yes I could have gone wild!