Mercato Ittico

We finally made it to the Seafood Market! Probably you have also heard that Milan’s seafood is the freshest you can get in Italy although the nearest coast is almost 2 hours away. Well, most of that seafood comes from this place, a big marketplace in the southeastern part of the city. During the week it’s only open to restaurants and businesses so you can’t just go there and buy your fish, but then during Saturday mornings, from 9.30 to 11.30 just a few stalls remain open for everyone to buy their fresh fish.
It’s a market so you’ll find the people in the stalls shouting the prices and offers and showing their products, crowds standing in front of them (if you’re not very tall, like me, you won’t be able to see a thing — or be ready to push your way to the front), wet, slippery floors and obviously, strong smell of fish.
We went there just to buy something for lunch but ended up buying also for the day after and even something to keep in the freezer. They are used to selling in big quantities so don’t expect to go there and ask for 3 shrimps and 2 slices of swordfish… like we though. Everything is sold by the kilo so we brought home almost 3 kilos of fish, too much for just the two of us, but we loved the taste and quality of everything and we saved half in the freezer.
Prices are not cheap, perhaps a bit higher than what you usually find at the supermarket, but quality and freshness here are ensured. If you’re lucky enough, by the end (around 11.15 or so) they might lower the prices trying to sell everything they have left.