Octopus
Octopus has dense, sweet flesh that starts firm and turns silky with slow cooking. The tentacles are the prize, with a clean shellfish depth and skin that chars well over a flame once the flesh is tender.
We sell it whole and cleaned at the Barnes counter, the beak and innards removed so it is ready for the pot.
Simmer it gently in salted water with a bay leaf for 45 minutes to an hour until a knife slides into the thickest tentacle, then leave it to cool in its liquid. From there, slice it for a salad with olive oil and paprika or char the tentacles briefly on a hot grill. The two-stage method is what keeps it tender.
How we prepare it
Tell us how you want it and we do it at the counter: whole, gutted, scaled, filleted, skinned, pin boned or portioned. Preparation is always free and never adds to the price.
Allergens
Fish. Shellfish products contain crustaceans or molluscs. Everything is handled on the same counter, so we cannot promise a product is free from traces of other fish or shellfish. Ask us if you need to be certain.
Delivery and collection
How the fish gets to you
Cold, quick and cut to order from the slab at 18 Barnes High Street to your step. Everything is cut on the day it is packed and moved cold. This page covers collection, local delivery and next day delivery across West and South West London, with the cutoffs and the costs.
Can I collect the same day in Barnes?
Yes. Order online and collect from 18 Barnes High Street in about two hours, Tuesday to Saturday. There is no charge for collection and you can talk through what is good on the counter while you are here. The shop is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm. It holds a Food Hygiene Rating of 5.
Do you deliver to my postcode?
We deliver from the counter across 28 postcodes of West and South West London: Barnes, Mortlake, East Sheen, Putney, Roehampton, Richmond, Kew, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Fulham, Chelsea, Barons Court, Kensington, Battersea, Wandsworth, Southfields, Balham, Wimbledon, Brentford, Isleworth, Hounslow, Twickenham, St Margarets, Teddington, Hampton, Kingston, Acton and Ealing.
That is SW3, SW6, SW10, SW11, SW12, SW13, SW14, SW15, SW18, SW19, W3, W4, W5, W6, W8, W14, TW1, TW2, TW3, TW4, TW7, TW8, TW9, TW10, TW11, TW12, KT1 and KT2. Delivery is free on orders from £50. Below £50 it is £5.95 and the £50 is the order total after any discount. Order by 1pm and we bring it to your door cut, wrapped and cold. If your postcode is not on that list, order for collection in Barnes or call the shop on 020 8876 1297.
How does next-day delivery work across West and South West London?
Order by 1pm and we pack your fish the same day for next-day delivery.
- Order cut-off: 1pm for next-day delivery.
- Coverage: West and South West London.
- Cost: free on orders from £50. Below £50 it is £5.95. The £50 is the order total after any discount.
- Packaging: an insulated box with ice packs, sized to the order.
- Preparation: we cut it how you want it. Tell us how you want each fish cut at the point of order.
How is the fish packed for delivery?
Each cut is wrapped, sealed and packed against ice packs inside an insulated box. The box holds cold for a good few hours on the step. Because we cut to order, the fish waits whole on ice until your order is packed, which is the way it keeps best. Unpack it on arrival and put it straight into the fridge.
Do you deliver at weekends?
We do not deliver on Sundays, because we will not ship what we cannot stand behind. Orders placed over the weekend leave on the next working day.
What if I am out when the box arrives?
Tell us in the order notes or leave a safe place instruction with the carrier and we will work around it. The box holds cold for a good few hours, though it will not hold cold for a whole day in August. If the forecast is unkind, we may call and suggest a different morning. Better to be careful than to be sorry.
Cold from our hands to yours.
Planning an order?
See what is typically at its best each month and how much fish to buy per person.
Which areas do you deliver to?
We drive out from the counter across West and South West London. There is a page for each area we are asked about most: Barnes, East Sheen, Richmond, Putney, Kew, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Wandsworth, Brentford, Isleworth, Twickenham, Teddington, Ealing, Acton and Hounslow. Each one covers the cutoff, the cost and how to collect in Barnes instead.
Collecting instead? Find us at our Barnes counter, check opening hours and how to get here or contact the shop.
Related guides: buying fish online in the UK · fresh or frozen fish · is it safe to buy fish online.
Payment
You pay securely at checkout. Fish priced by the kilo holds the most your order can come to, then we weigh it at the counter and take only what it actually comes to. You are never charged more than the amount you saw.
Where it comes from
Most of what we sell is bought directly from fishermen we know in Cornwall. There is no market floor in between. The fish is graded and boxed under ice at the quay, moves by road overnight and reaches Barnes the next morning, where it is cut by hand when you order.
Order by 1pm for next day delivery across west and south west London, or collect in Barnes in about two hours, Tuesday to Saturday.
Read more about buying fish sustainably and the fishermen we buy from.
Related guides: fresh or frozen fish · why fish prices change.