Fresh Sea Bass Delivery London
Sea bass — levrek to Turkish cooks, branzino to the Italians — is the fish that wins everyone over: delicate, subtly sweet, endlessly versatile, with skin that crisps like nothing else. At House O Fish we hand-select fresh sea bass at Billingsgate Market and deliver it across London, whole or prepared exactly to your order.
Whether you want to buy whole sea bass for a Sunday centrepiece, fillets for a quick midweek supper, or you’re simply weighing up wild against farmed — everything you need is on this page, from sourcing to cooking.
The House O Fish standard
What Makes Our Sea Bass Special
Plenty of places sell sea bass. Very few buy it the way we do — in person, by hand, to a standard we’d serve our own family.
Hand-selected at Billingsgate
Every sea bass we sell is chosen by hand at Billingssgate Market — bright eyes, firm flesh, gleaming skin. If it doesn’t pass the checks we’d make for our own family, we don’t buy it.
Genuinely fresh, not shelf-aged
We buy the same week we deliver. Your sea bass isn’t sitting in a distribution centre for days — it goes from the market floor to careful preparation to your door, cold-packed all the way.
Prepared exactly to order
Whole, scaled, gutted, scored for the grill or filleted — tell us how you’d like your sea bass and it arrives ready to cook. That’s the difference a real fishmonger makes.
Ordered the personal way
Order through our WhatsApp community and you’re dealing with people who know fish. Ask which size suits your plans, how to cook it, what’s best this week — we’re happy to help.
Know what you’re buying
Wild vs Farmed Sea Bass
Both appear at Billingsgate, and both can be excellent — but they are different fish on the plate and on the receipt. Here’s the honest picture.
Wild Sea Bass
Wild bass live hard lives in open water, and it shows in the fish: typically larger, leaner and firmer, with a deeper, more savoury flavour built by a natural diet. UK wild bass is seasonal, caught in smaller quantities, and priced accordingly — a genuine treat when it’s available and properly fresh.
If you see wild sea bass on our weekly list, it’s because it passed the same hand inspection as everything else that morning.
Farmed (Mediterranean) Sea Bass
Most sea bass eaten in the UK is farmed in the Mediterranean — and good farmed bass deserves its popularity. It’s consistent in size, reliably available all year, slightly fattier and milder in flavour, and excellent value. For everyday cooking and entertaining alike, it’s a superb fish.
The key, as ever, isn’t wild versus farmed — it’s freshness and handling. That part we take care of.
How We Source Sea Bass at Billingsgate
Every Saturday we’re on the floor at Billingsgate Market before dawn, while the best of the catch is still there to be had. We inspect sea bass fish by fish — bright, clear eyes; vivid red gills; firm, springy flesh; taut, gleaming skin; that clean smell of the sea. Anything that falls short stays at the market.
What we buy is prepared the same day — scaled, gutted, scored or filleted to your order — then cold-packed and delivered fresh across London. It’s a short, careful journey from market to table, and you can taste it. Read more about our Billingsgate fish delivery, or learn the same checks we use in our guide to how to choose fresh fish.
Taste & Texture
Delicate, clean and subtly sweet, with fine, moist flakes and a medium-firm bite. The skin — scored, oiled and given proper heat — crisps to gold like no other fish. Elegant enough for guests, forgiving enough for a Tuesday.
Buying well
Choosing Your Sea Bass
A little knowledge goes a long way at the fishmonger. Here’s how to buy sea bass with confidence — and how much you’ll need.
Judge the freshness
A fresh whole sea bass has bright, clear eyes, vivid red gills, taut shiny skin and firm flesh that springs back — with only a clean scent of the sea. These are exactly the checks we make at the market, and you can learn them all in our guide to how to choose fresh fish.
Get the size right
As a rule of thumb: 400–500g serves one, 600–800g serves two, and a 1kg-plus fish makes a generous centrepiece for three or more. Unsure? Tell us how many you’re feeding on WhatsApp and we’ll pick the right fish.
Whole or filleted?
Whole sea bass on the bone stays moister, looks spectacular and is easier to judge for freshness; fillets are quicker for weeknights. We prepare either to order — and we’ll happily score a whole fish ready for the grill.
Buy from a short chain
Sea bass rewards genuine freshness, so buy where the supply chain is short and fast. Our fresh fish delivery London round runs from Billingsgate to your door in the same week — no depots, no shelf time.
Good for you, too
Nutritional Benefits
Sea bass isn’t just a pleasure to eat — it’s a genuinely healthy choice.
Lean, quality protein
Sea bass is rich in high-quality protein while staying low in saturated fat — satisfying, light and ideal for balanced everyday eating.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Like other fine fish, sea bass provides omega-3s, the fats associated with supporting heart health as part of a healthy diet.
Vitamins & minerals
A good source of vitamin D and selenium among other micronutrients — nutrients many of us could use more of, especially through a London winter.
Light but satisfying
Delicate enough for light eating, substantial enough to satisfy — the rare fish that suits both a health kick and a celebration.
From our kitchen
How To Cook Sea Bass
Four reliable ways to cook it — and for the complete walkthrough with times by weight, see our full guide on how to cook whole sea bass.
Sea Bass on the BBQ
A whole sea bass over charcoal is summer at its best. Score the skin, oil and salt it well, and grill over medium-high heat for roughly 6–8 minutes per side, turning once. The skin chars and crisps while the flesh stays succulent. See our full guide to the best fish for BBQ.
Oven-Roasted Whole Sea Bass
The most reliable method. Stuff the cavity with lemon, garlic and herbs, oil the skin and roast uncovered at 200°C for about 22–28 minutes for a medium fish, until the flesh is opaque and lifts from the bone. Our step-by-step guide on how to cook whole sea bass covers times by weight.
Air-Fryer Sea Bass
Fast, easy and impressively crisp. Cook a small-to-medium whole sea bass at 190°C for around 12–16 minutes — no turning needed in most baskets. Perfect for a quick midweek dinner that feels anything but.
Pan-Fried Sea Bass
Best for fillets or smaller fish. Get the pan properly hot, lay the fish in skin-side down, press gently for the first 30 seconds, and cook 4–5 minutes until the skin is golden and crisp, then finish briefly on the flesh side with butter and lemon.
On the plate
Serving Ideas
Sea bass loves simple, bright company. A few of our favourite ways to serve it.
The Turkish way (levrek)
Simply grilled with rocket, sliced onion with sumac and plenty of lemon — the classic levrek plate that lets the freshness speak.
A one-tray roast
Whole sea bass roasted over new potatoes, cherry tomatoes and olives — an effortless centrepiece that feeds the table.
Light and Mediterranean
With a fennel and citrus salad, or steamed greens and good olive oil — clean flavours for a delicate fish.
Straight off the coals
Charred lemon, flaky salt, a scatter of herbs. Grilled sea bass needs nothing more.
Exploring further? Try our fresh anchovies (hamsi) for something bold and traditional, or ask us about sea bream in the shop and monkfish availability on this week’s list. New to buying online? Start with our online fish shop London page.
Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. We hand-select sea bass at Billingsgate Market and deliver it fresh across London and South London, with our round expanding across Greater London. Order by Wednesday midnight for Saturday delivery — join our WhatsApp group to confirm delivery to your area.
Availability at the market varies — farmed Mediterranean sea bass is available consistently year-round, while wild sea bass appears seasonally and in smaller quantities at a higher price. We buy whichever meets our freshness standard that morning, and we’ll always tell you exactly what’s available when you order.
Wild sea bass tends to be larger, leaner and firmer, with a deeper flavour from its natural diet — and it commands a premium. Good farmed sea bass, mostly from the Mediterranean, is milder, slightly fattier, consistent in size and excellent value. Both are genuinely good eating when properly fresh.
A 400–500g whole sea bass serves one generously; a 600–800g fish serves two. For a table centrepiece, choose a larger fish of 1kg or more. If you’re unsure, message us on WhatsApp and we’ll help you choose.
Of course — that’s what we’re here for. Whole, cleaned, scored for the grill or filleted: tell us when you order and your sea bass arrives ready to cook.
Sea bass has a delicate, subtly sweet flavour and a fine, moist, medium-firm texture — refined without being bland. Its skin crisps beautifully, which is why it’s a favourite of chefs and home cooks alike.
Yes. Sea bass is a lean source of high-quality protein, low in saturated fat, and provides omega-3 fatty acids along with vitamins and minerals such as vitamin D and selenium — an excellent choice for healthy eating.
Keep it on the coldest shelf of the fridge and cook within one to two days for the best flavour and texture, or freeze it on the day of delivery. Our guide on how to choose fresh fish also covers storing it properly at home.
This week’s catch
Order Fresh Sea Bass Today
Hand-picked at Billingsgate on Saturday morning, prepared exactly to your order and delivered fresh across London. Join our WhatsApp community to see this week’s sea bass and the rest of the catch — order by Wednesday midnight for Saturday delivery.
Keep reading: How to Cook Whole Sea Bass · How to Choose Fresh Fish · Online Fish Shop London · Fresh Anchovies · Behind The Catch