sydney fish market has found an instant crowd-puller in Hamsi Taverna, the Efendy Group’s Turkish‑Mediterranean restaurant led by culinary director Somer Sivrioğlu. A short time after opening, the market at Blackwattle Bay is reported lively day and night with Hamsi’s southwest corner facing the Anzac Bridge filled with diners on al fresco sofas and timber banquettes. The restaurant’s seafood-forward menu — from poached prawns with tarama to Mooloolaba spanner crab, whole fish options and the briny Hamsi skewer — helps explain why patrons keep coming back.
Hamsi Taverna: a seaside taverna at the market
Hamsi Taverna occupies the prized southwest corner of the new market and offers roughly two hundred seats with sweeping harbour views toward the CBD, Pyrmont and Glebe. The venue blends Bosphorus-style fish-restaurant energy with a relaxed seaside bar feel; day and night the outdoor area is described as the place to be, with spritzes and pilsners in hand. Manager Tristan welcomed visitors and guided them through a menu that foregrounds raw and lightly cured seafood and a selection of vibrant mezze.
Signature dishes named in coverage include poached prawns with voluptuous tarama dressing and crunchy celery and pistachios; Mooloolaba spanner crab served in baby gem lettuce with Turkish pepper mayo; whole fish options such as baby snapper in tahini and Murray cod; the fire-roasted Hamsi skewer of sardines paired with a parsley salad; and a baked conchiglie pasta with vodka sauce topped with spanner crab. For those who stray from seafood, Tasmanian lamb shoulder with smoked yogurt is highlighted. The wine list is arranged by familiar styles and by taste to ease selection, and floor staff are noted as attentive.
Sydney Fish Market design and public promise
The market itself is presented as a major redevelopment conceived to expand the facility and keep the fishing industry at the heart of the location. Designers named include 3XN GXN studio of Copenhagen in collaboration with BVN Architecture and landscape architects ASPECT Studios. Infrastructure NSW is identified as the public body that decided to relaunch the market, doubling the existing site from 6, 000 to around 12, 200 square metres and dedicating roughly 6, 000 square metres to public space accessible day and night.
The Fish Market is laid out on four levels from bottom to top: a car park; an area for fishermen and auctions; fishmongers and restaurants; and a cookery school plus offices. The architecture uses colonnades and glass walls to let the public see activity inside, turning handling and preparation of fish into a visible process. Audun Opdal and Fred Holt, partners at 3XN GXN studio of Copenhagen, say, “The fish market in Sydney is an institution, ” and describe the new structure as a platform for fishermen, workers, customers, residents and tourists. The roof is engineered to channel rainwater into collectors and features some 400 pyramid-shaped cassettes that harvest solar energy on the north side while admitting natural light and ventilation on the south side; prefabricated timber beams were supplied by the company Rubner.
What’s next
Operators and designers have framed the redevelopment as more than a collection of stalls and restaurants: the plazas and open, covered routes are conceived as an auditorium for performances and collective activities, a functional and scenic platform for the city. At the same time, practical concerns remain in view — earlier commentary noted budget overruns and lingering parking difficulties — and some observers say the long-term market buzz is not guaranteed to persist. Alexandra Carlton, a journalist who covered the opening, writes, “Perhaps the market buzz will die down over time — the terrible parking rumours weren’t entirely wrong, after all — but Hamsi feels set to endure; a confident little corner of harbourside sunshine. ” For now, the combination of the new architecture and Hamsi’s packed tables is reshaping how visitors experience the redeveloped sydney fish market.
