IJmuiden

I remember the fishing harbour Scheveningen in the late 1970s. The smell of fresh fish was everywhere, mixed with the smell of tar and oil. Once a year my father bought a bucket of sprotjes (European sprat) and we would clean the fish at home and finish the whole bucket in one evening. In summertime we spent time at the beach. I still love fish and swimming in the cold waters of the North Sea. IJmuiderslag has become my favourite beach. There is no public transport connection. Therefore the beach feels more local and not as crowded as Zandvoort aan Zee - although the crazy amount of dogs is almost a dealbreaker for me. On the upside the North Sea is just as nice and the added bonus is the fishing harbour IJmuiden and probably the best sushi in The Netherlands.

Fishing harbour
The old fishing harbour of IJmuiden is quite small, although you can see very big fishings ships moored in the IJmondhaven not far from the Vissershaven. The Annelies Ilena on the photo below is one of the world's largest fishing trawlers - 145 meters from bow to stern. It is no wonder the fishing harbour IJmuiden has been growing from 9.221 tonnes of landed fish in 2006 to 15.000 tonnes in 2012.

My fishmonger in Amsterdam - Vishandel Tel - opened a second store in IJmuiden in 2002 after the store in "China Town" became too small. Luckily I don't have to travel to IJmuiden for fresh fish since their Amsterdam store is just around the corner, but is seems most fish I buy has been landed in IJmuiden.

Probably the best sushi in The Netherlands
Itamae Kuniyoshi Ohtawara used to work in restaurant Yamazato in the famous Okura Hotel in Amsterdam, but has now settled in Hokkai Kitchen in IJmuiden to work for Hokkai Suisan, a company led by Marinus Noordenbos supplying the Japanese expat community with fish in more than fifteen countries. I am missing the overpowering smell of fresh fish in a small standing sushi bar, other than that his sushi is probably the best sushi in The Netherlands.

I ordered six nigiri but already ate one before I remembered I wanted to take a photo. Shime saba (cured mackerel), nishin (herring), aburi o-toro (seared o-toro tuna and I am pretty sure I had the wijting and zeebaars nigiri. — I ordered six nigiri but already ate one before I remembered I wanted to take a photo. Shime saba (cured mackerel), nishin (herring), aburi o-toro (seared o-toro tuna and I am pretty sure I had the wijting and zeebaars nigiri.