Poole's Trusted Fishmonger Since the 1920s

The Shop on Bournemouth Road

Ask anyone in Parkstone where the fishmonger is and they’ll point you up Bournemouth Road. We’ve been at number 12 since the 1920s, and the rhythm of the place hasn’t changed much: the catch comes in, it goes on ice, and from half seven in the morning the door doesn’t stop. Some of the faces have been coming so long that Steve knew their parents, and their parents’ parents. That’s not a marketing line. It’s just what happens when a counter stays in one spot for a hundred years.

There’s nothing quite like choosing your fish in person. You can see exactly what’s on the slab, ask what came in that morning, get a straight answer on how long to cook it, and have it prepared however you like: scaled, gutted, pin-boned, filleted, or left whole. A single fillet for tonight’s tea, a whole side for a party, a live lobster for an anniversary. It all happens in front of you.

Find us at: 12 Bournemouth Road, Poole BH14 0ES Open: Tuesday to Friday, 7:30am-4pm · Saturday 7:30am-3pm

We’re situated on Bournemouth Road in Ashley Cross, a short walk from Parkstone station, with on-street parking out front and on the side streets nearby. Closed Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays, and mornings always have the fullest counter.

Smoked and Prepared On the Premises

A lot of what carries the Parkstone name isn’t just sourced by us. It’s made by us, here in Poole. We cure and smoke our own salmon on site over locally sourced wood chippings, with just fish, salt and smoke, so the smoked salmon that goes into your bag was cut the morning it left us. It’s quietly the most-asked-for thing we sell across the town.

We make our own pâté here too: the kind that turns a few oatcakes into a starter when people drop round. Our wider smoked fish counter runs to naturally smoked haddock and hot-smoked mackerel, all done the slow way. If you want to try the mackerel pâté at home before you buy it made up, the method is in our recipes.

Popping In Versus Ordering In

There are two ways to shop with us, and Poole customers use both depending on the week.

If you’re local to Parkstone, Ashley Cross or Lower Parkstone, popping in is the easy one: no minimum, no waiting, and you can pick the actual piece you want off the ice. Collection from the counter is free with no minimum order, so it’s just as good for a single fillet on the way home as it is for a full weekend shop.

The other way is delivery, and that’s there for everyone the walk doesn’t suit: the family on Canford Heath with the car already full, the household in Hamworthy on the far side of the harbour, anyone whose week doesn’t bend around our opening hours. Both routes pull from the same counter and the same catch. Nothing gets set aside as “the delivery stock.”

Delivery Across Every Poole Postcode

Not everyone can get to the shop. That’s why we deliver across BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, and BH17 in our own refrigerated vehicle, not a courier, not Royal Mail. Your fish arrives in the same condition as if you’d walked it home from the counter.

That covers the whole spread of the town: Branksome and Branksome Park down toward the Bournemouth border, Lilliput and the roads dropping to the water, Oakdale and Creekmoor inland, Upton and Hamworthy out west past the quay. Order by 3pm for the next available day, Tuesday to Saturday. Delivery is free with a £40 minimum order. Browse the shop to fill a box, or call 01202 747661 and we’ll talk you through what’s good.

What Poole Kitchens Actually Cook

Terraces in Parkstone and Oakdale

The Victorian terraces around Parkstone and Oakdale have compact kitchens and households that still cook from scratch. These are our twice-a-week regulars, the ones who know what they want before the door’s shut. A cod fillet for chips on a Friday, a bass for the weekend, a bag of king prawns to throw in a pan midweek.

The Water’s Edge: Lilliput, Sandbanks Road, the Quay

The apartments down toward Lilliput and along the harbour attract people who entertain often and want the cooking to be the easy part. Smaller kitchens, higher standards. Our seafood platters and shellfish are built for exactly that: laid out cold, no stove required. And if your front door happens to open onto a pontoon, Poole Harbour is ringed with marinas and we run a dedicated yacht provisioning service to all of them.

Family Homes on Canford Heath and Creekmoor

Out on Canford Heath, Creekmoor and Upton the kitchens are bigger and so are the appetites. Our fish pie mix (salmon, cod and smoked haddock, diced and ready for your sauce) is made for a midweek family meal; it is made up at the counter rather than sold online, so ask in the shop or call 01202 747661. The coated portions keep the fussier young eaters happy while everyone else has the proper stuff.

A Hundred Years on the Same Street

Poole grew up around its harbour, and a working fishmonger has always been part of that. We’ve watched the town change around the shop (the quay smarten up, the marinas fill, Ashley Cross turn into a destination) but the job behind the counter is the one it always was. Find the best fish, much of it day-boat and locally landed when the boats are out, prepare it properly, and look after the people who come through the door. That’s been the whole of it for a century, and it’s still the whole of it now. Check what’s in season, read the blog for tips from the counter, or start your order.