Simon Rhodes, of the Lobster Pot Fishmongers in Wood Street Food Hall, gives you the lowdown on flat fish...

FISH come mainly in two shapes, round or flat. The flat fish are more commonly known as sole. There are many varieties of sole and vary considerably in size.

The smallest is the dab, popularised recently by Jamie Oliver as an alternative to plaice. The largest is halibut, my favourite fish.

Did you know that all flat fish are born round and, as they grow, their eyes move over to the same side so that they can see all around while on the seabed?

Other flat fish include megrim, Torbay sole (also called witches). These are mainly fished off the south west coast and are from the same family as lemon sole and plaice.

Plaice (pictured), very popular here in the UK, have orange spots on them – the brighter the spots the fresher the fish. These are best cooked on the bone and can take bigger flavours. Plaice is also nice deep-fried in batter.

Then we come to lemon sole, with its lemony-brown slimy skin and a lovely sweet taste. These fish are nice with a creamy sauce.

We once did lemon sole fillets in the restaurant which were skinned, rolled and filled with a prawn mousseline and steamed with a Noilly Prat sauce, but these fish are also great just simply grilled with butter and a squeeze of lemon.

Next is the Dover sole. This superb fish inspired many classic dishes such as poached sole bonne femme, sole Veronique and sole a la meunière. This fish is best cooked a couple of days after being caught as the flesh is a little too firm.

These fish are definitely a restaurant classic and their price at market reflects this. Having said that I have managed to get slightly smaller Dover sole at a good price. Very small Dovers are called slip soles and are much more affordable.

Brill is an underrated fish similar to turbot – not quite as tasty but very good all the same. They can grow up to 4kg in weight. These fish sell very well as whole or as fillets.