Best markets for food in France, Spain, London
Trawling these vibrant hubs of commerce is a way to look inside the soul of a travel destination. These are our favourites.
Trawling a city’s main produce market is a way to look inside the soul of a travel destination. These bustling hubs of commerce are filled with noise, colour and smells – pleasant or otherwise. And they offer insights into how the locals live, cook and eat, from national staples to more obscure fare. Here are some of our favourites.
Riverside Market, Christchurch
It’s no stretch to say the best part of a day could be spent browsing produce stalls, dining and dithering over ice cream flavours in the South Island city’s Riverside Markets complex. It’s a multifaceted precinct and, like Adelaide Central Market, presents a microcosm of the flavours and enterprise of a multicultural community. In a high-raftered hall, the stalls, bars, bakeries, creperies, boutique brewers and distillers, and specialist providores are buzzing seven days a week. Radiating from this nexus are the boutiques of Riverside Lanes and terrace cafes by the River Avon. The feel is airy and chic, with big conical light fittings, vertical garden walls and timber posts and rafters creating the illusion of a stage set. And starring in this groovy setting are sushi trains, ramen joints and standouts such as Bernie Luu’s fabulous Hanoi Alley for Vietnamese specialties. Or just grab and go from the purveyors of all of life’s best comestibles, from farm-fresh veg, cheese and honey to seafood and fruit.
Tip: The house-made ice cream at Gelato & Tea is sublime; go for mandarin or pistachio.
newzealand.com/au/christchurch/
SUSAN KUROSAWA
Great Market Hall, Budapest
It’s hard to believe that a stack of cauliflowers could inspire admiration. But ranged alongside deep red bell peppers, tomatoes and dark purple eggplants, fringed by oranges, this produce stall in the Hungarian capital’s Great (or Central) Market Hall, is a colour wheel of goodness. Located on the Pest side of Liberty Bridge over the Danube, the market hall with neo-gothic entrance and roof supported by iron ribbing could easily double as a grand European railway station. It was destroyed in World War II, but rejuvenated 30 years ago. On the ground floor, delectable farm produce, salamis, olives and deli delights are everywhere, along with peppers dried and ground into the nation’s staple spice, paprika. Downstairs, find fishmongers and an astounding array of pickles; up the wrought-iron staircase to level three is dining.
Tip: Enjoy local loves such as turos retes (sinful strudel, although it can be embedded with cottage cheese) or dobos torte, layers of sponge crammed with chocolate butter cream and topped with caramel. Go for goulash, too.
GRAHAM ERBACHER
Rusty’s Markets, Cairns
Ever looked in your fruit bowl or fridge and thought, “I’m a little short on baby mangosteens, kang kong, organic poblano chillies and choko leaves.” If so, Rusty’s Markets in the centre of Cairns can sort you out. The gigantic range of colourful, fragrant tropical produce at this rowdy weekend market, which opened in 1975, has to be seen, and inhaled, to be believed. On one table there’ll be 15 types of tomato; the next, six varieties of melon. No wonder most of Tropical North Queensland’s chefs can be spied racing round the aisles. But visitors don’t need to feel left out, as there’s a guy selling knives near the entrance. Buy one, then grab a handful of dragonfruit or mangoes to eat as you go about your day.
Tip: The veg samosas from Govinda’s Yummies have a cult following, especially dunked in house-made tamarind and date sauce. Ditto sweet Vietnamese coffee at Annee’s Caphe Sua Da.
ALEXANDRA CARLTON
Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, Lyon
Do not enter the “belly of Lyon” without a cake fork, a cheese knife and a corkscrew. In fact, take a picnic set, because these offerings will not wait. The third iteration of a main market in France’s food capital is named for its “Pope of gastronomy, the unstoppable magician of the stoves”, and behind its unremarkable facade are 50-plus high-echelon merchants. The charcuterie at Sibilia centres on free-range pork, while its neighbour Rolle deals in house-made duck foie gras and smoked Scottish and Norwegian salmon fashioned into savoury terrines, rillettes and entremets. Countless cheeses reside at Maison Cellerier, whereas Maison Merle keeps things simple with oysters and shellfish. The candied fruit displays of Bahadourian are a work of art, and it feels criminal to slice into the delicacies at chocolatier and patissier Seve.
Tip: Want truffles? Dine at Maison Blanchet, one of the market’s 11 cafes, bars and restaurants.
JEREMY BOURKE
Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City
Four gates lead into the vast undercover labyrinth of Ben Thanh, on the site of a trading hub that dates back to the 17th century. Pick one and you might find yourself surrounded by stalls stacked with swathes of fabric, sneaker knock-offs, fake designer handbags and T-shirts; take another and browse vendors peeling prawns and splashing iced water over gleaming catches of the day or rearranging buckets of fragrant herbs or flowers – the tulips are particularly exquisite. There’s a section devoted to dried goods, including specialist noodle vendors who also sell sachets of instant pho broth powder – surely an inferior alternative to the real deal. That’s OK, because you can get a bowl of the soup that fuels the nation in the central food court where other Vietnamese staples such as banh xeo (savoury pancakes) are cooked fresh and fast. Being under the red corrugated tin roof during a monsoonal downpour adds another dimension to the experience.
Tip: Save souvenir shopping for here (there’s some lovely lacquerware), and be prepared to haggle hard.
PENNY HUNTER
Mercato Centrale Roma, Stazione Termini Roma
A cloud of steam rises from a pocket of white pizza dough releasing the aroma of roasted tomatoes. I’ve traipsed to Mercato Centrale Roma to try aromatic trapizzino, the pizza pocket with the cult following developed by Stefano Callegari. It would take several visits to sample everything on offer in this soaring 1930s structure that was once a meeting place for railway workers. This buzzy corner of the Stazione Termini underwent a makeover in 2016 and now includes 15 vendors and one restaurant. Nowhere is the evolution of the multicultural Italian dining scene more evident. Head to Akira Yoshida’s stall for gyoza. Go to Gunther’s Rohregger’s for artisan gelato and to the Cucchi family’s shop for an Italian take on a classic hamburger.
Tip: Suss out sfogliatella, the flaky shell-shaped pastry filled with orange-flavoured ricotta and crafted by Sabato Sessa, a third-generation panettiere.
CARLA GROSSETTI
Borough Market, London
Markets on this site, opposite London Bridge and close to the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe, date back 1000 years but now it’s a place for a grazing brunch (nothing opens before 10am). Grab a single-origin coffee at Monmouth and work out your plan of attack through 140 stalls within a maze of passageways underneath the railway viaducts. The best of British is purveyed at the likes of Neal’s Yard Dairy for specialty cheese, charcuterie Dorset-style at Capreolus or Richard Haward’s freshly shucked oysters. Get a sweet treat at Humble Crumble or goat’s milk ice cream at Greedy Goat. There are several wine merchants although, if it’s chilly, enjoy a mulled cider at London Cider House. There are also plenty of international flavours, including Portuguese sardines at the Tinned Fish Market, genuine Alto-Adige speck from Alpine Deli, and several fine Middle Eastern outlets and delights from India and the Caribbean.
Tip: For sit-down dining, nothing beats fish pie or Cornish hake steak at Applebee’s.
JEREMY BOURKE
San Miguel Market, Madrid
Madrid’s century-old San Miguel market, a glass-and-iron Beaux Arts beauty beside the Plaza Mayor, is a triumph of reinvention. Opened in 1916, it supplied fresh produce to the capital’s top restaurants for decades but by the end of the 20th century was shuttered and neglected. Revived by a group of concerned (and cashed-up) citizens, it reopened in 2009 as a gourmet space where locals and tourists come for tapas, copas (drinks) and the odd spot of grocery shopping. Specialist stalls sell everything from croquettes to king crabs, oysters and wild Atlantic bluefin tuna. Martin Tenazas is the place for lobster rolls and tacos, while Rocambolesc offers ice creams created by the three-star Catalan chef Jordi Roca. Typical of Madrid, many stalls are licensed but there are dedicated wine and beer bars, a vermuteria and even a “spritzeria”.
Tip: Make a night of it with a tapas crawl around the stalls, open until midnight weekdays and 1am on weekends.
KENDALL HILL
Adelaide Central Market
The city’s beating heart (and stomach) since 1869, this downtown covered market is a maze of colourful avenues and little laneways meandering into Chinatown, crowded with shoppers and vendors calling out the day’s specials beneath charmingly retro signs. More than 70 stalls roam the globe, from Algerian paella and Sarawak laksa to prime Port Lincoln tuna. Keep your eyes peeled for niche stalls specialising in mushrooms or Turkish Delight or local heirloom tomatoes. Also look for foraged fare such as samphire, Coorong muntries and wild boar sausages. Not to be missed are Angelakis Bros for standout SA seafood, third-generation Marino Meat & Food Store (with porchetta and cannoli bar out front) for the best house-made smallgoods and Nonna’s gnocchi. Plus the heavenly Smelly Cheese Co for artisan cheeses (tastings Fridays and Saturdays) and Les Deux Coqs for pastries and glistening terrines. Tip: Pause for coffee at the legendary Lucia’s or something stronger at the cosy Kangaroo Island gin bar.
CHRISTINE MCCABE
Granville Island Public Market, Vancouver
“When the tide goes out, the table is set,” said the Salish people, who once occupied the sand bar wedged into False Creek between downtown Vancouver and the city’s north shore. The reclaimed island was an industrial hub in the 20th century; today it’s been restored as a vibrant food, cultural and arts precinct. The superfluity on which the First Nations people feasted – seafood, game, wild fruit and veg – is honoured in the market. Stalls spill over with plump produce, hand-crafted edibles and showcase dishes that can be eaten at dining spaces dotted throughout. This is a destination market. Browsing gourmet pates, chocolate-dipped apples and sockeye-salmon still glossy with seawater is a pilgrimage in its own right. Tip: The chowder pot pie from A la Mode is heaven in a bowl, and the Oyama Sausage Co is said to be legendary. Arrive early to beat the queues at Lee’s Donuts and, when you’re replete, visit the artists and artisans plying their trades nearby.
CATHERINE MARSHALL