Whenever I mention that I frequently visit the central market I am always astounded to hear the same comment from people... "I don't go there much/at all. It's too much effort". Personally, I think this is lazy/crazy/stupid and try to get whoever I'm talking with to go there and give the markets a second chance.
Going to the markets is in my family. My Mum and brothers and sister all love the markets and I sometimes bump into them there or meet up intentionally for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The stand out feature of the markets for me is all the food choices you have there. Not just stalls (I'll get to that) but also the café's, restaurants, and even some food stall in the food courts. If you have $5 or $10 for lunch or want to splash out a bit on a nice dinner, the markets has something for everyone and every budget.
Starting with breakfast, there's a few main players in my book. The first is The Big Table, a small breakfast/lunch bar that's right in the markets on the gouger st side. This little place has the best brekkies in the markets in my books. Their bread is amazing and always fresh and they know how to cook great eggs any way you ask for them. They also make great coffee.
For lunch I usually go to Chinatown café, a cheap but great little café that does Mee Goreng, Laksa or Hainanese Chicken Rice. Their curry chicken is also good and all meals will be on your table in 5-10 minutes from when you order and will be under $10. Across the road, down Field St you have Thanh Thanh for great Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup or Wasai for sushi and other Japanese food.
Market St also has a great little café (called market st) for awesome breakfasts and coffee, and Compton st has Bliss organic café for something veggie if that's what you want.
Also on Gouger St, there are restaurants galore. My favourites are Go-In Hot Pot -for hot pot, BBQ City - for duck, Ding Hao (dumplings and yum cha). East Taste -great BBC and salt and pepper tofu; Fortune Duck and Ying Chow are also favourites of many people who visit the markets.
For shopping, I have a lot of experience at the markets. I think I have shopped there for my weekly food over 100 times. Probably close to 200. If you want bread, Scala bakery in the market arcade have great ciabatta, San Francisco sourdough, Rye and Olive Cobs. They have a huge range of breads and a story behind each one. For cheese we visit say cheese in the middle near the escalators and opposite that get our fruit and veg from McMahons. There's good reason these guys have earned the middle of the market position.
We visit Poultry cuisine for good quality chicken and free range eggs, Jagger for dips and olives; the mushroom man for our mushrooms; and Angelakis Bro's for fish. House of Health is great for soaps, honey and healthy snacks, as is goodies and grains - which also make a killer green juice for after those difficult super early Saturday morning market sessions.
For meat we visit a few places. Standom's for cold meats and sausages (the Mexican chilli bratwurst are amazing) and Marino meat and food store for great steaks. There's also a great butcher AGA meats in the arcade near Skala bakery where you can buy bulk scotch fillet for $10 a kilo.
Kim Wang supermarkets is the one stop shop for everything Asian. They have Korean kimchi, Laksa ingredients, frozen dumplings, Japanese teriyaki and tempura and a whole range of sauces, oils, condiments and Asian veggies. They also have snacks with amusing names like "cream collon" and "shrimp flavoured crack" that I always want to buy until I read the crazy ingredients.
There are so many more shops at the markets. I have just listed our favorites, but there are always new shops opening and being refurbished. I miss the Moroccan guy with his harissa, tagines and preserved lemons, but there are a few new places that have just opened that I'm going to take time to visit. I think everyone in Adelaide should have to visit the central market at least twice a year or get kicked out of the state. It's just too good to ignore. read more