8 May 2019
I have always enjoyed visiting markets in the countries I visit. It is fascinating to see the local produce and items on sale, especially those that are unique to the country and not commonly seen back home.
The most famous market in Melbourne is the Queen Victoria Market (QVM). QVM is closed on Monday and Wednesday so we went to the South Melbourne Market instead (Opens Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun from 8 AM to 4 PM). This market is a lively indoor market with stalls for local produce, meat and seafood. Most important for us, there are cafes serving local and global fare.
Although this market is smaller compared to QVM, I was told by my niece who is studying in Melbourne that it is equally interesting. She also recommended some food that I must try at the South Melbourne Market. It is good to go to South Melbourne Market with an empty stomach!
Located at the Corner of Cecil and Coventry Streets, the market is easily accessible by tram from our apartment near the Southern Cross Station. We arrived at about 9.30 AM in the morning and the market was already buzzing with activity.
Earlier in the morning, we had woken up at 5 AM to watch an extraordinary live game of football. It was the Champions League Semi-Final game between Liverpool and Barcelona at Anfield where Liverpool had to overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit. And I watched my team did it by winning the second leg 4-0 at Anfield. All the excitement of Liverpool doing the “impossible” had made me extra hungry.
First thing on our agenda when we arrived at the market was breakfast. We found the bakery recommended by my niece. Called the Agathé French Pâtisserie, we could see people lining up in front of the stall to buy pastries and croissants.
Agathé Pâtisserie at South Melbourne Market.
We joined in the queue and watched the bakery chefs in the shop preparing dough for the next batch of pastries to be cooked. What could be better than freshly baked pastries!
We did not have much time to also admire the sweet and savoury goodies on the counter as the queue moved quite fast.
We bought a traditional croissant for AUD 5 and a ham and cheese pastry. They are served in takeaway paper bags.
We went to the Market’s Food Hall to buy freshly ground and brewed coffee from a stall called Canteen to go with our pastries.
Agathé Pâtisserie’s croissant was deliciously buttery and soft on the inside and flaky and crispy on the outside. Just as good as the croissant we ate the previous day.
We wanted to try the borek next. The borek is a savoury Turkish pastry. There is a Borek stall at the Food Hall selling boreks, pides (Turkish bread), wraps, salads, soups, dolma and Turkish breakfast. The Borek stall sold boreks with fillings of spicy lamb and vegies, cheese & spinach or spicy potato & vegies.
We bought the spicy mutton borek for AUD 4. It was quite a large portion, enough for two persons to share. This was the first borek I had eaten. Not bad but I would prefer the French croissants over this pastry.
Our half-eaten spicy lamb borek. The pastry was slightly chewy and the fillings could be a little more generous.
Once our stomach was filled, it was time to burn some calories exploring the rest of the market.
The market is divided into sections, each focusing on items like fresh meat, fresh seafood, processed foodstuff and colourful fresh fruits and vegetables. There are also sections for home and living, pets, nursery and flowers, fashion and accessories and services for hair and body.
Amazingly fresh meat for sale. If only we could get such fresh meat back home.
Wide variety of seafood at one of the seafood stalls.
I enjoyed browsing through the colourful produce at the seafood and vegetable stalls. Some the ingredients triggered memories of episodes of MasterChef Australia where these ingredients were featured in the show.
Pointing to the red baby beet-roots.
Although there are stalls selling pet related goods, this giant Newfoundland dog is not for sale. It belongs to a shopper at the market.
One must-try food at the South Melbourne Market is the freshly shucked oysters. If you like fresh oysters, this is the probably the cheapest place in Melbourne to savour them
There are a few seafood stalls offering these juicy morsels that could be purchased and eaten on the spot. There are counters set up in front of the stalls with all kinds of sauces and condiments for the oysters.
Our freshly shucked oysters with all the sauces at the counter.
We bought a dozen of Woody Island Oysters from the Aptus Seafood stall. Yummy.
Once we finished our oysters, the shells are discarded into one bin and the rest of the waste into a separate bin.
In addition to sampling the yummy delights, we also bought some bottles of Australian pure essential oils at the market.
From South Melbourne Market, we took the tram back to the city centre. Our plan for the afternoon was to visit Brighton Beach in the afternoon, followed by St Kilda Beach in the evening.
Overall, we had enjoyed our morning visit to the South Melbourne Market. My only regret as I wrote this blog post was that we did not eat more oysters there nor buy more croissants from Agathé Pâtisserie to eat at the beach.
Back in the city centre, we dropped by Hosier Lane for another look at the street art since it was very near to the Flinders Street train station where we would take the train to Brighton Beach.
Back to Hosier Lane again for more photos of the street art.
Next post – Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes and penguin spotting at St Kilda Beach.
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