Skip to content

Top Navigation

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Recipes & Cooking
  • Drinks
  • Travel
  • Holidays & Events
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Kitchen & Home
  • F&W Pro

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Food & Wine Books this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Food & Wine

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Explore

    Explore

    • F&W Cooks

      F&W Cooks

      Food and Wine presents a new network of food pros delivering the most cookable recipes and delicious ideas online. Read More
    • Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

      Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

      Looking to amp up your beef stew but unsure where to start? A slow cooker can can take your comfort food to the next level. Read More
    • 50 Affordable Wines You Can Always Trust

      50 Affordable Wines You Can Always Trust

      We’ve assembled a list of 50 of the world’s most reliable, inexpensive wines – bottles that offer amazing quality for their price year in and year out. Read More
  • Recipes & Cooking

    Recipes & Cooking

    See All Recipes & Cooking
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Comfort Food Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Vegetable Recipes
    • Pasta & Noodle Recipes
    • Chefs
    • Meat & Poultry Recipes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Fruit Recipes
    • Seafood Recipes
    • Special Diets
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Steal This Trick
  • Drinks

    Drinks

    See All Drinks
    • Wine
    • Cocktails & Spirits
    • Coffee Drinks & Recipes
    • Juices
    • Beer & Brews
    • Champagne & Sparkling Wine
    • Tea Recipes & Ideas
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    • Wine Regions
    • Restaurants
  • Holidays & Events

    Holidays & Events

    See All Holidays & Events
    • Valentine's Day
    • Halloween
    • Passover
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • Gifts
    • Super Bowl
    • Easter
    • Thanksgiving
    • New Year's Eve
    • Holiday Entertaining
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Kitchen & Home
  • F&W Pro

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Food & Wine Books this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. HomeChevron Right
  2. TravelChevron Right
  3. World's Best Food Markets

World's Best Food Markets

By Food & Wine
Updated June 15, 2016
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
World's Best Food Markets: Oahu Market in Chinatown, Honolulu
Credit: Photo © Thomas Schuman
Andrew Zimmern names his favorite food markets around the world: “Through all of my travels, I’ve found that there’s no better way to feel the pulse of a city or to understand the local culture than to visit a market. I can learn more about a people and their way of life here than I can in the local museum, that’s for sure. Locavore bazaars—where merchant’s hawk the region’s specialties, artisans sell their wares and residents shop for dinner—offer the most authentic and honest experience.”—Andrew Zimmern
Start Slideshow

1 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Palermo, Sicily: Mercato di Ballarò

World's Best Food Markets: Mercato di Ballarò in Palermo, Sicily
Credit: Photo © Gianluca Giaccone

This bona fide neighborhood market is known for the fresh fish, but I’ve got a thing for the meat, specifically, the fritole—fried cow offal (mostly tripe) cut into bite-size pieces. Though an acquired taste, when heaped on a roll and sprinkled with lemon juice and salt, the chewy morsels are magnificent. Although you’ll see plenty of tourists among the sea of umbrella-covered stalls, locals flock to the market for tripe and intestine soup, panelle (pancakes made of fried chickpeas) with eggplant and spleen-stuffed panini. This is market-strolling fare of the highest order.

  • Ultimate Guide to Italian Food, Wine and Style

1 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Marrakech, Morocco: Djemaa el Fna

World's Best Food Markets: Djemaa el Fna in Marrakech, Morocco
Credit: Photo © Nick Leonard

Located next to Marrakech’s historic Medina, this bustling main square is always at the top of the list for travelers, and for good reason. It’s a lively thousand-year-old cultural spectacle, with snake charmers, costumed acrobats, Berber musicians, herbalists and beggars. There are lots of surrounding restaurants that offer upper-level ringside seating, but I’d prefer to take my meal in the midst of all the action. Follow your nose to the vendors hawking méchoui. This pit-roasted whole lamb is pulled by hand, topped with cumin and salt, and piled high on a napkin. Teamed with a glass of mint tea, this might be my all-time favorite market meal. Getting lost in the Djemaa is half the fun. Go in deep and try to head back out where you came in. Good luck.

  • Paula Wolfert in Marrakech

2 of 16

3 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Montreal: Marché Atwater

World's Best Food Markets: Marché Atwater in Montreal
Credit: Photo © Michael Yew

In the 1930s, this Art Deco-style market was built as a government economic stimulus project, and is now home to dozens of produce vendors, delicatessens, fromageries, boulangeries, florists and top-quality chocolatiers. With stands inside the two-story building and outside, there’s plenty to fill up an afternoon. Be sure to check out La Fromagerie Atwater, these guys know their stuff and sell more than 750 different types of cheese. There are quite a few on-the-go lunch options, including Satay Brothers’ steamed pork buns, and sweet or savory buckwheat crêpes from Crêperie du Marché.

  • Montreal Travel

3 of 16

Advertisement

4 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Palawan, Philippines: Puerto Princesa Market

World's Best Food Markets: Puerto Princesa Market in Palawan, Philippines
Credit: Photo © Roberto Cavalcanti

With sky-blue water, fresh produce and incredibly diverse seafood, this picturesque island state in the southern part of the Philippine archipelago certainly seemed like heaven on earth during my visit. Puerto Princesa is usually just a starting off point for tourists seeking the remote get-away-from-it-all destinations, but I’d suggest taking a day to explore the city’s eclectic scene. First stop, the public market. Mounds of tropical fruit and fresh seafood are its calling card, but for me, the banana-cue steals the show. Midget bananas are rolled in coarse palm sugar, skewered, then caramelized in hot oil. It’s like a tropical banana version of a candy apple.

  • Global Guide to Food and Travel

4 of 16

5 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Chengdu, China: Wet markets in the Qingyang District

World's Best Food Markets: Wet markets in the Qingyang District of Chengdu, China
Credit: Photo © Philip Benusa

Chengdu is one of the most underrated food cities on the planet. In 2010, the Sichuan capital was named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, one of only a handful of such cities in the world, based on the relationship between food and culture. And it’s really the abundance of wet markets that sets it above the rest. Head to the Qingyang district, where you’ll find tables of fish, pig brains and innards, buckets of frogs, and plenty of chile bean paste, pickled veggies and tofu—all mainstays in the city’s signature hot pot. Hawkers also dish out heaping portions of spicy noodles, crispy pancakes and barbecued rabbit. This food is so hot and spicy, it may blow your head off—it’s the type of heat the sets your mouth, then throat and eventually your lungs on fire.

  • World's Best Cities for Street Food

5 of 16

6 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Seoul: Noryangjin Fish Market

World's Best Food Markets: Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul
Credit: Photo © Marie McClellan

Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji wholesale market may take center stage as Asia’s greatest seafood market, but Seoul’s giant Noryangjin Fish Market definitely gives it a run for its money in terms of sheer size and variety (think stingrays, clams, ribbonfish, sea squirts, tuna and the list goes on and on). It’s the largest and oldest market in Seoul, with more than 700 individual seafood stalls, you’ll walk miles around the Quonset hut-shaped building without seeing the same stall twice. While perusing the aisles, I like to grab a snack of mentaiko: salted, spicy pollack roe. You’ll find dozens of varieties of this addictive snack throughout the market. And as impenetrable as Tsukiji is, Noryangjin is not. Buy a fish, the fishmonger will fillet it for you, and then you walk to any of the nearby restaurants where they will happily cook it up. It’s a dream come true.

6 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

St. Petersburg: Kuznechny Market

World's Best Food Markets: Kuznechny Market in St. Petersburg
Credit: Photo © Christine Tse

Located next to the metro in the heart of the city, Kuznechny Market houses a true cornucopia of Russian foods and memorabilia. Inside the grand, arched building, aisles are dedicated to Russian mainstays: think caviar, smoked fish, old-school butchers, an array of cheese and pyramids of fresh produce. There’s plenty of bizarre offerings as well, after all a trip to St. Petersburg wouldn’t be complete with out pickled bull’s heart or dried herring with the egg sac still intact. Honey purveyors will compete for your attention, offering fresh honey on the comb, and trust me, once you taste it you’ll never go back. You’ll find some of the more colorful vendors spilling out of the building onto the surrounding sidewalks, selling everything from wool socks to fresh flowers.

7 of 16

8 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Oaxaca, Mexico: Mercado de Abastos

World's Best Food Markets: Mercado de Abastos in Oaxaca, Mexico
Credit: Photo © Jesus Gordillo Gonzalez

You could spend an entire day in Oaxaca’s four-acre central market—you may even need to buy an extra piece of luggage for the market’s dizzying array of tempting handmade crafts, but for me the real draw is the food. The market’s smell alone is intoxicating, a mix of fresh cilantro, sugarcane, chiles and my favorite, tamales. After a day spent watching mole grinders and cactus paddle picklers, you’ll be ready to cough up a few pesos for a batch of exquisite handmade tamales and tlayudas served up by the elderly Zapotec women who cook and sell them in the narrow alleys of the market.

  • Mexico Travel

8 of 16

9 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Paris: Marché Bastille

World's Best Food Markets: Marché Bastille in Paris
Credit: Photo © David Nicholson

It’s the biggest and best open-air market in Paris. A stroll through these aisles truly ranks among life’s greatest pleasures. Wheels of triple-créme Brie, a mind-blowing array of goat cheese, links of cured sausage, mounds of fresh produce, buckets upon buckets of briny olives, bouquets of brilliant blooms and any cut of meat you can imagine beckon the epicurean in all of us. Work up an appetite meandering the blocks of gourmet offerings before ending at a stall offering roasted Bresse-Gauloise or Faverolle chickens, which are turned on a spit while the fatty drippings cascade onto a tray filled with carrots and potatoes. And don’t miss the Middle Eastern bread merchants, the oyster shuckers, the wine gurus, the confiture stalls… This is my favorite market in a city filled with great ones.

  • Paris Travel

9 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Ecuador: Otavalo Market

World's Best Food Markets: Otavalo Market in Ecuador
Credit: Photo © Christine Gartner

Nestled high in the Andes between two dormant volcanoes in the Valle del Amanecer, Otavalo has been at the crossroads of a trade route since pre-Incan times. Today, it is likely the most famous textile market in the country. This means you may fight hoards of tourists seeking out world-renowned tapestries and crafts, but if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find a colorful town rich with history and great culinary traditions. Wake up at sunrise on a Saturday morning and head to Plaza de Ponchos, home to a true farmers’ market, where animals of all kinds are sold and traded by a huge network of farms, slaughterhouses and wholesalers. And before you go into souvenir coma, find one of the many cooks serving motes, hefty bowls of steamed corn kernels topped with roast pork, crispy pork skin and a fresh-tasting tomato-onion-cilantro salsa.

10 of 16

11 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Barcelona: La Boqueria Market

World's Best Food Markets: La Boqueria Market in Barcelona
Credit: hoto © Emyr Jones

One of Europe’s great food markets (and one of the oldest), La Boqueria is a feast for your senses. Designed as a neoclassical square in the mid-1800s, the market’s iconic columns and Moderniste gate with stained glass trim were uncovered and revamped in the 2001 renovation. At the crack of dawn, you’ll see chefs seeking out the day’s freshest ingredients, followed by locals and tourists. In addition to seafood, an abundance of cheese, mushrooms, dried peppers, spices and whole legs of Iberico ham, there are pint-size tapas bars serving great Spanish-style bites. My favorite: Bar Pinotxo’s razor clams served spiked with chile, parsley, garlic and olive oil.

  • Chef José Andrés in Barcelona

11 of 16

12 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Bangkok: Khlong Toei Market

World's Best Food Markets: Khlong Toei Market in Bangkok
Credit: Photo © Ryan Joy

Some of the best food in the world is served in Bangkok, especially Chinese food, and at the city's Khlong Toei market there are dozens of stalls hawking Cantonese-style egg noodle soup: bowls brimming with wontons, greens, roast pork and chicken broth. This is the late night trucker’s meal of choice. KT is a working market for wholesalers and it has a gritty reputation. Come prepared for an adventure. The noodle bowls are a must at 4 a.m., then wander the expansive footprint for exotic fruits, vegetables and finish with an 8 a.m. piece of grilled frog or roasted fish before leaving.

  • Global Guide to Food and Travel

12 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Portland, OR: Portland Saturday Farmers' Market

World's Best Food Markets: Portland, OR: Saturday Farmers' Market in Portland
Credit: Photo courtesy of Portland State University

What started in the early-’90s with only a dozen vendors has grown into locavore heaven with hundreds of farmers, vintners, foragers and prepared food stands. Walking up and down the rows, you’ll find everything from organic and heirloom produce of the Hood River and Willamette valleys to killer grab-and-go bites. On a Saturday morning, I’m headed to Pine State Biscuits for one of Portland’s iconic sandwiches—the Reggie Deluxe... fried chicken, bacon, cheese, gravy and a fried egg all piled onto a fresh biscuit.

  • Portland Travel

13 of 16

14 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Madison, WI: Dane County Farmers' Market

World's Best Food Markets: Dane County Farmers' Market in Madison, WI
Credit: Photo © Laura L. Wentz Photography

The Dane County Farmers’ Market is the largest producer-only farmers’ market in the county, meaning all items are produced in Wisconsin by the vendor behind the table. Located on the steps of the state’s capitol, this Midwest market has been around since the ’70s, when then-mayor Bill Dyke saw it as a way to unite the rural and urban cultures of Dane County. Today, there are more than 150 vendors each Wednesday and Saturday, selling everything from sustainable protein to organic produce and fresh flowers. But I’m in Wisconsin, so naturally I head straight for Bleu Mont Dairy, where the cheese is made in small batches and aged in caves. You won’t taste cheddar like this anywhere else. Next stop, L’Etoile across the street, where chef Tory Miller changes the menu based on what’s fresh at the market.

14 of 16

15 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Apia, Upolu, Samoa: Maketi Fou Market

World's Best Food Markets: Maketi Fou Market in Upolu, Samoa
Credit: Photo © Chris Kearns

This market is definitely in my top five for markets worldwide. The easy-to-navigate 24-hour bazaar is always lively, filled with locals shopping for groceries and household goods. I’m partial to the tuna oke-oke, diced raw fish drenched in lime, coconut milk and fresh chiles. Simple, refreshing and costs the equivalent of a couple quarters. Lamb breasts are barbecued in the back, tobacco is rolled and cut: This is the market you dream about, almost untouched for centuries. Last time I was there I found 18 fruits I had never seen before, let alone tasted.

  • Global Guide to Food and Travel

15 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 16

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Honolulu: Oahu Market in Chinatown

World's Best Food Markets: Oahu Market in Chinatown, Honolulu
Credit: Photo © Thomas Schuman

Nearly 40 percent of Hawaii’s population is of Asian descent, more than any other state. It’s a true melting pot of Chinese, Southeast Asian, Indonesian, Filipino and Japanese cultures and cuisines. Honolulu’s historic Chinatown is reportedly the oldest in the United States, dating back 120 years, and it should be on the top of your list for an authentic (although often gritty) food experience in this island state’s capital. Wake up early on a Saturday morning and peruse the market’s stands hawking roasted pig’s heads and offal, fresh octopus, salted jellyfish, roast ducks and povi masima, a Polynesian-style salted beef brisket. All that being said, I always load up at the old fish stalls selling poke and other fish salads, fresh and pickled fish, or my favorite, the dried aku. Similar to a small jack tuna, ask for it at any fish vendor and they will sell you a few sticks, it’s the best fish “jerky” on the planet. A few blocks away you will find the Maunakea Market Place and Kekaulike Market, lively gathering spots for locals with great food courts, but it’s the fresh fruits and vegetable from all over the island that are the star here.

  • Honolulu City Guide

16 of 16

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Food & Wine

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 16 Palermo, Sicily: Mercato di Ballarò
    2 of 16 Marrakech, Morocco: Djemaa el Fna
    3 of 16 Montreal: Marché Atwater
    4 of 16 Palawan, Philippines: Puerto Princesa Market
    5 of 16 Chengdu, China: Wet markets in the Qingyang District
    6 of 16 Seoul: Noryangjin Fish Market
    7 of 16 St. Petersburg: Kuznechny Market
    8 of 16 Oaxaca, Mexico: Mercado de Abastos
    9 of 16 Paris: Marché Bastille
    10 of 16 Ecuador: Otavalo Market
    11 of 16 Barcelona: La Boqueria Market
    12 of 16 Bangkok: Khlong Toei Market
    13 of 16 Portland, OR: Portland Saturday Farmers' Market
    14 of 16 Madison, WI: Dane County Farmers' Market
    15 of 16 Apia, Upolu, Samoa: Maketi Fou Market
    16 of 16 Honolulu: Oahu Market in Chinatown

    Share options

    Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

    Login

    Food & Wine

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Food & Wine
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • Content Licensing

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
    • Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • Parents this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
    MeredithFood & Wine is part of the Meredith Corporation Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.foodandwine.com

    View image

    World's Best Food Markets
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.