Adelaide is a beautiful and tranquil place – there are an incredible number of green spaces, parks and of course the great Botanical Garden. Another highlight, and one that takes place indoors, is the Adelaide Central Market. This is definitely a MUST SEE when you are in the city. The atmosphere reflects the attitude, lifestyle and zest for life of the inhabitants of this rather small Australian city.
The ease with which you can shop here has long been lost in Europe. Although we were surely recognizable as tourists, we did not pass any of the elaborately decorated booths without a small talk and several tasting bites. Here our counterparts were felt from all over the world – but all of them somehow “arrived at the Australia Way of Live”.
The offer of fruits and vegetables was clearly different from what is offered in German markets – in terms of price, everything was a little more expensive than in our country, but it also felt to be of a higher quality. It somehow seemed like a fusion of European and Asian products, with the many dried meats reminding us of South Africa and bacon & breads more like America or France – in any case a great mixture!
I was especially impressed by the variety of different grapes that were available here. Whether green, red, black or purple – with seeds or without, small and round or forefinger long, there was simply everything.
Many of the fruits & vegetables seemed to be familiar to us visually and in terms of taste, but everything was somehow bigger. The Brussels sprouts, for example, were not as big as a table tennis ball as we had, rather 3-4 times as big.
How could it be different, with “The Mettwurst Shop” there was also a booth with sausage products – let’s say, oriented at the German butcher’s art. But the operators were not Germans and therefore wanted to know if their sausages tasted authentic enough. They did, but after the fifth sausage variation we had to “flee”, because there should be room for more delicacies.
Furthermore, the variety of milk and cheese products was overwhelming – the Australians love the culinary and also good cheese. The halls were so to speak full of pleasure people – what more could you want. Although Adelaide is not located directly at the coast, the offer of seafood was also immense. There was a lot of fresh fish I never saw before – draped next to all kinds of shells, octopuses, shrimps and other crustaceans. If only I had a real possibility to cook, what could not have been “conjured” out of it.
In between, there was plenty of room for the morning coffee and a snack and that’s where the people settled down – nobody seemed rushed because they hadn’t worked through their shopping list yet. So shopping is fun – of course you shouldn’t come here hungry, that would be a mistake, but if you have tried enough here and there, it’s no problem anymore.
Around the market building there are all kinds of small restaurants, bars and of course cafés. A good coffee is, beside a decent beer, almost the most important thing in the world for an Australian. Thus, chains as Starbucks can only operate with a restrained success – people prefer to enjoy some high-quality coffee in the café of their trust.
So, if you should ever be in Adelaide, make sure you visit Central Market at least once – you won’t regret it, have fun!
