While visiting Belfast in late May, we visited St. George's Market, a Victorian Market built in the 1890s. St. George's Market beat other popular UK markets to become to best indoor market earlier this year, beating popular markets such as Spitalfields and Borough Market in London. The market is opened on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. (We visited it on a Saturday, which is the food and craft market. There are slightly different themes on the other two days with Sunday focusing more on crafts and Friday focusing more on food and antiques.)
St. George's Market
During World War II, St. George's Market was used as an emergency mortuary and over 250 bodies were taken there to be identified. Many could not be identified, so there was a public funeral with Catholic and Protestant services. The market was refurbished with lottery money in the 1990s. Today, Belfast City Council runs the market.
A fishmonger at St. George's Market in Belfast
As soon as we entered the market (from May Street), we found ourselves in the fish section. I always love looking at the fish section because they are so exotic and different (even if I have to hold my nose because it is not the most pleasant-smelling part of the market). I grew up in the middle of the country, and fish were not a common sight. Crabs, squid, lobsters, and octopus were among the finds. I even saw some (crabs or shrimp/prawns) moving. The cold ice just sedates them. I feel a bit sorry for them.
Fish, squid, octopus, crabs, oysters
Bread is another common find in markets, and the Irish have their own special types of bread that we do not get in England/Scotland/Wales. Soda bread is common in Ireland. We saw some homemade pot bread and soda bread and also these other loaves.
Irish soda bread
I also saw a stall selling several (about fifteen) different types of pizza breads with different toppings.
Pizza breads
Baked goods were also popular at St. George's Market, and there were pastries, fudge, cupcakes, chocolate, brownies, cookies, flapjacks, and so much more. There were a couple of stalls only selling cupcakes in many different flavours. However, I opted for these small fairy cakes pictured below from one of the stalls selling a variety of baked goods.
Fairy cakes
Flapjacks
One of the most colourful stalls was selling spices. There were three tables filled with colourful containers with different types of bulk spice in them. (Let's hope none ever drop onto the ground because that would be an expensive mess.)
Spices
Many stalls sold craft items, clothing, photography/artwork, and jewellery. I did not photograph any of these stalls.
Fish
There were a handful of stalls selling produce as well. Some also sold beverages or meats. We bought a bottle of spakling lemon squash to mix with water.
Lemons
The middle area of the market had several stalls selling cooked food, such as burgers and curry. In this area there was also a small band playing traditional music and chairs to sit on and watch them perform.
Also in the middle of the market is the market clock. I was not unable to get a good photograph, but it was made in Clerkenwell (the place to buy clocks in the 1800s) in London. It was originally the Belfast Fish Market's clock (Smithfields), and parts of it were badly worn but restored.
Vegetables
St. George's Market is not as large as Borough Market or Spitalfields. (Spitalfields does not sell food items except for some baked goods and it specialises more in fashion and crafts and antiques.) The market is comparable to Borough Market except that Borough Market specialises in food items more. However, Borough Market is nearly always too busy to properly browse anymore (even during off-peak times, and it is especially busy with tourists anymore) and we found St. George's Market to be quieter with less tourists.
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