For over 150 years, the Adelaide Central Market has been bursting with delights for the whole family.
With more than 70 traders under one roof, the Market is the iconic home of delicious food and a celebration of different cultures. And for us mamas and papas, it means nabbing the freshest produce to fill hungry bellies and lunchboxes, with a pit-stop for quality coffee and delicious food and plenty of entertainment for all ages along the way.
Put a little spring in your step when you do the weekly shop and check out our pick of what’s on offer at Adelaide’s favourite market…
Grocery grabbing
There are piles of delicious local and seasonal selections of fresh fruit and vegetables every way you look in this vibrant market.
With 18 fruit and veg traders under the one roof, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to all that SA has to offer, with certified organic and minimum-spray produce options also available from this bunch of passionate locals.
Some assemble platters to make entertaining a cinch. Even better — try before you buy, with tastings offered up at most stalls.
Caffeine fix
While there are plenty of hotspots to enjoy a cuppa joe under this roof, you can’t go past The Grind or The Coffee Bean Shop to grab a bag of your favourite locally roasted beans to take home.
Blended to match your at-home equipment, quality beans don’t get more personal than that. Let the knowledgeable baristas whip up your coffee-fix while you soak up the vibrant atmosphere and then head home to continue the good caffeinated vibes there.
See food and eat it
The Market is swimming with the freshest seafood, served up by expert fishmongers. Samtass Bros Seafood is our go-to.
With an enormous range of local and sustainable seafood, the crew happily offers up tips on cooking their produce to perfection and has a long list of dinner inspo to make feeding your family easy — including local whole fish, prawns, blue swimmer crab and even delectable Smoky Bay oysters for those nights that need an extra kick.
Plus you can grab their on-the-go dishes and get freshly-shucked oysters on Friday nights and Saturdays.
House of Health Collective
For the health-conscious shopper, House of Health Collective is the mecca of bulk health and wholefoods.
Recently renovated, they also house Central Organic, which specialises in certified-organic fresh produce and locally-grown seasonal fruit and vegetables, as well as bulk grains, nuts, rice, granola, nut butters, pastas, breads, snack foods and more.
Proudly single-use plastic free, they even let you BYO honey jars and olive oil bottles to refill from their extensive range of raw, cold-pressed and organic products in-store.
Milk it
Apart from being one of the funniest words ever when you say it over and over again, milk is part of most people’s daily diet and it doesn’t get much better than locally-owned Fleurieu Milk, found right here.
Specialising in farm-fresh and jersey premium milk, flavoured milk and yoghurts, plus special native yoghurts with fellow market trader Something Wild. Yummo!
Get your Jamu on
Say goodbye to excuses of it being too hard or too boring to be healthy, with relatively new kids on the block (since 2017) Jamu.
Specialising in beautiful, brightly coloured treats that are good for you, it’s a pleasure to fill up tummies of all sizes with their huge range of cold-pressed juices, smoothies, smoothie bowls, iced teas, frappes, raw treats and not-so-naughty treats, including icy poles and ice-creams.
Delights of the Turkish variety
It’s all in the name at The Turkish Delight, but what’s on offer isn’t so simple. Boasting around 20 flavours of traditional handmade Turkish delight, you can sink your teeth into the real deal with these gelatine-free, gluten-free and dairy-free goodies.
For a true taste sensation, start with a traditional rose (complete with edible rose petals) then head for the pomegranate, lemon lime, orange, strawberry, mint, mango, choc mint… hmmm, let us know when you’re full.
Ye Olde Sweets
Got a favourite sweet from back in the day that you just can’t find anywhere? Head to The Old Lolly Shop (originally known as Blackeby’s Sweets) and bask in the glory of days gone by.
Part of the Market’s history since the early 1900s, this traditional lolly and sweet stall retails locally-made nostalgic and retro lines, including the boiled fish lolly and Bertie Beetles.
Now open Sundays
Big news! There’s even more time to immerse yourself in the delights of the Market, with it now open Sundays from 8am to 3pm.
With a range of traders choosing to open on Sundays (see their website for a full list), you can kick off your day in style with great coffee and a delicious brekky, then shop the freshest local produce for the week.
There is even free kids’ entertainment from 9am, making it super-fun for the whole family to head to the Market on a Sunday.
Market parking
With 1,000 spaces undercover at UPark Central Market and your first hour free on market days, it’s easy to take a trip to the Adelaide Central Market.
Plus it’s open 24 hours, 7 days a week, with early-bird specials Monday to Thursday. Beep, beep!
Em xx
Opening hours
Tues 7am – 5:30pm
Wed 9am – 5:30pm ^
Thurs 9am – 5:30pm
Fri 7am – 9pm
Sat 7am – 3pm
Sun 8am – 3pm ^
^ selected stalls
