Food, glorious food! There’s always top nosh available in this fine city – however glorious weather is something we can only boast about during a very select time of the year.
So what better way to combine those two wonderful things than to head to an outdoor market? Outdoor markets are admired by food lovers because of the homemade food, pleasant service and conversational ambiance that often goes with them – and conversation is another skill Dubliners pride themselves on!
With this in mind, we’ve compiled a handy list of the 10 best outdoor food markets in the city.
10. Waterways Visitor Centre Market, Grand Canal Dock
This one offers a tasty range of food to get you through the day, bringing everything from salads to pallelas to gourmet sausages to this convenient waterside location. Listen to sounds of the water lapping below your feet as you enjoy a fine meal in the sun!
9. The Station Buildings, Hatch Street Upper
Tucked inside in the plaza beside the Old Station
Building (formerly Tripod) is a cosy market of delicious food stalls covering
tastes from all over the globe. This is a perfect spot to grab something to eat on a Thursday if you work around the Harcourt Street area. Make the nearby Iveagh Gardens your dining room to top it off.
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am-4pm.
8. Marlay Park Market, Rathfarnham
This market is situated in the courtyard of Marlay House and draws a lovely
arrangement of quality food stalls as well supplying a whole host of potential adventures in Marlay
Park’s 247 acres. A fantastic day out!
Saturdays, 10am-4pm & Sundays 11am-4pm.
7. Coppinger Row, D2
A small but concentrated collection of stalls in a pretty pedestrian lane right among the busiest streets in town. This market runs every Thursday just by Powerscourt Townhouse and brings a delicious range of tears, from baked goods to Middle Eastern food, into your hands as you move through town.
Thursdays, 11am-7pm.
6. People’s Park Market, Dun Laoghaire
This lovely food market takes place every Sunday in the People’s Park just by the sea and offers an impressive array of local and world foods. With a children’s playground nearby in the park this is a very family-friendly market.
Sundays, 11am-4pm
5. The Red Stables Market, Raheny
Every Saturday, St Annes Park hosts a bustling food market just outside the lovely facade of the red-brick Stables. As well as the market, inside the building you’ll find design
studios, artist work spaces, a commercial gallery and a café; this place is a
brilliant community asset. Combine this with a cycle up to Dollymount or Howth for an ideal summer afternoon!
Saturdays, 10am-5pm
4. Howth Market
Having been running for nine years now, this sizeable market offers a great mix of farmer’s market organic goods and vendors serving up delicious meals. As well as this, crafts and
jewellery are regularly on sale from other stalls.
Make sure to fit in heading to Howth’s West Pier on a Saturday or Sunday at some stage this summer.
Saturdays and Sundays, 9am-6pm.
3. Smithfield Outdoor Food Market
Smithfield’s market is a buzzing spot to pick up some lovely food each Friday. It’s ideal location in the wide open expanse of Smithfield means it draws a sizeable number of fine stalls.
Fridays, 11am-3pm.
2. Mespil Road
The food vendors in this market are hand-picked by Irish Village Markets and run on a rotating basis around the city in various locations, including Sandyford Industrial Estate, Stillorgan LUAS stop, Grand Canal Dock, among others. You can check out their site here for days and locations.
Their market every Thursday just on the Grand Canal is arguably the pick of the bunch however; a lovely scenic place to sit down and eat. Eating a falafel on a bench next to Patrick Kavanagh is one way to help lead you into the weekend.
Thursdays, 11.30am-2pm.
1. Temple Bar Food Market
In terms of high-quality eats, location and atmosphere, Meeting House Square’s market trumps all others in the city. Temple Bar’s outdoor market attracts some of the most inventive personalities on the food scene in Dublin. The Market Kitchen in particular has been gathering plenty of renown of late.
This market generally tend to fill out into Curved Street and Crow Lane as well; it’s a heaving mini-festival of food each week!
Saturdays, 10am-4.30pm.