The markets with the most taste testings in Sydney goes to Eveleigh Markets! Join Kylie and Billy Kwong, Sonoma Bakery and others to sample high quality and organic foods every Saturday from 8am-1pm at Carriageworks, Redfern.
“Eveleigh Market originated to provide a bustling neighbourhood market where you can purchase high quality authentic goods direct from the people who grow, raise and make it plus the designers, artists and craftsman who create it.”
Walking from Redfern to 245 Wilson Street only takes less than 10 minutes and will seem shorter if you’re with someone else. Once you get to the entrance, have a glance below and check out the crowd!
For this blog, I did a crazy count of:
1. How many food stalls there were – 53
2. How many food stalls had test tastings – 25
3. How many test tastings there were altogether – 126
It will take you a good half hour to go through all the stalls and check out what kinda of fresh produce there are and it may vary every week. This was just one example.
Conclusions:
1. Nearly 50% of food stalls had tastings. There were coffee shops, breakfast and lunch stores, freshly picked vegetables which I also counted in the draw. I included them because I saw one stall had mushrooms but also virgin olive oil to test.
2. On average, each food stall with tastings had approximately 3 choices. Sure, there was Pukara that smashed the number with almost 10 different types of delicious olive oils to sample, or even the Country Valley ladies helping us to almost 10 different cheeses, yoghurt and juices. Sharing is caring.
3. If you go twice around sampling almost everything and counting how many samples there are in the markets, then you’ll be too full for lunch #truefact. My mum and I did the counts last week and we had breads, olives, angus beef, yoghurts, museli, juices, brownies…. which is basicially the equivalent to a fancy three course meal of starters, mains and an extensive dessert.
Just as a side note, I would like to acknowledge the following stall owners.
Farmer Jo for being the most generous with his samples. Every time we passed the stall, there were sample cups filled to the brim with his delicious museli. Can’t go wrong with either burnt fig and cinnamon almond, pear pecan and spiced ginger, or pineapple and quinoa crunch.
Yalla for having the most delicious samples. Goodness me, the boys had mango, chocolate, banana, berry, prune and vanilla, and other yoghurts to test out. They also had breads with huge amounts of hummus, beetroot and other relishes spooned on top. There is no doubt they were constantly selling their amazing products so you’d have to wait for some of these babies to come out. Definitely worth buying!
Pukara Estate for the most samples at a stall. I know you might think they cheated with 20 olive oils on show but the lady there was so welcoming and encouraged us to taste all of them! Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar are my favourites.
Also special mention to the guy at the alpaca store who very informative about alpaca farms in Australia, the enthusiastic honey dude who gave everyone two samples and asked ‘do you prefer number 1 or 2’ with a huge smile, and the juicy Angus beef at the juicy burger stores. #kudos
You’ll even get to see Billy and Kylie Kwong in action!
To be honest, Eveleigh markets is slightly pricey but you know that you’re getting your monies worth because everything is sold directly from the producers. It’s hard work and they put many hours into what they sell, drive all the way to Redfern and are there with their smiles from early on in the morning. Definitely worth a visit and no entry fee! (not like there are usually any for any markets…)
Review Rating : =D =) =| =(
Product (free taste testings at Eveleigh Markets): =D
Ambience: =D
Service: =D
Value: =D
Would I recommend going to Eveleigh Markets to a friend? If you didn’t know about these markets, then I would definitely get your bum there for a week at least! It’s a busy vibe and not only do they offer foods, but flowers, herbs, and others too!
Would I donate the money saved to my charity? If the charity was to support local farmers such as the Youth Food Movement (www.youthfoodmovement.org.au/) of course I would! YFM’s vision is to “All young Australians have the capacity and motivation to make food choices that demand and support a healthy and secure food system.”
Highlight: the yoghurt samples- mainly the mango and chocolate. I think we sneakily went for seconds for the chocolate one but they are so goood! Also seeing the passion from all the producers when introducing their products. It’s great to buy something knowing that the profits will go directly to them. The neighbourhood and beyond gets involved and when I was walking from Redfern to the markets, I think I saw nearly every person with a filled bag.
Suggestion of improvement: I think a lot of people like seeing new and different products but this isn’t really the case here because this is how some people do their weekly groceries. I really like how Carriageworks has different art exhibitions every couple of weeks so thats interesting. Everyone is so positive so I don’t really know what to say here!
Ends: never, but is on every Saturday 8am-1pm. Check website for public holiday days.
Link: http://www.eveleighmarket.com.au/
Angela Bee
The Walking Advertisement 