English Market

English Market Review

Food lovers (and, who, pray, isn't?): be sure to make a bee-line for one of the misleadingly small entrances to this large and famous mecca-for-foodies. Fetchingly housed in an elaborate, brick-and-cast-iron Victorian building, it bears the official name of the Princes Street Market, but it's also known locally as the Covered Market along with its general nickname. Among the 140 stalls, keep an eye out for the Alternative Bread Co., which produces more than 40 varieties of handmade bread every day. Iago, Sean Calder-Potts's deli, has fresh pasta, lots of cheeses, and charcuterie. The Olive Stall sells olive oil, olive-oil soap, and olives from Greece, Spain, France, and Italy. Kay O'Connell's Fish Stall, in the legendary fresh-fish alley, purveys local smoked salmon. O'Reilly's Tripe and Drisheen is the last existing retailer of a Cork specialty, tripe (cow's stomach), and drisheen (blood sausage). Upstairs is the Farmgate, an excellent café.