Manchester Fine Food Market

If you’re a fan of hog roasts, paella, wood-​fired pizza and vintage-​style tea shops, head to the Manchester Markets on St Anne’s Square before it disappears again.
A mooch around the market is the perfect way to liven up an otherwise dull day at the office (or living room, if you work from home, like me), so as soon as the clock strikes 1pm, get yourself there.
You’re going to spend, on average, about a fiver for takeaway food from one of the stalls but portions are good — especially at the Hog Roast stall, where they’ll ram your baguette so full of pork and apple sauce you won’t know where to start.
As well as food, you’ll find a number of stalls selling art and hand-​crafted décor for the home, plus vintage furniture and clothing in the market’s main indoor area; The Orangery, where you can also see/​hear live music at certain times throughout the day (check the signage outside for more details).
I’m really impressed with this little market. It’s brought a much-​needed injection of ‘quaint’ to the city centre. I wish it was here all the time!

I love food markets and this one is one of my favourites. You get everything in one place. It’s possible to try different products and the choice is huge. I like to sample some beers there and try as many things as my stomach can take. But my favourite is always the fudge.
I recommend it to every food lover, connoisseur and laic. Go and enjoy.

Ages ago, when I was working at some horrible temp job in the Royal Exchange building (not the theatre, but the soulless office block next door) I stumbled out into St Anne’s Square at lunchtime to be greeted with the sight of a truly lovely market. I still remember how excited I was, surveying the scene and its lovely goods. I was especially taken aback by the olive stall, which had easily 20 different varieties of olives, marinades etc. Lovely stuff.
There’s just so much good stuff on this market. Specialty dried meats, local cheeses, lovely posh booze. In fact, I have a bottle of the sloe gin mentioned by Angela, from last year’s market, and am saving it for summer cocktails.
Because the traders at this market are deeply involved with the products they sell (I had a chat with one from the dried-​meats stall, who told me that he’s really good mates with a lot of the farmers who supply him, which was nice I thought) they are full of information and are well placed to give advice and suggestions. It’s not cheap here, but it really is good quality. And it’s only once a year; it’s always nice to spoil oneself!

Manchester is one of the best market towns in the country. If it isn’t the weekly farmer’s markets or the Sunday carboot and flea markets, it’s the specialist markets that take place around the calendar. Apart from the now very famous Christmas market, my next favourite annual event has to be the Fine Food Market, usually held between September and October every year in St Ann’s Square.
This is one event that no epicurean in their right mind would miss. Bringing together some of the biggest talents and producers in the North, expect to be fed by the best restaurants in town and offered some of the best home grown produce in the country. According to the government website, ‘speciality meats, smoked foods (fish, cheese, meats and poultry) cheeses, chutneys, pickles, black puddings, ice cream, specialist ales and sloe gin’ are just a very few items on sale here.