Looking back on St David’s Day in Cardiff City.
It didn’t even occur to me when I booked the train tickets that I would be arriving in Cardiff on St David’s Day. A National holiday. I’d assumed that Cardiff Market would be closed but no, there it was, gates wide open, shoppers hurrying in and out. Just ahead of me, disappearing inside the market, a little girl dressed head to toe in Welsh costume ever so slightly bringing to mind the red hooded killer in Don’t Look Now. Under its bright glass roof, the market has been in business since the 1700’s. Originating as the city’s gaol, the current building is grade two listed.
The atmosphere is pleasantly humming. It’s a beautiful Victorian structure; a proper covered market place. Stalls sell jewellery, cards, hardware, flowers, cheese, olives, bread, meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. On one side there’s a very smart looking vintage clothing stall and in the centre, a herb and spice emporium with an impressive range. But the busiest stall has a queue that wraps around two green grocers in the middle of the market and snakes into the hinterland of the deli stall. Cardiff Bakestones makes and bakes their traditional Welsh Cakes right in front of you.
Everyone ahead of me is ordering a dozen; I feel hypnotically drawn in to go with the flow. The woman in front of me in the queue assures me they’re the best in Cardiff. They make non traditional varieties (chocolate chip, lemon curd) but the traditional currant one is where it’s at. If you don’t know what a Welsh Cake is, imagine a flat scone cooked on a hot griddle instead of in the oven. The cakes they serve are still warm and fresh.
The man serving me says they’ve been up since 2am getting ready. Despite the number of customers, the team are happy, helpful and friendly. It’s only when I walk away clutching my bag of Welsh cakes that I wonder what I’m going do with a dozen of them.
At the back of the market (or the front depending upon where you enter the site) there’s a greengrocers and Ashtons fishmongers, one of the oldest stalls on the market. They sell fresh laverbread amongst a huge display of fish and shellfish. I know, laverbread isn’t the most appetising to look at. It’s also known as black gold, or Welsh caviar, ‘bara lawr’. The seaweed is boiled for hours before being pureed. Laver (Porphyra) is the same seaweed used to make sheets of nori in Japan.
On the second floor and occupying quite a few ground floor booths are hot food sellers. My eye is caught by the sign outside Dirty Gnocchi; St Davids Special; cockle popcorn and laverbread aioli. £5. Bargain. Laverbread with cockles is a traditional pairing. It’s delicious. The first hit of cockles and laverbread of the weekend.
Pontcanna to the west of the river Taff is a hub of restaurants. Breakfast the next day is at Milkwood where they’ve got cockles, bacon and laverbread on the menu.
It’s delicious, if very rich from the butter. A short walk in the rain to the second market of the weekend. Pontcanna Market calls itself a farmers market. It’s not, as this picture from their Instagram feed shows. Down a small yard there’s plants, bread, cakes, eggs, wholesale vegetables and cheese. I bought a delicious sheeps milk blue cheese from Dolwerdd farm stall, feeling sorry for the stall holders who are holding out despite the torrential downpour.
Riverside Market takes place on Sundays, right by Cardiffs’ riverside from 10am. Visit Cardiff say that the market is widely recognised as one of the key food attractions in the Welsh capital.
I arrive just before 10am to find the market in full swing with queues of customers at stalls and people leaving with bags of vegetables. It’s unclear what time they start selling to customers.
At least here there are a few farm stalls; meat, eggs and Welsh butter, apples and juice. One vegetable stall has no prices and no signs to say where any of the produce comes from but I do later find them online; Paul’s Organic Veg. Good looking purple sprouting broccoli and leeks and very happy customers. There seem to be more craft and baked goods/coffees/hot food stalls than farmers. I wouldn’t make a special journey to come here but if you live nearby, it’s great to have.
If you come to Cardiff don’t miss the beautiful arcades and Cardiff Castle. I love a good arcade, especially, as with those in Cardiff, they’re not full of exclusive brands aimed at tourists. Here the offering is set squarely at local people. Quirky, idiosyncratic, very few chains and very Cardiff. Greetings cards, shoe repairs, clothes alterations, bakeries, book shops, cafes, restaurants.
Sit outside with a cocktail or an excellent cup of coffee from a local independent (thank you Uncommon Ground in the Royal Arcade), and buy local cheese from Ty Caws at Castle Arcade which is exactly what I did. I’d gone there in search of Caws Teifi cheese with seaweed, but shop owner Owen put me off it, telling me that the cheese with cumin was better. The arcades come alive as the sun sets, looking more like Paris or Lyon than a Welsh city as people gather for drinks and dinner.
Dinner at The Potted Pig. The first Welsh asparagus of the season, Welsh lamb and the last taste of the sea courtesy of their extensive gin menu; a seaweed gin from Da Mhile.
The castle. It’s jaw dropping. A masterpiece of Victorian Gothic. Just go.
And finally, I was lucky enough to have room service at my b&b.
A friend of mine runs a farmers market in Kendal. Apparently it’s one of the oldest in the UK. Some lovely products. https://kendalfarmersmarket.co.uk/
My fiance is from Cardiff and, in 2018, we took a trip there . We visited the Cardiff Central Market, and while walking around stumbled on the Pontcanna "Farmers" Market. He took a picture of me with the sign but, I agree, it's a cute little gathering of fun offerings but, as a farmers' market, disappointing. (I tried to attach my photo here, but it didn't work.) We never visited the Sunday market, didn't know about it, but whenever we next go we'll have to check it out. And he likes laverbread, but I've yet to try it. Whenever we return to the UK I'll have to reach out to you so you can let us know where the really good markets are. Anyway, this was really fun to read!