Canada #30 St Lawrence Market, Toronto
On Front Street the façade of St Lawrence Market has an almost stately appearance. The red of the bricks is enhanced by overflowing tubs of begonias, shady market umbrellas and a line of Canadian flags flapping in the breeze.
Step through the wide timber doors and the feeling of calm elegance disappears, as the bustle of vendors selling their wares is matched by the urgency of shoppers in search of the freshest produce and best bargains.
There has been a public market on this site since 1803, first in the north building and, since 1845, in the south. Today more than 120 specialty stores sell fresh foods – fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, bakery and dairy products.
As well as filling their baskets with fresh food to take home, hungry shoppers flock to the restaurants and cafés to fill up on local delicacies and traditional treats.
In April 2012, St Lawrence Market was declared by National Geographic as the world’s best food market.
After devouring our lunch of freshly made crêpes filled with fruit and cream, we could understand why!
Wow! Absolutely in your element, Carol 🙂 🙂
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I do love good food, Jo! There was so much to look at.
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It’s been a while since I have been to this market. It is such a great place for food .
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I would love to shop there every week, the food was beautiful and so fresh.
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I’m not surprised with the best in world accolade – that looks like an amazing place to visit. Imagine if you could shop there regularly – my mind is boggled!!
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If I lived close enough I would shop there all the time for fresh produce. The range and prices were incredible.
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That makes it even better, yes? We have a pretty good farmers market here (not up ‘best in world’ standards, but has taken the accolade for ‘best in country’.) Do you have one close by?
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We have nothing like this at all, which is a shame considering we live near to what is considered to be a food bowl of production.
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That is a shame – maybe start a petition 🙂
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Oh yum!
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Glenys, I could have eaten lunch several times over at all the different stalls. And the fresh food was amazing.
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I never get tired of the St Lawrence Market, but it was so packed when I was there two weeks ago… A great place for breakfast! Now I’m wishing we’d gone to that crepe place! I once bought a great hat there!
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The crepes were very good – you can have one next time. We were lucky, it was the middle of the day when we went and it wasn’t really that busy.
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Ooh I loved the peameal bacon sandwich there! It was so tasty and I’d imagine they sell a lot during winter.
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We didn’t try it but it looked interesting.
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nice blog post as always keep it up
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
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I wonder how they can judge it as the best food market in the world? All food markets are fabulous I think.
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I don’t know the criteria, but this was by far the most amazing food market I’ve ever been to. It was over three floors and even though there were so many vendors not one was exactly the same as another. And the variety within each stall was fantastic. Most importantly, the prices were great.
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I love a good market, and to have earned the title of the best in the world, it must be a very good market. and those crepes…. put the buckwheat pancakes I made yesterday to shame for sure. Looks like a place worth visiting, but oh the choices. I’d be like a kid in a lolly shop!
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We loved looking but didn’t actually buy any of the fresh produce because it was the middle of the day and we were out all day, with no way to carry it or keep it fresh. Also we’d already stocked up our Airbnb fridge at the supermarket. If only we’d known…
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Don’t ya hate that.
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Now that looks like some serious good eating. I LOVE crepes. And, those planters are gorgeous. 🙂
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The begonias were so beautiful Judy. I always love a massed planting like this.
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Before I read this post I was not the least bit hungry. But now I would love the fresh produce. And too many crepes. Delicious.
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We only managed one crepe each – they were much larger than they look in the photo. So tasty!
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Wow. So much to see and taste. Thank You.
Have a nice day!
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We did sample a few goodies on the way round.
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reminds me of the “Number One Fish Market” here 😄👍
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That sounds interesting.
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Ooh I love markets!! They are the first place that we head to no matter what city or small town that we visit. This one looks exceptional. What a fun sign accompanying the crepes.
Peta
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It was amazing to see all this beautiful fresh produce. The crepes were as good as the sign said.
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what a fabulous market 🙂
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It was amazing – so abundant.
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Love visiting markets wherever we travel. The photo of the sign about a peameal bacon brought back memories of the first time I had it. A Canadian friend brought some back from a trip to Canada. She said that is what real Canadian bacon was…not what we get in the U.S.
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Did you like it? We didn’t try it so I couldn’t compare with Australian bacon.
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It was delicious. I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it. More like pork with a cornmeal edge.
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What a stunning market, Carol. I think I could happily eat my way around it and still take home more tasty treats for later. Great mouthwatering photos.
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We certainly tried everything on offer, which is why we only needed crepes for lunch!
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😅
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Well that looks like a most scrumptious spot to visit. I had no idea there had been a market there since 1803! You keep teaching me more and more about my own country.
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There was so much delicious food Sue. We had difficulty deciding what to have for lunch with all the yummy choices.
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What a fabulous market! However, I should not have read this post on an empty stomach…. 😉
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Ha! Maybe you need a quick snack. 🙂
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