Cardiff Market is a Victorian indoor market that has occupied the same building since 1891, a cast-iron and glass hall entered from St Mary Street. It is the kind of unpretentious market that still actually functions as a market rather than a food hall for tourists: butchers, fishmongers, cheese sellers, fresh vegetables, cheap cafes and stalls selling haberdashery and electrical bits. The cockles and laverbread stall is the one to find — laverbread, made from seaweed, is a Welsh staple that looks alarming and tastes wonderful with bacon.
The market is at its best on weekday mornings when it is full of locals rather than visitors. On Saturdays it gets busier and some stalls shift toward crafts and gifts, but the core food market remains intact.