Honest2Goodness Market – the best food market in Dublin

This Saturday Kirstin with Brid invited us over for lunch and trip to Honest2Goodness market (H2G).​

Bloggers sharing delicious pizza

Irish Food Bloggers Association (IFBA) is such a great invention. Kirstin and Caroline did such a great job setting it up. I mentioned you a few events I attended before – Irish Bloggers’ Meeting in Drogheda was one. I have been only a few months in Ireland and I was doing my best to remember as many names and blog nicknames as possible, I didn’t have a clue who was who. Very soon after it, I had great fun at the Irish food photography workshop, but there was even more Irish food bloggers, it was also when I decided to start an English blog. IFBA makes so easy to keep in touch with other food bloggers and events we may be interested in. It was nice to talk face to face with people you usually see on Twitter 🙂

I visited Honest2Goodness market once before, thanks to Clare’s post, but visiting with a bunch of other food bloggers and being able to chat to all the producers gives you much different perspective (well, YOU can chat with producers any time you there, they are very friendly and helpful, but I’m usually very shy and I find it hard to start conversation with strangers. I laugh that I should take small talk classes, because I’m 100% sure they have them in Irish schools, everybody here is so good at it!).

In Poland I was used to having access to really good farmers markets. Nobody would even call them farmers markets, just standard markets. Even in my hometown market I would have 10 different fruits and vegetable stalls, a few bakeries, butchers, a fishmonger and a few stall just with eggs, or potatoes. So only after a few visits to Irish markets I learnt that they are usually smaller and more focused on ready to eat food. Don’t get me wrong they are lovely, I really like Sunday market in Dun Laoghaire, we often go there to spend an afternoon there, but it’s not really a place for your weekly shopping. Dublin is missing one, bigger, indoor space for markets, similar to St. George’s Market in Belfast or Milk Market in Limerick.
So this is why Honest2Goodness Market is so different. Brid and Colm have tried to create a place for your weekly shopping, so you can buy good quality meat, fish, bread, fruits and veggies. There is a pantry where you can buy staples like flour, tinned veggies, dairy and spices. So you see they really try to make your life easier. Apparently if you ask Brid nicely you can even convince her to get to stock a product you regularly buy. Beside the products I mentioned above they also have stalls with variety cakes, jams, chutneys. Did I mention they have wine as well? It’s not in a city center, but there is a lot of parking space.
A few words about stalls we visited:

Big Red Kitchen

Nicola makes delicious home-made jams and chutneys. Her pear and vanilla jam is truly full of vanilla seeds and everything started when she was made redundant.    

Arun Bakery

Peter said they don’t make pretty bread. Well I don’t agree, their breads are beautiful, just look at them. Yes, I know I have an obsession with bread, so I may not be objective. When I was little I was always asking my father (he worked in a bakery) to bring me a bread with a smile (not with my father’s smile). A bread with a smile was one that cracked during baking. There are only a few good bakeries in Dublin I know of, but they are not always on my way, so often I bake a bread. But if Arun bakery would be around the corner, I wouldn’t bake too often. They focus on sourdough bread, that are the best, most natural types of breads. The proofing process takes them around 12 hours. When high-processed bread would be done in 3 hours or maybe less hours. There are even some studies that suggest that sourdough may be decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans. A good bread is just good for you, it won’t hurt your tummy, it won’t make you fat, just pick your bread wisely.

And I’m not saying that because Peter told me he visited my blog (blushing), but they make really good bread.

Peter from Arun Bakery

They even bring the starter with them to the market

The Purple Pantry

Adam is a food blogger who just started his adventure with H2G market this week. This was the first time he stood on the other side of stall and camera.

Vegetables and fruits stall

Colm was telling us that they try to get as many Irish products as possible, but for some products it’s just not possible, but then they just know where it comes from. This garlic came grom France, it’s just much stronger, than the white, Chinese one you can get in most shops. They do have unwaxed lemons.

And there is another stall with organic products only.

Wild Flour Bakery

Beautiful cakes and unusual flavors like a goat cheese macaron. Brownies were so delicious.

My Mexican Shop

Lily is a food blogger as well, she blogs here and sells authentic Mexican products and promotes really good Irish ones as well.

• Sticky Fingers Bakery – gluten free cakes that taste delicious.
• Natural Sauce Company – three delicious sauces Harissa, Muhammara and Romesco, full of flavors and they last 30 days in your fridge.
• Taste with Gusto – delicious Italian products. I need to go back for some really delicious Balsamic Vinegar when my stock will run out.
• The Whole Hoggs Farm – it’s not only pork, but you can find venison, pigeons, quails, etc.

This is not a full list of stalls. We needed to skip a few as there was not enough time and place in our tummies. Here is a full list of producers. I hope you will visit it and like it. Just try to make there before noon. After 1pm you can find that a lot of goodies is just sold out.

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