I had heard great reports about the Merrion Square Market from plenty of people.  Even though its only a ten minute walk from work I only recently managed to visit. The market is run by Irish Village Markets (Twitter:@LunchtimeMarket) which run markets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in various locations such as Eastpoint, Stillorgan, Grand Canal and Spencer Dock.

Merrion Square is run on Thursdays between 11.30 and 2.00 p.m.  It was in full swing when I arrived about 1.30 p.m. and I can’t help thinking it might be worth their while extending the opening hours to 2.30 p.m. instead.  That extra half hour might be quite lucrative as there are plenty of people who take staggered lunches and are looking for something tasty and differant to the usual plain sandwiches.

There are plenty of market stalls to choose from at the market with something to cater for everyones taste.  I didn’t get a lot of time to sample the foods unfortunately but have a run down of some of the stalls below.

Kerala Kitchen / Twitter: @Kerala_Kitchen

Pasta Box / Twitter: @PastaBoxHQ

Twitter: @Grub_Hub

SayFish / Twitter: @Say_Fish

The Pieman Cafe

Twitter: @lepetitcamion

The stand out for me was the Boeuf Bourguignon from The Arch Bistro.  I have never seen a market stall serve it with such massive chunks of tender beef.  It was melt in the mouth delicious and great value at €18 for two servings along with two drinks.

There was even entertainment provided throughout lunch in the form of a very talented saxophone player.  Well worth a visit for a little something special at lunch.