Sampling Latvian Cuisine on a Riga Central Market Food Tour
Mr Fletche and I love a good food market. But sometimes they can be a little overwhelming. What should we eat? How do we go about ordering? And most importantly – are the sellers going to rip us off? (*). Latvian food was a brand new experience for us, so we decided to let a local expert show us around Riga’s Central Market on a food and drink tour.
(*) Our walking tour guide advised that the sellers at Central Market would most definitely try to rip us off. Tricks to look out for include adding weight to the scales and returning incorrect change!
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I booked our Riga Central Market Food Tour through Viator on our first full day in the city. The tour started at 12:30pm – perfect for lunch and we were ready to eat after an early breakfast! The tour lasted just over two hours, and we hung around after the tour for a drink at Labietis, a local brewpub that has its own bar at the Central Market
We met our guide Guna on the fringes of the Old Town. This is a lesson to us to read carefully where the meeting point is as we had made our way over to the market and had to retrace our steps 🤦🏻♀️
About Riga Central Market
Riga’s Central Market is located on the edge of the Old Town, right next to the bus station. It is popular with tourists and locals alike, although sadly footfall has dropped considerably since the rise of cheap supermarkets and the Covid years At it’s peak though, 80,000 to 100,000 people visited daily. Even now it’s a great way to discover a little Latvian local life.
The market is housed within five pavilions and is one of Europe’s biggest indoor markets (La Ribera in Bilbao holds the title of the largest). Underground tunnels connect the hangars to each other and to the delivery and storage areas. There’s also a huge outside market area; this is less focused on food and more focused on cheap clothing and leather goods.
The uppermost parts of German Zeppelin hangars were moved to Riga in 1924 and repurposed as roofs. There has been a trading place on this site since the 16th century, but the current market opened in 1930. It’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site together with Riga’s Old Town; the local city council is keen to preserve the market
Exploring Riga’s Central Market
Each hangar specialises in a particular product range. The focus is largely on local delicacies; this is the place to come if you have a hankering for pork snout or kvass (a Latvian low-alcohol drink made from rye bread)
As you approach along Prāgas iela, the first hangar is separate from the rest. This serves as the meat hall. Guna gives us a tour of the meat traders, telling us along the way which parts of the animals are eaten. Spoiler alert: it’s everything. Latvians don’t like to see anything go to waste. If it’s not for human consumption, chances are it’ll be made into food for dogs. There are vendors here that specialise in dried, cured and smoked meats, and Guna shows us to a seating area where we can enjoy our first dishes of the day.
Our first taste of Latvian cuisine
Grey peas and bacon may not sound (or look) like an appealing dish. But this is the national dish of Latvia and they make a surprisingly filling meal. We have this alongside warming soup; a beetroot, pickled herring and potato salad; and smoked chicken, accompanied by another staple, Latvian rye bread (rupjmaize). It’s dark brown in colour and has quite a distinct flavour. Latvians use a lot of rye in their cuisine due to its ability to grow in difficult conditions. Our “first course” is completed by maizes zupa, a Latvian dessert made primarily from rye bread and topped with cream. It’s a mix between bread pudding and a blancmange in consistency.
We sampled more rye bread at Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs in the form of garlic bread – it’s the ultimate beer snack!
We move on to the next hangar, via the fruit market outside. Guna buys a punnet of fresh raspberries for us to share as we head towards the first of the four adjoining hangars. This is the homeware and household section. There are souvenir and craft stalls here too; Central Market is one of the best – and cheapest – places to pick up a little non food-related trinket to take home.
Time for a little local pick-me-up…
Guna introduces us to Black Balsam. Many of our tour group have already sampled this traditional Latvian herbal liqueur in its original form, and so far no-one has given it a positive review. Guna however passes round shots of the blackcurrant version – slightly less potent and more like a medicine you’d take to ease a sore throat. Mr Fletche and I are not totally disgusted by it. Which is how we find ourselves drinking Black Balsam cocktails at Riga’s Black Magic Bar later that evening.
The next hangar is full of dairy and sweet stuff; the scent of sugar permeates the air. We sample candy at Skrīveru saldumi. Piles of artisan cheeses are stacked up artfully. Delicate patisserie are displayed as if in a Parisian shop window. Mr Fletche pulls a disgusted face at the local cottage cheese. This “gastronomy” pavilion also houses the food court, with many different vendors selling both local cuisine and international dishes. There are also bars here, including the aforementioned Labietis. We return here for our final stop of the Riga Central Market Food Tour, for freshly fried ring doughnuts.
Want to know how we spent the rest of our time in Riga? Check out our 48 hour Riga itinerary here!
In a pickle
The third pavilion houses fruit and vegetables. Latvians like to pickle things and we’re treated to a selection of salad items preserved in oil and vinegar. To wash down our pickles Guna hands us all a cup of kvass – a low-alcohol drink made from fermented rye bread. I preferred the Black Balsam.
There’s no doubt which of the hangars houses the fish market; after all the air is scented with eau de fish. Bouquets of fish heads sit in plastic buckets atop counters. Fishes with faces are encased in ice below. Guna seats us and presents us with platters of smoked fish canapes, including mackerel and sprats. We also get to sample “RĪGAS šampanietis”, a sparkling wine only available in Latvia.
Taking a guided Central Market food tour
The Central Market can be a little overwhelming so booking a guided tour means that you’ll get a helping hand navigating the market and finding the best foods to try. You get to taste local delicacies as well as find out more about the history and culture of Latvia, and its relationship with food.
You can book the same tour that we booked through Viator or through Get Your Guide.
Our Riga Central Market Food Tour was £38.00pp. For this we had seven samples/small dishes and three drinks. We definitely left feeling full! Our tour guide was knowledgeable but I felt we were hurried through some of the sections quite quickly at points. Some of the food is sampled on the go but on two occasions we are seated at communal tables. This was a great opportunity for us to get to know our fellow travellers. One of the other guests on the tour is from Estonia so it was fascinating to hear her take on the differences between her country and Latvia. After all, Estonia will be the next stop on our Baltic tour!
