Don’t go there, they will rip you off because they want to make a quick buck with lower quality products. Take care of your wallet, it might get pick pocketed.

Well those were the advices I got, but I did not listen. And it was to my advantage.

The Nová Tržnica (market hall) in Bratislava is a fairly large concrete building dating from the socialist area (1981). On the ground floor there is mainly stalls for produce and a few pubs, whereas upstairs it looks a bit more like a mall without the glittery part. The inside architecture shows concrete, large pipes, large stairs as well as large windows which try to create a grand ambiance. This grand ambiance was contrasted by the not so large stalls with vendors dealing in retail, not in wholesale. And the bright colours of some stalls, pipes etc. created some nice contrast.

Unfortunately it was a bit late when I had the chance to tour the market hall. The market serves local people rather than tourists with daily food, drinks and a few other items. Pubs, little restaurants are to be found on both floors all with a basic charm which may be called authentic.

Besides fruits, vegetables, flowers there is also local cheeses & meats available. In Slovakia smoked cheeses are quite common and so they are to be found here as well, often as string cheese. And it is not only cow milk which is being used, but also sheep or goat milk. Bryndza a creamy sheep milk cheese, available as well, serves as the main ingredient of Bryndzové halušky a national Slovak dish. Besides Bryndza it consists of gnocchi like potato dumplings and bacon.

The dried sausages I bought were quite hearty and nicely spiced, a winner. The smoked pork belly fat should have been worth a trial as well.

A unique stall was the one which filled three different type of wines from tap into all kinds of bottles, plastic and other ones. Good recycling of bottles I guess.

All in all: as daytripper.sk put it: it is a good place to look for if you do not need glamour and hipness.

A little link list:

• Pictures of the building in Wikipedia Commons
• Basic information about the markets in Bratislava from bratislava.info
• A post from daytripper.sk which characterizes the market very well

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