Kirkgate Market, Leeds: The Food Lover's Guide

Kirkgate Market is Leeds' big indoor market on Vicar Lane, open Monday to Saturday, and the best way to do it is hungry: head for the Market Kitchen street food stalls, then wander the old halls for bread, fish and Polish doughnuts. It is one of the largest indoor markets in Europe and has been feeding the city since 1857. Here is how to get round it without missing the good bits.

Opening hours and getting in

The main entrance is on Vicar Lane (LS2 7HY), and there are stalls on the George Street and New York Street sides too. According to Leeds Markets, the market opens 8am to 5.30pm Monday to Wednesday and 7.30am to 5.30pm Thursday to Saturday. It is closed on bank holidays, except Good Friday. Most of the food stalls shut on Sunday and many close up from mid-afternoon, so lunch is the sweet spot.

A very short history

The market opened in 1857, billed as the largest indoor market in Europe. On 13 December 1975 a fire destroyed two thirds of it, and remarkably it reopened three days later. The ornate 1904 Hall survived untouched, and new halls followed in 1976 and 1981, which is why stall addresses still read like a timeline. It is also where Michael Marks ran his Penny Bazaar stall, slogan "Don't ask the price, it's a penny", the start of what became Marks & Spencer. The market history page has the full story, and it is a better read than you would expect from a council website.

What to eat in the Market Kitchen

• Manjit's Kitchen. Vegetarian Punjabi street food. The thali is the order, around £8, or the chilli paneer wrap.
• Jenny's Jerk Chicken. Started as a pop-up, now a fixture. Jerk chicken wraps, curry goat, jerk saltfish cakes and plantain.
• Banh & Mee. Vietnamese: a banh mi, a bowl of pho or summer rolls.
• Fat Annie's. Fully plant-based since 2020. Burgers, smoked tofu dogs and shakes.
• The Fisherman's Wife. Sustainably sourced fish and chips. The chip butty is what we would order.
• Mr Mackerel. A Turkish grill doing spiced mackerel sandwiches, chicken shish and lamb koftas.
• Pollini's Pizza Slice. Big slices, including a Bombay hot.
• Istanbul Bakery and Chop Chop. Falafel and shawarma sandwiches and baklava at one, salt and pepper combo boxes at the other.

In the halls

Some of the best stalls are not in the Market Kitchen at all. Karpaty, a Polish bakery at the back of the 1904 Hall, sells doughnuts for £1.99 and is worth the detour on its own. Sweet Saeeda, at Unit 411, Row F in the 1981 Hall, does Tunisian sandwiches and plates and is all halal. Amazing Gyoza is tucked away at Row 5, Unit 249 in the 1875 Hall, with gyoza, katsu curry and bento. Maxi's Rotisserie, in the 1976 Hall, has been in Leeds since 1989 and does roast duck, soy chicken and Hong Kong-style claypot rice. Bluebird Bakery, up the New York Street end, does focaccia, a Bengali five-spice roll and brownies. O'délices D'appo mixes African food, chicken wings, patties and a spinach and chickpea curry, with French pastries, which is exactly the kind of combination you only find in a market. Obleas to Go, at Unit 22, does Colombian wafers filled with dulce de leche and chicken or beef empanadas.

Shopping, not just eating

Come with a bag. This is a working market first, and plenty of Leeds cooks still shop here for meat, fish and veg. Hayes Seafoods is the name people give for oysters and seafood to take home.

Nearby

Step out onto Kirkgate for a coffee at Miles & Co at number 94, or a Vietnamese iced coffee at LeSon at 95. For a pint, Wapentake at 92 Kirkgate pours Yorkshire beers and does a Yorkshire pudding burger, and The Duck & Drake is just down the road at 43.

How to do it

Arrive around 11.30am on a weekday, before the office lunch rush, do a lap of the Market Kitchen before committing, and get two small things from two stalls rather than one big one. And walk through the 1904 Hall even if you are not buying: the ironwork is the best free sight in the city centre. The Leeds-List market food guide lists stall hours if you are planning a specific visit.