Dandenong Market

Dandenong Market traces back to 1866, when the Dandenong Improvement Association's petition for a public market was finally approved and the first official market day ran on 10 October that year, selling cattle, pigs and sheep. Thomas Rosling and his partners ran it for its first nine years. What started as a livestock and produce market for a small farming town has grown, over more than 150 years, into one of Melbourne's most-visited markets.

A multicultural food hall, not a themed precinct

Rather than grouping stalls by cuisine or culture, Dandenong Market mixes everything together: Middle Eastern, Asian, European and African food stalls sit side by side rather than in separate zones. Over 150 nationalities are represented among the traders, which is a genuinely unusual density even for a city as multicultural as Melbourne.

The market grew steadily through the 19th century (311 people connected to it in 1870, more than 1,100 by 1890) and has kept expanding ever since, well past its original livestock-and-produce remit. Nuts, deli goods, poultry and gozleme all come up often in visitor reviews, alongside a genuine food-truck and food-court presence for anyone not there to shop for groceries.

Good to know before you go

It's closed Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, so plan around Tuesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Given the visitor numbers, weekend mornings are the busiest; a Tuesday or Friday visit is the quieter alternative for anyone who'd rather shop than queue.