Seeing as things are quiet here on Christmas day, I thought I would share the fantastic food I had at this year’s Christmas markets in Dresden. I spent 3 days in Dresden which was no where near enough to explore the city but it gave me the chance to sample plenty of snacks the Saxon’s have on offer at their wonderful markets.

Savoury Christmas Snacks

It’s tempting to go straight to the sweets but I had some amazing savoury food at the markets including what was possibly the best sandwich I have ever eaten in my life, a fladenbrot sandwich. Fladenbrot is a flat Turkish bread and at the markets they prepare it with vegetarian fillings including three types of cheese, pickled chillies (one of my favourite things in life), sundried tomatoes and olives. Super lecker.

Next best snack for me was the Dresden Rahmklecks. It would have made the top of my list if it didn’t have ham in it but Germany is the land of pork so it’s quite hard to find vegetarian food, especially at the Christmas markets. I just ate my way around the ham. Hot, freshly cooked bread stuffed with cheese.

If you’re feeling peckish you could get the 1/2 metre sausage. There is no way I could eat that but the line to buy them was the longest in the entire market.

Another great vegetarian option (although I don’t know what they fry it in) is langos. Langos is a Hungarian specialty eaten just out of the fryer. It’s a crispy fried dough brushed with garlic butter and topped with cheese, sour cream and various other ingredients. You can also eat it with sweet toppings.

Sweet Christmas Snacks

These delicious Dutch pancake-like bites are know as poffertjes. No, I have no idea how to pronounce that. You can have plain ones with butter and powdered sugar (as I did) or indulge a little more with apple sauce, caramel sauce or Nutella. I really should have gone back and tried the Nutella ones.

Another of my favourite desserts in Dresden was the baked apple available from the little Christmas market on Münzgasse. It’s baked with jam, cinnamon and honey and served with custard and whipped cream. It’s served in an edible bowl (used at quite a few of the stalls) so you need to eat it quickly, which you would anyway.

I thought these krappelchen things were not nice at all but they were hugely popular so I guess I don’t know anything.

Nougat is another popular sweet at Christmas but I’m 50/50 whether or not I like it. It had a delicious hazelnut flavour but it’s so, so sweet.

A marshmallow wafer sandwich. At €1 a piece you can’t really go wrong.

Where to Stay

On this trip to Dresden I stayed at the Hotel Am Terrassenufer which is a 7 minute walk to the Christmas markets near the Frauenkirche and Schlossplatz and it’s a few minutes further to the main Striezelmarkt. I would definitely recommend this hotel if you are planning to visit the Christmas markets this year.

Dresden’s Christmas Market

I was surprised by the diversity of food at these markets with a great mix of local and international cuisine. This was also the cheapest of all the Christmas markets I have visited in Germany and if you could get a cheap flight or train ticket here it would make for a great value getaway.

Dresden is such an amazing city and out of all the Christmas markets I have visited this is most likely the only one I would return to.

Sydney Fish Market

Everyone (apparently) says that no trip to Sydney is complete without eating at the famous Sydney Fish Market. They are probably right. Even though eating at the market is a noisy and rushed experience, the fish and seafood is definitely fresh and nicely cooked and it’s reasonably priced for what you get.

I’ve been to the fish market a number of times before so hadn’t planned on going on this trip. But after walking from my hotel in Pyrmont, along the waterfront (with great views of the Harbour Bridge) and under the Anzac Bridge, I found myself at the Sydney Fish Market just in time for lunch.

The markets are hugely popular with tourists as well as locals and you’ll have to fight to get a seat most of the time. I headed to Doyles just because it’s a little less hectic and it’s nice to eat fish and chips on the balcony overlooking the water. I quite like Doyles but it’s possibly a litter over-rated and you might get a better meal at one of the other vendors, especially if you want to try the fresh sashimi.

F had the BBQ seafood plate with grilled fish and loved it. It’s great value for $20.

I went for grilled barramundi which came with mashed sweet potato and beans. The barramundi comes from the Northern Territory so I guess it’s not as fresh as the other fish (although I have no idea) but it was nice.

I get the impression this isn’t the cleanest place to eat in Sydney but someone did clean our table when I asked them to so that was fine. Even though the Sydney Fish Market is bordering on tourist trap I will probably go back again.

Ten minutes walk from the markets you’ll find this view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.