Philadelphia’s century-old public market

The Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been serving gastronomes for 127 years. The historic market has survived the Great Depression and two World Wars! On a September Saturday, we decided to explore this public market, which attracts more than 100,000 people every week during 'normal' times.

The moment you step through its doors, the clatter, the bright ceiling lights and most importantly, the aroma in the air make you hungry. Although you would want to buy or taste a little something from every stall, that is quite impossible, because there are more than 80 merchants busy at work in this indoor marketplace.

The vendors at Reading Terminal Market sell a wide array of items, chiefly food; from fresh produce, seafood, meats and poultry, dairy and cheese, baked goods, ice cream, chocolate, spices and condiments, beverages, and ready-to-eat foods, which you could enjoy in its food courts before the pandemic hit us all.

 Its Center Court has recently been opened for indoor diners, but only at 25 percent capacity in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The market was pretty crowded that Saturday afternoon, although not as bustling as it used to be in the pre-pandemic days. Everyone, from the buyers to the sellers, was wearing a mask or face-covering as a requirement.

 The place was vibrant enough to tickle your senses; the sights, sounds and smells makes the one of the largest and oldest public markets of America a must-visit. The entire place was buzzing with conversations and clank of kitchen utensils as foods were being prepared in front of patrons' eyes.

I spotted Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Spanish, Indian, Pennsylvania-Dutch, Greek, Caribbean, Latino and Middle-eastern vendors selling and preparing their ethnic dishes. If you are an adventurous person foodwise, someone who loves to explore foods from around the world, then this public market gives you that perfect everything-under-one-roof opportunity.

As we explored the market, we bought pretzel buns and Amish-style hand-rolled butter, a kind of creamy, flavourful, slightly tangy, slow churned butter, to eat at breakfast the following morning.

We bought our lunch from a Kosher vendor called Hershel's East Side Deli, which the locals call the best Jewish eating place outside of the New York City. As we waited, they carved the meats and prepared our corned beef and pastrami sandwiches on rye bread with coleslaw and Russian dressing right before our eyes.

Because the market is located in the heart of Philadelphia, a major and one of the most populous American cities, car parking is not free. We paid $5 for a 90-minute on-street parking. The Reading Terminal Market demands "repeat tourism" no matter what. We will have to find another weekend pretty soon to revisit this century-old historic market that is a gourmand's heaven.

Photo courtesy: Wara Karim