Rotermanni – a one-of-a-kind market in the heart of Tallinn

The Rotermanni market is no doubt the most stylish one in Tallinn. The picture, taken when the trading begins in the morning, looks like a piece of art.

The tiny market located in the middle of large houses is unique. Everything sold there is Estonian. The market itself is too tiny to provide all necessary food items.

What is the point of the market then? At first the Rotermanni market should be approached as a market for special goods. The goods are usually sold directly by the manufacturers themselves. There are a lot of things that are very difficult to find elsewhere in Tallinn.

Smoked sausage can be bought from any store and market, but no other place can compete with such wide selection - and all of it domestic.

Those who have visited Piisonifarm that was named one of the best catering establishments in Estonia can surely still feel the taste of their wonderful sausages. Now you don’t have to go beyond Rakvere to buy them.

The sausages taste like a mouthful of pure Estonia. Visitors from abroad also know that now, and their way to the port takes them ever more often through the Rotermanni market.

Peipsi, the legendary region of fish and onions, is to be found not only at the other side of Estonia but also right in the middle of the heart of Tallinn.

The freshly smoked (and also dried) fish and vegetable from the shores of Peipsi have a solid fan base.

The first regular customers of the Rotermanni market are the people that know what the best Estonian tastes are like.

The possibility to chat with the producer of the goods is reminiscent of the markets in France, Italy and elsewhere where homemade local food has been appreciated for centuries, for millenniums even.

The novice farmer Argo who brings his fresh vegetables from Viljandi County with the similarly fresh skills and emotions each morning does fit a lot better into the somewhat futuristic milieu of the Rotermanni market.

We are certainly not used to buying pies and pastry from the market. But it is time to change habits. There is no other place in Tallinn where you can by Mamsel Mai’s pies with interesting fillings that are baked in Saaremaa.

Mamsel Mai’s barrow is like a small embassy of Saaremaa, also offering honey and mustard. It’s the mustard that deserves special attention beside the pies. There is a choice of quite a few flavours, and it is handmade without the use of any technical equipment.

The mustard is made by a German couple that purchased a summerhouse in Saaremaa a few years ago. The main buyers of the exotic Estonian tastes produced by the Germans are however foreign cruising tourists. Awesome!

At present, the whole market fits on twenty barrows that are every once in a while accompanied by a few temporary stands. But there is a lot more to buy than one would think.

It takes a little getting used to, but you go to the Rotermanni market to buy certain things, not all the food you need. But taking a bite here and there you can find a surprising number of those certain things.

For example, find the only Estonian goat cheese and have a taste. You won’t remain indifferent!