Malmö Saluhall celebrates 10 years

Few cities in the world can boast a market hall as fine as Malmö's. In what was once a railway depot, Malmö Saluhall has been located since 2016, has received the Malmö City Urban Planning Award, and has also been nominated for the Kasper Salin Prize.

The architect is Gert Wingårdh, and behind this major initiative are Ulla-Britt Karyd (1943-2020) and her adult children, Martin Karyd and Nina Totté Karyd.

It's Friday afternoon when RESENÄREN visits Malmö market hall. Nina meets us outside the entrance.

How did you come up with the idea of opening a market hall in Malmö?

– Somewhere along the way, Martin figured out that it would be great fun to make a market hall in Malmö. There isn't one anymore. We wanted to do something of our own and found this old K-labeled abandoned railway warehouse.

– During the journey, we made countless study visits, and not a single holiday went by without us seeking inspiration from Malmö Saluhall. Our families, both children and partners, have been involved in and lived with the market hall project all the way.

– If you stand in the old part, you see that the house stands out in relation to everything new around it. This is because they have run trains through the building. We bought the building at the end of 2013.

The old warehouse has a floor area of 600 square meters, and the new building is an additional 400 square meters. The extension's facade is made of Corten steel.

– It was silver when we installed it, and now it has rusted completely and has a deep, beautiful color.

Right before you enter the market hall, Claes Rundqvist is standing, selling flowers, fruit, berries, and vegetables. We enter through the market hall's main entrance.

– You can see that it was Gert Wingårdh who designed the market hall, like here on the ceiling between the old and new buildings, which is joined by a lantern to mark the old and the new. And between each brick, a roll joint has been laid.

How many traders are there in the market hall?

– There are 14 traders here, all of whom are handpicked. We call ourselves a modern market hall with many elements of cooked food, which is of the highest quality and cooked from scratch. If you want to see the craftsmanship, we have an open kitchen. Each trader has about 20 square meters each. In Sweden, it's very difficult to get a serving permit outside individual restaurants, so we have a unique joint permit that also covers shared seating.

Inside the market hall, there is a buzz of life, and DJ Alexis Moya puts a wonderful sound throughout the hall. He and four DJs take turns playing, and when they are not on site, they have a playlist specially created for the market hall.

At Papi, an employee is making fresh Italian pasta.

– The craft is very important to us, and my brother Martin and I are always very involved. We have Ron Dickenson on site, who has become part of the family, and a bunch of young people who assist him in the hall.

At Malmö Saluhall there are 400 shared seats and 300 for restaurants that want their own seats, a total of 700 seats both inside and outside. Saluhallen is easily accessible to everyone, and not everyone can eat everything, but there is something for everyone.

– At lunch today we had 850 guests in one hour. You could say it's peak lunchtime.

How long are you open in the evenings?

– Today, Friday, we are open until nine. The other weekdays until eight. Saturday and Sunday, we are open until 5. From November, we will be open until 9 on Saturdays, a long-awaited addition.

“Of course, we travel a lot in Europe to go to fairs and meet our producers,” says Malin Dahl at Möllans Ost in the market hall. Malin is also a judge in the World Cheese Awards, the world's largest cheese competition, featuring cheeses from around the world.

How many different cheeses do you sell?

– In the cheese counter right now, we have somewhere between 180–200 cheeses; in the entire range, about 450. Some are permanent, and others come and go in season. We have cheeses from Europe, many Swedish, and we are trying to build our English range as well. It is quite unique in Sweden.

On Fridays, they offer a much-appreciated cheese buffet, except in the summer, when it's at its hottest and they take the opportunity to take a little break.

– You get a plate, and then you just have to bite into 15–20 different cheeses. Malmö Saluhall is a fantastic destination! Imagine being here in this environment and talking about cheese all day long – we think that's a favor, says Malin Dahl.

The young couple Nina Eliasson and Martin Söderholm (he is also a super talented chef and fisherman) run Söderholmens fisk together. One of their employees is Johannes Nilsson.

– He's everywhere. He's wonderful, and he's also worked with fish his whole life.

On Fridays they have oyster chills which are very popular.

What is the record for the most oysters someone has ever eaten when you have an oyster craving?

– There was one person who ate 24 oysters. Then we sometimes have oyster-opening events. The record for me is 750 opened in one evening, says Johannes.

Maya Cantina is a unique Mexican restaurant run by Gonzalo Granados and Celina Fagerström, who use the wood-fired oven in all their cooking.

– It's something different from the Swedish version of tacos. Here the pork is marinated for 14 hours before it's served, and the taco bread is made on site in a Mexican wood-fired oven.

The concept is so unique that the municipality of Mérida in Mexico flew here and gave the place an honorary plaque.

If you want Swedish home cooking, Clemens Kött & Husman is the perfect place to settle down.

– Our meatballs have gone viral as many tourists post them on social media, says Elliot Plobi.

– They have received a certification for their wagyu meat supply. Very unique to have that. So he has the right to sell and import certain wagyu.

Falafel & Burgers makes hamburgers and falafel, so it's like a delicacy. What's the secret behind your success? - We have great meat and really good recipes for the hamburgers. Then there's a nice touch on the falafel. There's a lot of falafel in Malmö, but ours is a kind of premium falafel, say Isak Wilson and Agnes Antmar.

If you want good ramen with broth, Ramen to Biiru is in the market hall.

Pom's sandwiches make American sandwiches with style. Pork belly, Reuben with pastrami that is seasoned, smoked, and slow-baked for twelve hours, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, etc. Here you will find all the ingredients for a classic New York sandwich.

Holy Greens has been in the hall since the beginning with its delicious fresh salads.

After all the delicious food, it's time to head to the ice cream counter at Favvo Ice Cream, run by Anne Kon Nim Roland Kon Nim. Anne points to Roland's head.

– This brain contains all our secret ice cream recipes. He is a real ice cream nerd who constantly develops and improves the recipes.

Early every morning, he is up and making ice cream in the market hall. It takes a lot of cream and eggs, chocolate, fruit, and vanilla.

– Now for the summer, our rhubarb-vanilla and elderberry ice cream are very popular. In the fall, we have blueberry ice cream, and at Christmas we have saffron and gingerbread ice cream, plus ice cream with the taste of bread rolls. Then we have pistachio ice cream that tastes like roasted pistachios and our salted caramel ice cream, which is a real favorite with many.

Chocolatte from Helsingborg sells handmade chocolate pralines.

– We opened here in May 2017 and in 2003 in Helsingborg. At the beginning we had about ten pralines.

Now we have expanded to include chocolates and fudge, crackers and chocolate bars, says Ulrika Cullin.

Browned butter is my personal favorite. Mojito is very fresh with mint and lime. Salted caramel has a little, little touch of licorice. Our Violet licorice is like the old violet. A little more distinct.

What a fantastic market hall Malmö has! When RESENÄREN's envoy is in place, he doesn't want to leave and stays for over three hours. To finish, there will be a delicious cinnamon bun at Sankt Jakobs Stenugnsbageri.

This autumn the market hall will be ten years old.

– We are going to celebrate that. And we are in the process of making a book with a lot of history, architecture, food, recipes, and family feeling, says Nina Totté Karyd.

This article was originally published in Traveler #1 2025. It was updated on September 13th, 2026.