Café du Marché

Café du Marché is a terrace café on the Place du Marché in Carouge, the Sardinian-built town on the left bank of the Arve in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The square hosts the local market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and the café takes advantage of that rhythm by serving bistro lunches and drinks to shoppers and stallholders once the stalls begin to pack up. The Swiss-French menu is simple, with a daily special as the main order, accompanied by salads and local wine. The cooking is practical and market-led rather than ambitious, and dishes change through the seasons with whatever the stalls and suppliers offer. The terrace is the main attraction, with tables set out beneath the plane trees and buildings of the square, producing a relaxed and sociable atmosphere that is moderately noisy at market time and quiet in the afternoon. Dress is casual. A short list of Genevan wines by the glass, along with beer, coffee and aperitifs, completes the offer, and the setting suits a long, unhurried lunch. Prices are modest by Geneva standards, in the middle range, and lower than comparable terraces in the city centre. Daily lunch and dinner service is typical, though current hours should be checked since small cafés in Carouge sometimes shorten service in winter. Reservations are not needed except on market days, when seats on the terrace fill early and a booking is prudent. Carouge is reached by tram from central Geneva in about fifteen minutes, and the surrounding streets offer boutiques, ateliers and Mediterranean-style courtyards. A visit combining the market, a browse through the artisan shops and lunch on the square is among the pleasanter half-days available near the city. For visitors who prefer a low-key stop to a formal restaurant, the café offers an easy, local-feeling meal.