Winterfest Dundee Christmas Market 2021 is well underway at Slessor Gardens, bringing some festive cheer to the city.
It is the first major Christmas event to be held at Dundee’s waterfront and it’s hoped it may become an annual fixture.
There are market stalls offering a range of Christmas goodies including gifts, food and drink. We headed down to find out what festive treats were on offer.
Running until Sunday January 2, there is also a bar, ice rink, big wheel and children’s rides including a helter-skelter and Santa express train.
Plan your trip by using our Dundee Christmas market interactive map.
We explored the market to find out what dishes you should, and shouldn’t consider purchasing when out and about.
With price points ranging from £5 to £7, we put three savoury and two dessert dishes to the test to find out if they are worth investing in.
2021 Dundee Christmas Market is the inaugural Winterfest
Winterfest is a first for Dundee, which usually sees the main hub of its Christmas celebrations based in the City Square. It is organised by Glasgow-based M&N Events.
Stallholders are offering up food and beverages as well as produce to take home or give away as gifts.
What we ordered
Food & drink taste test results
So what did our journalists make of the food and drink offering at the 2021 Winterfest Christmas Market in Dundee?
Footlong sausage
We kicked off Winterfest with a big eat. The footlong sausage should be around 30cm in length. Sadly, we forgot to bring along our ruler to check the accuracy.
Served in a soft baguette, we added fried onion to the order. Cheese could have been added for another pound.
It was just Jennifer trying this one, as the meat was not halal for Mariam.
The sausage tasted pretty good and was moist. It had a very light hint of spice. The baguette was soft, but had not turned soft, which some can do. There were quite a lot of fried onions – quite thick, which wasn’t to Jennifer’s taste.
A massive eat. It could easily be halved for sharing.
Presentation
Jennifer: 3/5
Taste
Jennifer: 3/5
Chicken burger
Mariam opted for the chicken burger from the Grill House. She was pleased to discover they could cater for her halal diet, also preparing the burger on a different griddle from the other meats.
Stallholders Yewande Balogun and Jenna McKelvie went out of their way to ensure they were preparing everything in the correct way.
Served on a brioche bun with salad, Mariam enjoyed the dish, which was easy to eat on the go.
Presentation
Mariam: 4/5
Taste
Mariam: 3/5
Yorkshire pudding wrap
We headed to the Yorkshire pudding wrap stall to see what these novel creations were all about.
The answer: your Christmas dinner packed into a huge, flat Yorkshire pudding, then wrapped into a fajita shape.
Jen opted for the beef Yorkshire pudding wrap, which came with vegetables, gravy and sage and onion stuffing. She added pigs in blankets for an extra £1.50.
Mariam had the vegetarian version, with vegetables, gravy, stuffing and mint sauce.
These are mammoth meals and the beef wrap was particularly hard to eat in a way that wasn’t messy.
However, despite much speculation beforehand, they were actually pretty good. It was just the tinfoil wrapping that let them down in the end. Practical, yes, but not very pretty!
Presentation
Mariam: 1/5
Jennifer: 1/5
Taste
Mariam: 3.5/5
Jennifer: 4/5
Mini Dutch pancakes
And now we move on to the important course – dessert!
We visited the pancakes stall where you get eight mini pancakes topped with warm Nutella and icing sugar.
Prepared fresh on a cast iron griddle, the stallholder helpfully told us each pancake is about the size of a flying saucer sweet.
These were soft, fluffy and delicious. They were served in a little tray, adorned with a Netherlands flag. A nice touch.
A perfect size to eat on the go, you can add extra toppings such as Oreo, fruit or syrup for an extra pound.
Presentation
Mariam: 4/5
Jennifer: 4/5
Taste
Mariam: 4/5
Jennifer: 4/5
Churros
A Spanish classic, the churros stall is a welcome addition to the market.
Served in a generous portion of six long sticks, covered with granulated sugar, we added hot Nutella sauce for an extra £1.50.
The churros were light and crispy and, importantly, not too soft or greasy. The sugar added a nice crunch.
Presentation-wise, it didn’t look amazing, but was practical for eating as you wander round the market.
Presentation
Mariam: 2/5
Jennifer: 2/5
Taste
Mariam: 4/5
Jennifer: 3/5
Deluxe hot chocolate
To wash down their desserts, our journalists tried a deluxe hot chocolate.
These came served with an array of toppings including cream, marshmallows, chocolate sauce and a Biscoff biscuit.
They also had a straw, which we found slightly unusual – making them a cross between a milkshake and a hot chocolate.
The toppings were generous and tasty, but Mariam and Jennifer agreed they preferred a milky drink to one prepared with water.
Presentation
Mariam: 4/5
Jennifer: 4/5
Taste
Mariam: 3/5
Jennifer: 3/5
The overall winner of the Winterfest Dundee Christmas Market 2021 taste test were the mini Dutch pancakes, which were marked 8/10 by both of our journalists.
Dundee Winterfest map: Your interactive guide to Slessor Gardens event