Mercado 23, the market neighbourhood Cancún shops in

The market and its aisles

Mercado 23 (Calle Jabín, between Cedro and Ciricote), signed in places as Mercado Javier Rojo Gómez, is a run of low concrete halls with crates of papaya and habanero stacked outside. Piñatas and dried chillies hang over the aisles and the stall signs are hand-painted. There is no air conditioning in the halls, only shade.

The market trades from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entry is free and you walk in off the street. The aisles are narrow the whole way through, so a party of more than eight should split into twos and threes at the door. Guided groups do come through on an ordinary morning.

Breakfast and lunch at the market counters

El Paisano del 23 (Jabín 9) marinates pork leg in red wine and cooks it for 12 hours, and has done for more than 40 years. The tortas de pierna are the market's most famous bite. The counter holds a glass case of the glossy meat, stacked bread rolls and stainless pans, with half a dozen stools facing the cook. It opens at 6 a.m. and closes by 5 p.m. If there are more than six of you, eat in shifts or take the tortas away.

Doris Restaurante (Jabín 9) runs the comida corrida, with quesadillas, tostadas, empanadas and licuados at 40 pesos a plate. The tables are oilcloth and the chairs plastic, the daily menu goes up on a handwritten board, and the blenders of fruit water sit behind the counter. Staff push tables together and keep no booking system. The sell is softer here than at the stalls facing the street, which makes it the easiest counter in the market to sit down at cold.

Las Gorditas del 23 (between Ciricote and Jabín) works a comal of puffed fresh-masa gorditas, chicharrón through to vegetarian, with green and red salsa in clay bowls and pork crackling in a steel tray. It runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and covers the stretch after the breakfast fondas have shut. You eat standing up.

Coctelería La Mojarra (Calle Cedro) builds campechana-style cocktails out of the fishmongers a few metres away. Iced trays of shrimp and octopus sit behind a plastic-topped counter with the Clamato and the saltine packets, and the tomato-based cóctel comes in tall glass goblets. The stools run to one short row. Order a cocktail and skip the fried whole mojarra. $$

Saborines Artesanales del 23 (Calle Jabín 9) keeps a freezer chest of bolis and hielitos knotted into plastic tubes, made with regional fruit: coconut, tamarind-chamoy, mamey, with the flavours written out and taped to the lid. The hatch opens 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. You buy and walk.

Sweets, piñatas and party goods

The dulcerías are why Cancún families come to Mercado 23 at all. Surtidora de Dulces Rojo (Jabín 2) is the biggest of them, with floor-to-ceiling shelves of Mexican sweets, sacks of tamarind and chilli candies at the base and finished piñatas strung overhead. It sells by the kilo, takes bulk and party orders, and makes piñatas to order. Hours are Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Sunday.

La Fiesta del 23 fills a narrow unit with balloons, foil banners, paper streamers and costumes, with piñata stars hanging in the doorway. It is the cheapest place in Cancún to buy a piñata, and then you have to get it home. Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Arriving at the ADO terminal

Terminal ADO Cancún Centro (Calle Pino, Mz 56) stands in SM 23 on the corner of Avenida Tulum and Avenida Uxmal, white and blue, with coaches nosed into the bays. Most independent travellers see this part of Cancún because of it. Departures leave every 15 to 30 minutes and the terminal takes coach groups all day.

Walking through the terminal costs nothing, and the market's Avenida Tulum side is 5 minutes away on foot. A pedestrian footbridge crosses Tulum 100 metres from the building. The taxi rank and the luggage trolleys sit outside the doors.

Parque de las Palapas and Cristo Rey

Parque de las Palapas is 800 metres south-west of the market, a 10-minute walk. By day the square is quiet. From 6 p.m. the marquesita and elote carts work under strings of bulbs, families fill the painted concrete around the open-air bandstand, and balloon sellers hold the edges. Entry is free at any hour, and this is the cheapest evening eating in the city.

Iglesia de Cristo Rey (Margaritas 15, SM 22) sits on the edge of that square, 800 metres from the market. Pedro Ramírez Vázquez built it between 1970 and 1972 as Cancún's first church: near-pentagonal, with low white walls and a bamboo-and-thatch roof that drops daylight across the floor in stripes. It is the one historic building within walking reach of Mercado 23. Entry is free outside Mass. During services, keep quiet and cover your shoulders.

Avenida Nader after the market shuts

Taquería Coapeñitos (Av. Nader 25) is 700 metres east of the market, across Avenida Tulum. A trompo of al pastor turns beside a pineapple at the open front, the tortilla press is steel, and the bar stools sit out on the pavement under fluorescent light. It runs until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., turns tables fast and takes walk-ins late. It does not take reservations.

MUMMA Rooftop Bar (Av. Carlos Nader 27) is the nearest proper drinking venue to the market, 700 metres away on the third floor of the Nomads hotel-hostel. It has timber decking, a small swimming pool, pool and foosball tables, and a view over the low downtown skyline and the palm tops. It opens daily, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Non-guests pay for a day pass with a 200 peso minimum spend. $$$

Yaxchilán and Mercado 28

La Parrilla Mexican Grill (Yaxchilán 51) is 1 kilometre south of the market and serves until 2 a.m. Mariachis in full charro suits play nightly from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., for parties of one to 40. Flaming molcajetes cross a dining room of carved wood and papel picado. Reserve by phone. It is touristy and priced for it, $$$, and both the kitchen and the band are good.

Mercado 28 is 1 kilometre west, a maze of open-air stalls under awnings hung with embroidered dresses, silver, lucha libre masks and tequila bottles. Entry is free, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Vendors call from every doorway and haggling is compulsory. $$ Walk over for the crafts and for how different the trade feels a kilometre from Mercado 23.

Sleeping on Calle Cedro

Hotel Colonial San Carlos Cancún Centro (Calle Cedro) puts you on the market's own street in SM 23: three storeys of plain whitewashed rooms with window AC units, and a tiled rooftop terrace that looks out over the market roofs. Reception is staffed 24 hours and the rates are among the cheapest in Cancún. Housekeeping varies room to room, so ask to see yours before you take it, and book a few rooms rather than a block. Hostel Inn Cancún, on Calle Chaca, has dorms.

Before you go

Surtidora de Dulces Rojo closes on Sunday, Saborines Artesanales del 23 opens on weekdays only, and La Parrilla Mexican Grill takes its bookings by phone. See the Cancun guide and the Cancun hotel search.