Market Goodness.

One of my great London loves, has to be the array of markets to be found here. In my 7 years (gosh, SEVEN) of living in the capital I have woken at hours unseen by many at the weekend to miss the crowds and purchase the finest wares for cooking up a treat (or several treats) over the weekend.
Partly, this love stemmed from my third year at university when I started a job at Borough Market and really got absorbed in the atmosphere, the friendly traders and the amazing food on offer there (and of course taking full advantage of traders discounts!). Now, Borough market has changed considerably since then (and so have I, now on the 9-5 conveyor belt) but its spirit remains and the culinary offerings there are as good as ever and this time of year is a great time to visit. As Christmas draws closer, it is so festive and you can wander around the market with your hessian tote bag filling up as fast as your wallet empties, all the while clutching a nice hot cup of mulled wine or, my personal favourite, spiced cider (watch out though, that stuff is strong!).
Much as my love for Borough still stands, I admit I find it increasingly difficult to visit as the hordes of tourists do much to marr the experience for me and make it hard to get any real shopping done. However, it is worth getting up especially early to miss the worst of the crowds and visit your favourite stalls, though this means getting there for about 8am. Of course, the other alternative for those lucky few who don't work on Fridays is to visit then but the market still gets busy so you need to choose your time well to make the most of what's on offer.

Recently, a favourite tour of mine has been to head to Borough, nice and early followed by a saunter down Bermondsey street to Bermondsey farmers market, followed by Maltby Street market. This works equally well if you do it the other way around! Don't forget to stop by Bermondsey antiques for a real treasure trove experience.

A bit about Maltby St. started almost two years ago, some of the traders from Borough market who all had their storage underneath the market until crossrail kicked in, found alternative storage places in the railway arches along Druid and Maltby streets, a stone's throw from Tower bridge road. Monmouth Coffee  opened up their roasting house (above) and realising that so many of the borough community were in the same spot, these traders have opened their arches up to the public on Saturday mornings and it's created somewhere really quite special that has grown more by word of mouth than anything else.
About 6 months ago, Borough Market did suffer some bad press as they took the decision to evict 7 traders, The Bermondsey Seven, for trading at Maltby Street. This article from the Evening standard in July of this year gives more informatuion. My understanding is that this dispute has now been resolved and the traders have been allowed back in time for Christmas, however, that it happened at all seems concerning and tells you something about how Borough is run.
Unlike Borough, Maltby Street isn't a market, rather it feels like a wonderful collective of market traders really working together to promote great produce and it's worth taking the chance to visit while you can. The traders will all take the time to talk with you about their wares and the passion for their products shines through in a way that's hard to come by, you're bound to make a few discoveries.
Bermondey Farmers market is also much less crowded and more relaxed and you can get all the essentials here, including a great choice of meat and veg and strolling from there along Bermondsey street, with some of London's best independent shops, cafes and restaurants is a really nice way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Artillery Passage

I've wandered through Artillery Passage on a number of occasions as it's a handy cut through from Spitalfields through to Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street station. Each time I think on how charming it is and a snapshot of a London from a bygone era. So of a Friday night, on a quest for some satisfying meal T and I decided Spitalfields would provide the answer to our foodie hankering. What we were hankering for we weren't entirely sure but we thought Spitalfields would have it as that lovely covered market houses just about any food stuff you can think of. As it turned out something more secluded was in order and so my mind raced to Artillery Passage where a number of quaint and  (mostly) independent restaurants nestle side by side. Although slightly marred by the sight of giant pink wheelie bins and by the groups of Jack the Ripper tourists (ugh, tourists!) there is a certain sinister magic to the place. No wonder, given that Jack's final victim, Mary Kelly was found yards from the alley and little seems to have changed there since his day.
The passage is also home to Alexander Boyd, a beautiful menswear shop and a testament to the rag-trade heritage of the East end.  Alexander Boyd's tailoring workshop is the only one that remains in Whitechapel and The Gentle Author over at Spitalfields Life has written a marvellous piece about it.

The restaurants here are varied and you're will find something to suit your tastes. Of course, our usual tactic of gawping through the windows at people's plates to decide if it looked suitably tasty worked a treat and we found ourselves nestled in a table at Olives and Figs. It is a fantastic Turkish Mezze bar and grill that is both delicious and reasonably priced. It is BYOB which keeps prices down and the service is polite and welcoming, if a little on the slow side on our visit. A starter of a sharing platter followed by grilled lamb was a winning combination and we ate ourselves to the brink of explosion without stretching the wallet. Baklava for dessert was a welcome syrupy sweet end to a delicious and authentic Turkish meal at excellent value for money - I will be going back.


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