Maltby Street Market has been up and running for about a year. It's the most peculiar yet interesting market that I've been to in quite some time.
Last weekend we took the children after hearing, on good authority, that this market had the most amazing fruit & veg! Our source, who incidentally is completely anti buying such foods in supermarkets, felt that once we had discovered this place and tasted the food we would change our grocery shopping habits forever!
So the gauntlet was thrown down and we (my family love a challenge!) picked it up, lobbed it in the car and drove it all the way to Maltby Street to investigate.
The market opens on Saturday mornings at 9am and closes at 2pm, so we were advised to get there really early for first dibs on the freshly picked produce. So we left the house at about 8:30am and headed towards Tower Bridge (southside). Before the bridge we swung a right and meandered through little streets chaperoned by towering blocks of flats. "Where the hell are we going" I was thinking, it looked nothing like a location for a market!.
We pulled up by an old railway surrounded by more flats, where the arches had been turned into little retail outlets. It was sooooo odd and really unexpected. There were quite a few people milling around and quite a few cars parked by the garages under the flats, so we parked up (keep an eye for wardens), got the kids out and ventured towards the most popular arch rented by Fern Verrow. There were beautiful flowers outside; and inside... the most good looking fresh fruit and veg you could imagine. Spinach, gooseberries (I had to ask what they were!) Onions - that looked like giant spring onions but that's how they look when they are freshly picked apparently! Strawberries - which the boys were just picking and eating, pears, oranges oh and herbs, flowering ones, gorgeous, really smelt good and much more besides.
Dominic Coyle from the Borough Cheese Company was there selling an original nutty flavoured cheese that just melted in the mouth; plus fresh coffee with beans from Brazil to Senegal was on offer alongside a free range breakfast which we had to have, well my husband and the boys did anyway and they thought it tasted delicious.
While they ate I headed off to explore and found another arch selling a whole range of wonderful specialist cheeses, one selling hand reared meats and I also discovered the most unbelievable source of sourdough bread (OMG you just have to try it!) all on the other side of the arches.
As I wandered off further down Maltby Street I saw the longest of queues and quickly realised that the these patient people were all paying homage to the Monmouth Coffee Company. Honestly there must have been at least 70 people around this arch; sitting on the street supping coffees or waiting to be served. I joined the queue, I had to try this stuff. I got talking to this guy who goes there religiously every Saturday morning with his 5 year old daughter just to get the sourdough bread and this particular coffee. He says there's nothing like it. It's unbeatable! It was remarkable really, all these people, young, old cross cultural just hanging out at a railway arch on a Saturday morning for caffeine! But I have to say, there was something really cool about it.
Heading back I spotted a couple of reclaim furniture places and antiques adding a different dimension to the sparse sellers market but it was great. I felt like I was discovering something new and that we were getting to enjoy the space before it became over run as word gets out. But my job is to keep you ahead of the curve and this place really is fresh, so I have to let you in on it.
Gossip wise I heard that Borough Street Market is most upset about Maltby Streets development on their doorstep and has apparently prevented the traders at Maltby Street trading at Borough Market too! So there's a bit of a stand off at the moment. Handbags at dawn!
(Incidentally, after writing this post I flicked through my regular paper and found this mini feature on this very story!! So if you want to read more on this just click here Maltby Street versus Borough Street Market).
Anyway, we left the market 40 quid poorer but richer no doubt, in nutrients, after purchasing the organic, free range, biodynamic, hand reared foodstuffs we purchased.
The children had fun, ate great food and we had a very enlightening morning.
It was a real urban underground find and did I mention that the top chefs go there. Oh yes my friends, this is where you'll find Nigel Slater shopping for his veg. Can't be bad!
Mama xx
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Fern Verrow Maltby Street Market
Thank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteWe are going there tomorrow!