Penny Blood's Black Book - My Independent Guide to London » Markets

Broadway Market

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:23:34 +0000

Broadway Market is my favourite market as it combines vintage clothes, amazing food and ingredients like what you would find at borough market (27 varieties of sweet balsamic vinegar and little testers on everything), flowers, organic shampoo, cupcakes, olives etc.. all set on one of my favourite streets in Bethnal Green and being in Bethnal Green there are few tourists. It’s mainly locals, but don’t worry even the stall vendors probably went to private schools, suffice to say it’s a part of Bethnal Green that has been gentrified to the hilt. It’s a friendly place too, in an unobtrusive kind of way and there are more than enough well dressed people to stare at whilst drinking your morning coffee outside La Bouche. I’ve come for the spice stand today to buy cinnamon. I put cinnamon in everything, whenever any one says “ooh that’s so good, what’s in it?” the answer always comes back, “cinnamon”. The best part is there are countless stands to buy amazing food like falafel and vegetarian curry that sort of thing.

It should also be pointed out that Broadway market comes first on my gag list. This meaning if you threw a stone you will no doubt hit someone who falls under any of the following;
1. Owning a pushchair costing as much as a small car.
2. Wearing either or all; pea coat/rayban wayfarers/boat shoes/turned up jeans/fisherman jumper/checked shirt/suede boots.
3. Riding a fixed gear bike (I call them lady bottom bikes due to the fact that the people who ride them wear tight jeans which make them wiggle their bum when when they walk.)
4. Wearing a scarf in a chelsea knot even if it’s 80 degrees.
5. People called India or Cosmo.

http://www.broadwaymarket.co.uk

Broadway Market, Bethnal Green, London
Every Saturday 9-6

Brick Lane Market

Penny Blood — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:13:17 +0000

On a sunny Sunday be warned that you will barely be able to move due to the sheer volume of people on Brick Lane Market. Every Sunday street vendors come and lay out stuff all along the street whether it be vintage clothes, general carboot sale clutter, hand printed t-shirts or food ranging from falafel to the most amazing (and cheap!) fruit smoothies, it could be a whole day out, it’s pretty down market though, everything is just laid out on the pavement. The Tea Rooms is a highlight though, this is a brilliant indoor market opposite Truman Brewery which have lots of great antique stalls, you could decorate you whole house with stuff you might find here. Since the over-gentrification of nearby Spitalfields market, many of the old vendors have moved out to the area’s surrounding Bricklane. Except on Thursdays where the market is a great as it ever was, Spitalfields itself is now small chain restaurants, some good ones mind you, (so it’s not all bad) and fancy wine shops, gift shops and shops selling clothes Sienna Miller would wear. It does still maintain a healthy collection of stalls, just a paired down version so at least now there is room to move, it just lacks a bit of the old atmosphere.

www.visitbricklane.org
www.sundayupmarket.co.uk

Bricklane, Spitalfields, London
Every Sunday 9-6

Portobello Road / Golbourne Road

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:14:36 +0000

Portobello Road is the largest antique market in the world stretching for around two miles. On a Friday and Saturday the southern end of Portobello Road is lined with antique stalls one after the other, then come the food stalls followed by the junk and vintage clothes stalls. My advice is to take the tube to Ladbroke Grove station and walk underneath the Westway (the motorway) as this is where all the best vintage clothes stalls are, more locals in the know and less tourists. There are also a fair number of local designers with unique inexpensive clothes on sale along with jewelry and more vintage clothes.
So if you’re coming from Ladbroke Grove and you’ve walked under the motorway next you can either turn right onto Portobello road where you’ll hit the food vendors but if you turn left you’ll find yet more vintage clothes, eventually coming to Golbourne road which is nothing but eclectic furniture shops spilling all kinds of random clutter on the street and Moroccan and Lebanese cafes, loads of them. Here you will see my favourite building in London, Trellik Tower, an apartment block designed by the architect Erno Goldfinger who when starting the project must have looked around at the other council high rises and thought “you think that’s ugly, wait and see what I can do”. It’s a listed building now and one of the most sought after addresses in London. There are all kinds of cafes, restaurants, bars and shops down Portobello Road including one of my favourite cinema’s the Electric. Westbourne Grove is near by which has some more upmarket shops along with more great cafes and deli’s.

If you turn right onto Portobello road you’ll hit the food vendors but if you turn left you’ll find yet more vintage clothes, eventually coming to Golbourne road which is nothing but eclectic furniture shops spilling all kinds of random clutter on the street and Moroccan and Lebanese cafes, loads of them with a view of my favourite building, an apartment block where the architect Erno Goldfinger looked around at the other council high rises and thought “you think that’s ugly, wait and see what I can do”. It’s a listed building now and one of the most sought after addresses in London.

http://www.portobellomarket.org/

Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London
Friday and Saturday 9-6

Columbia Road Flower Market

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:14:05 +0000

It’s primarily a flower market but this is the one day of the week that everything on Columbia road is open if flowers aren’t really your thing. The street harks back to a time of shop keepers with independent little shops selling anything from perfume to old fashioned candy to china tea sets. My favourite spot is ‘The Cake Hole’ but it gets full and sold out pretty quickly. There are a number of lovely places though from ‘Jones Dairy’ to the place which sells calamari in a polystyrene cup out of a hatch in the front of their house. When the sun is out you can expect Columbia road to be heaving so it’s great for a browse but don’t expect to get anywhere in a hurry. It’s got a couple of good vintage stores, and stands selling everything from old porceline tea cups to hand made jam. But even if you’re not into crowds it’s still one of the prettiest streets in London to visit.

Again I must point out that Columbia road comes 2nd on my gag list, I don’t know what it is, but there is something about people holding freshly cut flowers that screams “I’m so happy”, it really makes me hope that a pigeon will shit on them.

Below are a few of shops on Columbia Road….

Columbia Road (Liverpool Street Station)
Sunday 8am-4pm

Borough Market

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:13:25 +0000

It’s a food market and an expensive one at that. This is where all the local farmers from around London and stretching as far as Devon and Cornwall come to sell their goods on a Friday and Saturday. You can find every conceivable foodstuff here and it goes without saying that it’s pretty much mostly organic. There are stands with every texture and flavour of balsamic vinegar, cheese stands, fresh oysters, spice stands where you can spend hours trying every different bizarre spice with olive oil and pita bread, people selling jam in every variety from ginger and orange to Elderflower and gooseberry, falafel and wrap stands and my personal favourite the raclette stand with all the proper trimmings including corchicons and pickled onions. On a Saturday you can barely move for the volume of people but it’s worth it to sample fresh apple juice, fudge, coffee from Argentina, authentic Italian bread and local cheese. Although to everyone who thinks they are doing the world a favour a lot of the produce here is from major agribusiness which also provide to Tesco etc.. having a stand here is just an excuse to jack up prices but frankly it’s worth it for the truffle infused honey.

http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Southwark Street, Borough (London Bridge tube under the railway next to the Cathedral)
Thursdays 11am – 5pm Fridays 12pm – 6pm Saturdays 8am – 5pm