London Edit: Breakfast at Maltby Street Market

There are so many parts of London that I’ve never visited and hear so many good things about. Determined to put some of this right, we set off to explore Maltby Street Market a couple of weeks ago on a sunny Saturday morning for breakfast. Spending my weekends around London Bridge can feel a bit like a busman’s holiday for me since I’m up here for work during the week but it still has an air of weekend quiet which is so tranquil, away down the backstreets and slightly off the beaten track.

Maltby Street Market is a short walk from London Bridge station via the pretty independent shops and cafes on Bermondsey Street. During the week, the area is predominantly is used by wholesalers and functioning architectural salvage lumberyard Lassco Ropewalk who came up with the idea of opening up the narrow arches during the weekend for food-lovers, entrepreneurs and small business. I’d read a mixture of opinion about it, some saying how busy it can get and that there’s nowhere to sit but with open-mind we set off to see what we would find.

One of the things I miss the most about being gluten-free is not being able to pick and choose whatever I want to eat. So many of the stalls had incredible offerings as we made our way down from the aisle through a feast for the senses. Everything from locally distilled gin from Little Bird Gin, organic olive oils and pesto from The Gay Farmer to to preserves and cured meats from Maltby & Greek. If we’d been a little later and fancied more brunch options or a larger meal, there was some amazing-looking paella being prepared as well as ‘sushi burgers’ from Sticky Bundits.

As it was, we headed into Comptoir Gourmand for a coffee (him) and a hot chocolate (me) before he decided on a ham and cheese croissant. Unfortunately they didn’t have any gluten-free options but my second favourite hobby pretty much after eating and I was able to sit back, sipping my morning drink and watch the world come and go. So many dogs too! I loved how authentic everything felt, knowing that under the arches there is so much production and wholesaling with a uniquely crafted set-up to accommodate visitors too.

Exploring under the arches and out the other side, we came across more gazebos and the perfect laidback Saturday morning air of people stopping for coffee with the newspapers as well as shoppers picking up something special for a weekend of entertaining. We ended up with a little haul of gluten-free salted caramel brownies from Bad Brownie as well as some of the freshest olive oil and pesto from The Gay Farmer. We also stopped for a blue goat’s cheese and some creamy Cheddar from one of the deli cheese stalls.

By this point it was definitely getting busier and we were glad to be heading away from the market because it was so incredibly hot but it would be a super place to relax with friends or visitors and I’m definitely heading back a little later in the day next time when it would be more acceptable to drink gin…and beer…and maybe some more gin. So yes, big thumbs up from me.

My colleagues & I are running the Richmond Half Marathon in Richmond for the NSPCC. PUR-LEASE donate a penny or two #kisses

Follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Click here to visit our webshop, DaisychainBaby.co.uk