The London food scene is ever-changing and the growing popularity of upscale food halls is part of that. If you fancy eating out, but want a much broader choice than a single restaurant will allow for - these may be just what you need. We round up some of London's best.
Seven Dials Market
Covent Garden - 35 Earlham St, London WC2H 9LD
This Covent Garden food hall comes from Kerb, who have years of experience with their street food markets around London which they've translated into this, their first food hall. They took over the Thomas Neal’s Warehouse in Seven Dials, bringing with them some of the top traders from their Markets. There are two distinct food areas, Banana Warehouse which is more of a sit-and-eat spot and Cucumber Alley for desserts and snacks.
What should we search out? There's much to love here including Bong Bong's Filipino food and Truffles top tier burgers, but Pick & Cheese, with its cheese conveyor belt is definitely at the top of the list. In Cucumber Alley look for the crême brûlée crêpe cones from Boolay Crêpes.
Market Halls
Oxford Circus, Victoria, Canary Wharf
Market Halls have three halls currently - Victoria, Oxford Street and their newest opening, Canary Wharf. Each of them features between 8-11 traders, and all are in very handy positions - Victoria is just beside the station and the Oxford Street hall is just seconds away from the UK's busiest shopping street. Victoria also boasts a great rooftop terrace that, in the warmer months, will make you the envy of any commuters heading to catch a train at the station.
What should we search out? Gopal's Corner from Roti Chai can be found in all three halls. In addition, there's Butchie's fried chicken in Victoria, Baoziinn's dumplings in Oxford Street and Black Bear burgers in Canary Wharf which are all good picks.
Find out more about Market Halls
Hawley Wharf
Camden - 1 Dockray Place, London NW1 8QH
This huge canalside spot in Camden is home to all manner of restaurants and bars, with an upcoming Richard Corrigan restaurant planned too. Food and drink vendors are split across two buildings with more in the spaces under the arches.
Who should I search out? Three Uncles with its Cantonese roasted meats or steaks from Middle Eastern steakhouse The Black Cow. Desserts are also strong here with T's Fried Scoop serving up diet-busting fried ice cream.
Eataly
City of London - 135 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3YD
This giant Italian food hall takes up a great big section of Liverpool Street making it a perfect spot for city workers to dive into at lunchtimes and post-work. There are a mix of counter and deli-style spots for grabbing and going along with spaces to sit down and two restaurants upstairs.
Who should I search out? If you can’t get a good caprese salad here at Pasta E Pizza with its Fiordilatte mozzarella made in-house and Natoora seasonal tomatoes then where in London could you? The cannoli counter is worth hitting up too.
Market Peckham
Peckham - 133a Rye Ln, London SE15 4BQ
The ground floor of this workspace/club/food hall right opposite Peckham Rye station features six food and drink vendors including a branch of Tonkotsu, a sushi stall and a popular rotisserie chicken offering.
Who should I search out? The big draw is Mambow from chef Abby Lee, serving up Malaysian Nyonya dishes. If you’re here at lunchtime, the Hainanese Chicken Sando is a must-have.
Design District Canteen
Greenwich - Soames Walk, London SE10 0AX
This outlandish construction on the Greenwich Peninsula houses six food vendors and two bars in what looks to be a deconstructed giant greenhouse.
Who should I search out? Raastwala are worth finding for their amazing kati rolls and Juk Pou boast that they're London’s very first congee and youtiao street food concept.
More about Design District Canteen
NB: Currently closed for renovation until 23 January 2023.
Market Place
Peckham, Vauxhall, Hounslow
With three locations in South and West London, Market Place prides itself on offering spots to local small traders to make their big break.
Who should I search out? In Peckham, look out for Chef Churros and their lotus biscoff sauce. In Vauxhall it's the hoppers from Karapincha Kitchen
Arcade Food Hall
103-105 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1DB
Now being run by the team at JKS Restaurants, this revamped food hall has a variety of food vendors reflecting the buzz of London's food scene right now. Highlights worth seeking out include Manna from Bake Street’s Feroz Gajia, Mexa by the folks at Sonora Taqueria and - the newest addition - noodle broths from Liu Xiaomian.
Who should I search out? The top draw at Arcade is probably the standalone restaurant by Luke Farrell on the Mezzanine - Plaza Khao Gaeng focusing on Southern Thai comfort food.
Bang Bang Oriental
Colindale - 399 Edgware Rd, London NW9 0FH
It's further out than any of the other food halls on the list, but if you venture out to Colindale you'll find one of the UK's largest food halls, and one of our favourites. As well as being one of the first of London's modern-day food halls, Bang Bang Oriental has remained one of the most popular. It's a Pan-Asian food court, with 33 kiosks in total (and seating for 450), allowing for a huge and diverse range in food.
Who should I search out? The black gold lava buns from Royal China are very popular as are the noodle soups from Little Thai Silk and the veggie specials from Indo-chinese stall Veggie Wok.
Borough Market Kitchen
London Bridge - 16 Borough High St, London SE1 9QG
This area of Borough Market is part food court, part street food operation - it's open to the elements, but there is a permanent cover over it. As well as a collection of takeaway stalls, there are more permanent installations dotted around the Kitchen where you can perch up at a counter.
What should we search out? Top draws here are the Hainanese chicken from Mei Mei, tacos at Tacos Padre and the kubba haleb lamb mince dumplings from Juma Kitchen.
More about Borough Market Kitchen
Boxpark
Croydon and Wembley
If you've only ever been to the most central Boxpark in Shoreditch - their behemoths at Croydon and Wembley are quite different beasts. There, the traders (there are 20+ at each location) surround a large communal dining area. Open all week, their events are well worth noting - from weekend parties, to screenings and Croydon is the number one place fo key football fixtures.
What should we search out? Popular vendors at Wembley inside Sides by The Sidemen and Smashing Plates greek plates, while at Croydon look for Big Mike's Calypso Kitchen and desserts from the After School Cookie Club.
Harrods Dining Hall
Knightsbridge - 87-135 Brompton Rd, London SW1X 7XL
Renovated a few years back as part of a major overhaul of the food halls at Harrods, the Dining Hall is a mixture of spaces where you either eat at the counter you're ordering from, along with some table sections where food is delivered to you. As you might expect, the space is quite beautiful and there's also the major benefit of being able to book seats online.
What should we search out? There are six separate restaurants in total - the sushi bar (run by Eddie Lim of the Mango Tree group) is excellent and Kerridge's Fish & Chips serve up great lobsters with triple-fried chips. Keep room for the desserts from Kama by Vineet.
More about Harrods Dining Hall
Ichiba
Level -2 Westfield, London W12 7HB
This West London Japanese food hall lives in Westfield London and is part of the Japan Centre group. As with the main Japan Centre store in central London, this features a shop along with plenty of areas for eating and drinking, with noodles, donburi and poke, yakitori, sushi and more all available. There's a bakery for dorayaki (Japanese-filled pancakes) and Matcha lattes too.
What should we search out? Shoryu Ramen is probably the biggest draw and it's worth trying their offshoot Katsu and Kare.
Mercato Metropolitano/ Mayfair
Elephant & Castle, Mayfair and Canary Wharf
Mercato Metropolitano originally set up their first food court at Elephant and Castle - a mix of street traders, shopping and bars, with a distinct Italian flavour. That's still going strong, but they went above and beyond with Mercato Mayfair, which took over a Grade I listed and deconsecrated church between Oxford Street and Grosvenor Square. This is definitely the best-looking food hall in London, without a doubt. Again there's a focus on Italian food and drink, but there's also a raw bar for sushi, steamed dumplings and more.
What should we search out? Molo's charcoal soft-shell crab buns are great, and the wine bar in the crypt at Mercato Mayfair is particularly atmospheric.
London's Food Halls, mapped.
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