Today we were off to the weekly Real Food Market at Southbank.
Self-described as a market/food festival that has an ‘amazing range of great produce and [features] the rising stars of London’s street food scene, each trader has been carefully selected based on their commitment to producing the very best, sustainably and ethically produced food and drink.’
First thing this morning we took the tube down to Southbank and head straight to the market while the vendors were still setting up. The bar on street food here in London is really, really high – so a compilation of the best of the street food the city has to offer was sure to be a feast.
We wandered the stalls twice and picked out very carefully what we were going to eat. The traders use only the best ingredients, with a focus on free-range and organic meats and farm fresh vegetables.
There were Korean beef burritos, smoked zucchini lebanese dips, polish pierogis, locally made artisanal charcuterie.
The home of Indian food outside of India, this was the best Indian food that London has to offer. There were bakers and pastrychefs and icecream makers too.
Italians were hand-rolling pasta in front of your eyes, butchers carving logs of slow-roasted pork.
I tried my first ever Scotch Egg, a British delicacy that comprises of a soft-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage mince, coated in breadcrumbs and then fried or baked. It. was. delicious. This was about as good as they come too, made by Hazeldene Farms from their own eggs and from meat raised ethically on their own farm.
After we stuffed ourselves full of London’s best street food, it was time to wander the streets. We checked out some of the most popular tourist spots – Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace. We stood in front of Big Ben and I said ‘that’s meant to be that famous place right?’ I am probably the worst British tourist ever.
I was heartily amused by this – Eric not so much.
We walked the pretty streets of Westminster and then through St James’s park, where I was promptly deposited on by a pigeon (good luck?) and then informed the Queen owned all the Swans. Eric told me a story of a newspaper article he had read yesterday, where a swan had wandered onto a busy street in the middle of London. As the Queen owns the swans, they didn’t know what to do, so they closed down the street. And put traffic cones around the swan. And then all stood there looking at the swan.
