We bear a degree of pragmatic skepticism when it comes to the independent credentials of these food halls which have been popping up recently such as Mercato Metropolitano in Elephant. However, we love the small traders which use them to establish and build their little foodie businesses, which is why we just inspected the spanking new Market Place in Vauxhall. 

Over the years many things both enriching and a bit disturbing have sprung out of the railway arches in Vauxhall, and luckily Market Place next to the station falls into the former category. The collection of stalls includes Thai, Mexican, Mumbai street food, pizza, pasta, Sri Lankan, Argentinean, and Turkish. There are also a few exports from Borough Market including ‘Bread Ahead’ and Caribbean joint ‘Rudi’s’, and we can definitely recommend their chicken wrap. As there is also a bar and is open until 10:00, Market Place can be useful for those ‘I don’t wanna cook and want a drink’ nights. So, most nights for us in the office. 

Marching merrily on to the food, your scribe headed to MoMo Thai and had the Pad Kra Pao stir fry. A Thai staple, it was packed with chicken mince and holy basil with a slightly spicy jasmine rice and topped with a fried egg. Karen from Finance took the low carb route and headed via the Argentinean Grill for her steak salad. It came with a surprisingly large amount of steak which was slightly cut and pink. A bit chewy but pleasant. A proper amount of salad came with it as well as a generous lash of chimichurri sauce. 

We here at the Runoff are hoping that the folks over at Market Place aren’t charging extortionate rents to these small traders as it will only hobble their chances of growth. When we’ve interviewed some of these folks they’ve expressed gratitude at the platform and exposure it has given them, and long shall it continue. And it also exposes us all to cultures and cuisines that we might otherwise not encounter in our fair manor. Bon appétit!