Peter Morrell and his wife enjoy a long afternoon of good food, craft beer and the upbeat atmosphere in this thriving social enterprise establishment
Mercato Metropolitano (MM) is London’s first sustainable community food market focused on regenerating and revitalising urban neighbourhoods and building communities around good, healthy, and affordable food for everyone.
It is part of the MMovement – a movement centred around community inclusion, seasonal produce, emotive food, and the preservation of the environment.
MM operates several markets across London in Elephant & Castle, Mayfair, Wood Wharf, Elephant Park and soon to be Ilford. The markets offer food and drink producers selling a wide range of good, nutritious, affordable food and grocery products, alongside music events and activities.
My wife and I recently went along to their Elephant and Castle location. This was Mercato Metropolitano’s first site in London, opening in 2016. It is housed in a repurposed abandoned paper factory.
The site itself is huge with large industrial buildings and extensive indoor and outdoor seating areas. Inside the buildings there is a feeling of Industrial Chic about it with the ironwork rafters and beams holding up the roof still visible. Outside lots of foliage like bamboo plants soften the edges and make this green space seem almost cosy. The seating is eclectic with much of it built using recycled materials.
We spent a good 10-15 minutes walking around to get a feel for the layout, and take a look at the 40 plus independent trading partners. They serve a vast array of natural, nutritious, accessible food and drink alongside an on-site micro-brewery.
It was a Tuesday lunchtime and we were surprised about how busy it was, they were lots of groups sitting at long trestle tables having a great time. We grabbed a couple of weiss beers made by the onsite German brewery then grabbed a garden seat and enjoyed the ambience.
It was time for some food, and during our recce when we arrived had checked out the many eating options. Would it be the Philly Cheese Steak, Jerk Chicken, Vietnamese Street Food, Neopolitan Pizza, Korean Bibimap, Sri Lankan Food or Lebanese Falafal.
I was despatched to find something tasty and filling, and somehow the smell of the BBQ meats from the Butcher’s Grill just hooked me. I ordered the fully loaded hamburger and the ribs and wings mixed grill, both served with chips.
Heaving them back to the table we appreciated the full size and glory of these. The burger was made with ground steak, and topped with cheese, bacon, and home-made rosemary mayo. The mixed grill had a pile of marinated chicken wings and a half rack of ribs, all freshly cooked on the barbeque. Each serving board had a mountain of chips.
All the food was delicious, we did finish the burger and the chips but there were enough chicken and ribs left to take home and have a decent sized supper.
Another couple of beers sat in the sunshine finished off a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Mercato Metropolitano is also great value for money, three hours of eating, drinking and relaxing in an upbeat atmosphere had cost us less than £50.
We can’t wait to go back for an evening with friends to have a memorable night out.
Mercato Metropolitano
42 Newington Causeway
London
SE1 6DR
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