Shopping & Eating
Shopping Experiences
From rummaging around markets to the glamour of London’s mega malls – it’s temptation time.
Markets - East
East London has more than its fair share of markets – and they are great places to soak up the atmosphere as well as browse for bargains.
Roman Road, close to Bow Road DLR, has authentic East End credentials and although old-timers say it’s not what it once was for fashion, Saturdays are still lively. The addition of crafts and farmers (speciality food) areas is designed to lure in tourists as well as locals.
Petticoat Lane, close to Aldgate Tube, is an East London institution and on Sundays you’ll find acres of leather goods, plus luggage, homewares, music and a fair amount of tat.
Nearby Brick Lane has a distinctly exotic flavour at its Sunday market, thanks to the spices wafting from the local restaurants and the saris and silks decorating shop windows. A mixed bag of goodies for sale – but that’s part of the experience.
After you’ve had your fill of rooting for bargains, head to the Sunday UpMarket at Truman Brewery on Brick Lane for choice arts and crafts, edgy fashion and excellent food. There’s also a Saturday market, focusing on work by new designers.
Champion of all the East End venues, Spitalfields is a hotspot for fashion, art, vintage and antique finds. Sunday is busiest day, with speciality markets in the week.
If you want to make a day of it, head south of the river on the DLR to Greenwich Market, where there’s a good mix of bric-a-brac, clothes and CDs at weekends - and lots of good places to eat after you’re done shopping.
Markets – best of the rest
Famous or infamous, London’s legendary trading places are worth a day trip – even if it’s just for people watching.
Bermondsey Square Antiques Market is an experience – not least because you need to be there before 5am on a Friday to bag a bargain. Once a haunt of thieves and vagabonds, who could pass on stolen loot without fear of reprisals (thanks to a royal licence), these days it’s a destination for the antiques trade - and insomniac bargain hunters.
Camden Market has never quite shrugged off its punk’n’goth credentials – even though these days it’s also a mecca for well-dressed tourists. It’s actually a series of markets (follow the crowds) and the jumble of stalls and dimly-lit shops, with a generous smattering of trendy boutiques, provide plenty of atmosphere.
Hollywood glamour was injected into Portobello Road for the film Notting Hill, adding to the swarm of people who descend on this series of picturesque streets on Saturdays. Antiques are the big draw, but head to the Westway end for edgier fashion and vintage stuff.
Wembley Market is for serious shoppers and claims to be Britain’s biggest Sunday meet. You’ll find free parking, over 500 stalls to explore and a food court where you can rest after a hard day’s haggling.
Also see Food markets.
Charity and thrift shops
London has charity shops on almost every high street, and they have long been the haunt of ‘fashionistas’ and hard-up students. One trick is to head for the well-heeled quarters of London – including Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Victoria – where local residents really do throw out designer originals on the grounds that they’re ‘so last season’.
One destination where you’re pretty much guaranteed a find is Oxfam, Westbourne Grove, where the Reinvented range of clothes – donations recrafted by London College of Fashion students and graduates - is available, along with a fair few designer originals.
The East End Thrift Store in E1, close to Stepney Green is a find, offering carefully selected secondhand and vintage gear and prices are mostly £10 or less.
Designer sales
A regular fixture on the shopping calendar, sales of top brands at knock-down prices are usually advertised in the London papers.
Regular fixtures worth attending are Designer Sales UK, which has clearances and sample sales in various locations including Brick Lane. Alexander McQueen and Yohji Yamamoto are among its big names.
The grand-daddy of designer clearance, Designer Warehouse Sales in Islington features great British names (Vivienne Westwood, Betty Jackson) alongside international brands and edgy newcomers. Reductions are typically 50-80 per cent of the original price tag.
Department stores
London has plenty of ‘under one roof’ stores, but there are a couple of leviathans that stand out – and make it worth the trek down Oxford Street.
Selfridges is for Londoners (whereas Harrods is for tourists) and we’ve had a long love affair with this iconic building in Marble Arch. The store is just as vibrant today, thanks to the careful mix of new and classic brands – and the focus on added entertainment of an eat and drink variety. Go, and immerse yourself in its aura, but remember that it’s six floors of irresistible temptation.
John Lewis down the road is a calmer shopping experience, but a mix of leading names and trusty own-brands make it the place to go and select a toaster, splurge on crisp cotton bedlinen or look for buttons (it has possibly the best haberdashery department in town). An outpost in Canary Wharf gives a mere taster of what you’ll find in the flagship store.
Shopping malls
Malls mean a journey - and a car is an asset once you’ve run amok in the shopping aisles – but if this is your kind of shopping then start saving.
UEL’s local shopping park Gallions Reach is just one stop away on the DLR, and a quick journey by car. With more than 30 stores and places to eat – plus a huge 24-hour supermarket – it’s a good source of fashion, electricals and other essentials.
Bluewater just over the border in Kent caused a mighty stir when it opened because of its immense size (Europe’s largest mall). You’ll find everyone who’s anyone in British retailing, plus cinema, dining and six very nice lakes where you can hire a rowing boat.
Westfield opened in the midst of the credit crunch, but that didn’t stop the shoppers coming. It is simply vast and has single-handedly transformed Shepherd’s Bush, while also giving the West End a run for its money thanks to valet parking and a feast of dining and grazing opportunities at its 50-strong array of cafes and restaurants.
Eating
Student cannot survive on baked beans alone. Here are ways to fill your belly without emptying your bank account.
Lunchtime bargains
Even the very best London restaurants can be affordable at lunchtime – especially in these straitened times. The words ‘credit crunch’ and ‘menu’ have come together magically on many windows - manna for those of us who live in a permanent credit crunch situation Stick to set or lunchtime menus (avoiding à la carte at all costs) and read the small print for extras such as minimum cover and service charges.
Two-for-one deals
There are plenty of buy-one-get-one-free type deals at restaurants and cafes – and many others offer bargains for families, such as free children’s meal when you buy an adult main course.
Chain restaurants may advertise promotions in the London listings magazines and local papers. Or try Top Table and Time Out for insights into both current bargains and London’s best-value eateries.
Food markets
Grazers are welcomed at London’s gourmet food markets – and free samples are a good way to supplement your diet – although you should buy a little of what you fancy to support these generous small traders.
Broadway Market, close to Bethnal Green Tube has become an über-trendy Saturday destination and offers not only delicious food but a good selection of gastro-pubs, alongside traditional cafes.
Borough Market is not only the best food market in the capital but a premier destination for diners. It really is a feast for the senses, and alongside excellent cafes and restaurants you’ll find gourmet takeaway stalls for cheaper eats.
London Farmers' Markets bring small producers into the heart of the capital to sell fresh fruit and vegetables, homemade buffalo cheese, native oysters in season, Aylesbury duck and exotics such as English-grown okra. Closest destinations to UEL are Blackheath and Islington.
5 top dining destinations
- Brick Lane has been transformed from an insiders’ place to culinary hotspot of the East End. A great choice of regional South Asian cuisine and a wide range of prices.
- The South Bank has seen an explosion of riverside (and not quite so riverside) restaurants in the past decade. A fabulous see-and-be-seen destination, especially on a warm evening.
- Chinatown is well established on the tourist trail, but you can still find authentic dim sum and Peking duck, plus Malaysian, Vietnamese and Taiwanese specialities. Scruffier restaurants usually mean cheaper prices – and some stay open very late to catch the theatre crowd.
- Clerkenwell – and especially the area around St John’s Square – is a place to experience achingly fashionable London dining. It can be pricey, but there are some honest meals at honest prices in the mix – plus good bars that do great food. Check out online reviews on Top Table before you book.
- The Vincent Rooms is a destination in itself because here you will eat food cooked and served by students from one of London’s leading catering and hospitality colleges (alumni include Jamie Oliver). It’s possibly the best gourmet deal in London so you need to book ahead.
