I thought I would kick things off with a place I am so fortunate to have on my doorstep. Whitecross street market does every kind of food you could think of: burritos (with chorizo added to your choice of meat –a nice touch that separates them from other burrito stalls), Thai, Brazilian, Spanish, hog roast, Italian, salads, Caribbean, cheese, pastries…you name it and they probably have it. The Market is open Mon-Friday but Thursday and Friday have an expanded selection. If you get there by noon you might avoid the lengthy queues and things start to close up around 2:30.
Above all else though, my absolute favourite place is the Coffee Stall. I think it might also be referred to as Pitch 42, but this red covered holy house of coffee is the primary outlet for Gwilym Davies, World Barista Champion 2009. You’ll occasionally catch him hanging around, but more often that not, one of his highly-qualified associates will be slinging the drinks. I’m not going to pretend to know much about coffee, but one of the guys who works there described the coffee as “slightly fruity”. I guess I could agree, although my palette is certainly not refined enough to say for sure. Best of all? They fully encourage you to go out and try other places…Try 8 East London independent coffee establishments and your next cup is on them.
The Recommendation: Any one of 8 places!
The Informant: Gwilym Davies of Prufrock Coffee
Excellent site