Whitecross Street Lunch Market & Comptoir Gourmand Patisserie & Café

At the top of the City of London is Whitecross Street, connecting the Barbican to Old Street, near "Silicon Roundabout" where all the new techies work. Nearby is Moorgate tube station, surrounded by increasingly new and high rise office buildings (like City Point), while just north of the station lie The College of Law and City University's Cass Business School. This means there are a lot of daytime visitors to this part of London who need LUNCH!

The upper (northern) part of Whitecross Street thus forms a lunchtime market, one of the many street markets in London, but this one is focussed on take-away food. Between 11am and 3pm, Mondays through Fridays, stall after stall offers a variety of local and foreign foods: Hog Roast (my favourite, pulled pork sandwiches), Brazilian, Thai, Mexican, Italian (stand-up lasagne!), lots of curries, salads, sandwiches, sweet vendors....

Whitecross Street Market, Islington:
good for your lunchtime take-away

The trouble is, in good weather, one can hardly get close to these stalls it is so crowded, and queues are so long, people must spend half their lunch hour queueing. But we went recently during near freezing weather, and the place was so empty you could walk through it unobstructed (and I could take a photo, impossible before). Since it was too cold to eat a take-away outside, we explored the shops lining the street, normally visible only when the stall holders and crowds are gone.

One tiny shop, the Comptoir Gourmand, caught my eye with a lunch board announcing 'lamb apricot tagine soup'. It's a soup day, I thought! Having been to Morocco and eaten lamb tagine in situ, my mouth watered at the prospect. But no, that was yesterday's soup, and I had to settle for beef bourguignon soup instead. Anyway, pretty classy soups, don't you think?

Pastry stall of Comptoir Gourmand,
Whitecross Street Market, Islington

The Comptoir Gourmand Café & Patisserie only has about three small tables inside, and one wall is devoted to help-yourself yummy looking quiches, salads, sandwiches and sides. They'll heat the quiche for you when it's cold out, and they also have homemade ice cream for when it's 'hot' out (England rarely gets that hot)....Since it is a French café, there are also a variety of pastries, especially being sold in the café's take-away stall facing them across the street. Definitely worth a visit and a treat.