Broadway Market's hottest new food and drink spots

London Fields’ favourite pub is getting a makeover, Victoria Stewart reports on the all new Cat and Mutton
Tom Bowles
7 April 2014

Metres from Cambridge Heath station I spot evidence of one of this year's biggest drinks trends: a new corner shop (a specialist health food corner shop, obvs) is advertising fresh coconut water. Along Andrews Road, bordering the canal leading to Broadway Market, a Weber barbecue sits atop a barge and another newsagent stocks a range of almond and hazelnut milks.

Broadway Market’s food scene is mushrooming. While many have been making pilgrimages here for years (@Broadway_Mkt now has a Twitter following of more than 13,000) there have been a host of recent foodie developments. A gin pop-up has arrived at F Cooke, the local pie-and-mash shop, and three new restaurants are all busy at 3pm on a Tuesday. Stories pub appeared last summer and Market Café before it. Franco Manca, the popular sourdough pizzeria that began life in Brixton, opened in February. Earlier this week, a sleek new butcher, Hill and Szrok, began offering passers-by the chance to drop in for dinner, concocted using the leftover meat. There is space to seat 22.

The icing on the cupcake is the 300-year-old Cat and Mutton pub. Having changed hands in October last year, it’s undergoing a makeover and will re-open next Friday as a new food and cocktail destination. In the team behind it is Tom Gibson, the 28-year-old owner of Ruby’s cocktail den in Dalston, a silent investor who also owns a records business, and the duo behind the Columbo Group, which is responsible for successful nightlife haunts such as Paradise by Way Of Kensal Green, XOYO and Love and Liquor. Ben Denner, who ran a prosperous east London food pop-up nearby last summer, has been brought in to reform the menu.

Clampdown: Hackney council is targeting areas including trendy Broadway Market (Picture; Rex)
Rex Features

Gibson is ecstatic. “When I got the call from Riz [his business partner], I thought he’d want me to do a pop-up. But he wanted to go all in. I know how important this place is to people around here, so it was a no-brainer.”

During the Seventies and Eighties, he explains, “The Cat” was “a bit of a rough and nondescript pub… then, about 10 years ago, it used to serve good gastropub food and parties would be held on a Sunday evening upstairs. There was a hip, young crowd and now they’ve grown up and got children and have come to appreciate better quality and service…”

With this project he wants the emphasis to be on fun, “with formal service in a really informal setting”. Experimental cocktails, such as Pearl Queen and Nellie’s Frisk, are named after former pub landlords, who Gibson has spent three months researching in the local archives. Fiery Mare, Gibson’s favourite, is made with gin, wasabi, Kamm & Sons and lemon.

While it seems food and drink spots are popping up everywhere, Sandy Newell from Shoreditch-based Dominion property agents says commercial properties in the area are not easy to come by. As a result developments are driven by, “landlords doing things themselves”, she says.

Matt Writtle

“It’s those pioneers who took long leases… I went to one today up Kingsland Road… he’s done a great job fitting it out but now he’s ready to move on. I suspect he will get a substantial premium.”

The Cat and Mutton has a 15-year lease and Hill & Szrok has 12 years to play with. Other newcomers are Fatties Bakery, opening soon, as well as sweet-making duo The Meringue Girls. After a year running a stall at the Saturday market they will soon open a wholesale bakery in Broadway Market Mews, selling to major retailers, local cafés and delis and offering baking masterclasses.

“It was pretty hard to find a space with the right amount of power we need for our big baking oven. We have completely stripped the space, peeled the dirt off the skylights and started putting our stamp on things,” says co-founder Alex Hoffler.

On my way back to the station I walk into that corner shop. Co-owner Umut Kaya tells me his bestsellers are anything with coconut, quinoa or chia seeds. No doubt, there has been a Broadway mark-up.

10 Broadway hits

Offers a Workers Lunch (£9.95/one dish, glass of wine, coffee) Mon-Fri. Also Prosecco on tap.

2 Broadway Market, E8; market-cafe.co.uk

Franco Manca

Fluffy sourdough pizzas at the sixth branch of this no-bookings pizzeria that started life in Brixton.

52 Broadway Market, E8; francomanca.co.uk

Licky Chops food pop-up took place here last year. This summer it returns with an Easter Weekend BBQ and BurgerMonday championships.

Arch 374, Helmsley Place, E8; climpsonsarch.com

Peters & Co Gin Palace at F.Cooke Pie and Mash Shop

Gin and tonics, craft beer, English wine, smoked salmon and puddings from 7pm, Thu-Sat May 1 until Jul.

9 Broadway Market, E8; facebook.com/PetersGinPalace

Vibrant fresh produce and street food market. Top traders: Jewish Deli, Deeney’s and Hanoi Kitchen.

9am-5pm, Saturdays; broadwaymarket.co.uk

Cocktail bar with people spilling onto the street. Decent Negronis.

63-65 Broadway Market, E8; offbroadway.org.uk

Stories

Drinks, brunch, and Sunday lunches, from the people behind The Book Club in Shoreditch.

30 Broadway Market, E8; storiesonbroadway.com

Brewhouse

Come for a tour and tasting at London Fields Brewery under an arch.

365-366 Warburton Street, E8; londonfieldsbrewery.co.uk

Netil Market

Saturday street food market in a carpark. Try burgers from Lucky Chip or Bao London’s steamed buns.

9am-6pm, Saturdays, 23 Westgate St, E8; netilmarket.tumblr.com

Hill & Szrok

Get your rib-eye steaks and chicken thighs at the new butcher - then stay for dinner afterwards. No bookings.

60 Broadway Market, E8; @hillandszrok

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