The London Night Market, essentially an outdoor food market was set up in Kensington Gardens for about 10 days in June. So let me be honest. I wasn’t expecting to find anything to eat here. Maybe some chips, but that was it. How wrong I was! I liked the way this place was set up – the food trucks and stalls, there was a lot of seating space dotted all around, and if you didn’t want to sit on a chair, there was a whole load of green to sit on. The whole market had this really relaxed and chilled vibe. It was a Saturday night, the weather was glorious, the sun was shining until 10pm and everyone was smiling. What more could I ask for. Oh yes. The food. That was EXCELLENT!
First stop? Get something to drink. There was a Cobra Beer stall and loads of bars and cocktail stalls. I had a grapefruit Collins with Tanqueray 10 year. Nice, but definitely not worth £8. What was better was the pint of Pimms that was also £8 – and not an ice cube in sight!
First stop? Mama Jerk for some fried plantain – only £3. Fresh and super hot, it was super delicious. They were offering mayo (why? nooo!) or a tomato salsa as a dip. But what took it to the next level was the (vegan) jerk seasoning paste that I went for. OH MY WORD. I have ever tried a jerk paste this good. Perfectly balanced with all the flavours and chilli. Amazing amazing amazing. Good start. Very good start.
There was a gyoza truck but the queues were so long that I wasn’t willing to queue.. until next time. Next? Spicebox. I had never even heard about this place – all vegan, all plantpowered and all tasty. Such different options – I went for the jackfruit tikka masala and the tandoor cauli steak, on a bed of quinoa. It was all topped with super tasty chutneys, coriander, pickled onions and chillies. I was so impressed. Fresh, zingy flavours, and each mouthful was literally a flavour explosion – right down to the last mouthful. I was so so impressed with this power box of tasty food. I’ll be tracking them down to indulge again.
The rest of the gang indulged in a lot more food – a truffle burger (all hype and all fat and no truffle apparently), Goats cheese veggie baos (apparently very horrible) and raclette (which I adored in my cheese eating days, that went down very well).
Onto desserts. Churros! Which I could eat – but I couldn’t have the chocolate sauce. And that was completely ok as the churros were so tasty. Crispy, soft and not too sweet. So so good. I was told the chocolate sauce was virtually perfect. Yorica also had a presence there. Now I usually have the frozen yoghurt, but they had run out. So we chose the salted caramel and the chocolate and orange flavours. Whoa! The salted caramel flavour was by favourite.. lovely – not overpowering and not too sweet. Loved it.
A brilliant evening with brilliant food and company. And so much food for me – so happy and so impressed. I have to say, there are so many vegan options in London at the moment – grateful.com. Definitely signing up for the next night market.
PB Eats, PB Travels 