Maltby St SE1 - Part 2

I have written about the foodie enclave that is Maltby St and its surrounds in Bermondsey before but that was almost 9 months ago, just before Christmas and things have got even better.  Due to the growing visitor numbers and some weird goings on at Borough Market the number of producers selling their wares has increased.

This Saturday, on what felt like the last day of Summer, we had a very chilled and delicious wander around Maltby St, Druid St, Stanworth St and a little further afield to Voyager Railway Arches to visit the wonderful Kappacasein.  Any of you who have been to Borough in the past will have seen their amazing cheese sandwiches being made and for now this new location is the only place where you can find them, as well as their ever popular raclettes (although they tell me they should be back at Borough very soon - while still keeping the Voyager Arches location).  The plan is to also use this new space to make cheese and there was some construction going on out the back to do just that.  It was so nice to eat one of their toasted cheese sandwiches (which are totally up there in my sandwich hall of fame) in such chilled surroundings - it was always a little hectic around their Borough stall.  Of course once you've done savoury you need sweet (we alternated several times during the day...) so we headed a couple of arches up to chat to the friendly fella at the Ice Cream Union  - who was super generous with samples (gotta love that) and up for a chat.  The ice cream is fantastic too.  Back on Stanworth St at

 No.55 there are several great producers in one space - Fern Verrow's organic veg looked amazing (I was eyeing up some golden beets that were particularly beautiful) and the Borough Cheese Company was very tempting (there is certainly no shortage of cheese in the Maltby St area - Neal's Yard Dairy is also there plus Mons and others.  At No.55 it was Coleman Coffee Roasters that caught my attention though - these guys are a small batch coffee roastery in south-east London and as well as selling beans (which we used this morning at home and were delicious) they were serving top notch piccolos.  So all in all it was a lovely day - if you haven't checked out the Maltby St area make sure you do and soon - we started the day with a flat white at Monmouth, got a sugar rush from one of St John's custard donuts and then powered around the arches.  The day finished in the wonderful Tower Bridge Antiques, which is right there also.  I love this area - with Borough Market itself and the wonderful Bermondsey St a short walk away, this is fast becoming one of my favourite parts of London.

Maltby St - SE1

Maltby Street in SE1 and the surrounding streets (in particular the wonderfully named Druid Street) is a hidden gem for food and coffee lovers.  I tubed it to Bermondsey today for their pre Christmas Thursday opening - but usually it's a Saturday destination.  Coming out from the station and walking up Jamaica Road I pondered on the "gentrification" of Bermondsey - the place seems to be one big construction site with new apartment blocks named things like "Bermondsey Spa" and "the jewel of SE1" and other such crap.  Overlooking all this are the original estates and old warehouses and as such Bermondsey will always seem slightly grim and urban (and so it should - there is a place for this in a city like London, I hate it when there is a relentless push to make everywhere twee) and as I walked to Maltby Street there was one point where I thought the Krays were going to step out of the shadows and take a pot-shot at me (I really need to stop drinking so much coffee).  Anyway back to Maltby Street - the first thing I came to was the Monmouth Coffee HQ (pictured) where I fortified myself with a flat white (top notch as always) and then wandered round to the new St John bakery on Druid Street and bought a custard donut and then wandered further up to the space shared by Kase Swiss (cheese), Topolski (Polish smoked meats) and Jacob's Ladder Farms where I bought some lovely smoked trout with dill.  My food shop finished at Neal's Yard with goats cheese, quince paste and blossom honey.  If I sound pleased with myself it's because I was and when I wandered down to Borough Market later in the day and found myself in a total scrum I realised why the Maltby St enclave is so special - lots of space, unhurried and no tourists.  I love this part of London (even the grim bits) so I will be a regular visitor on Saturdays - check it out, but don't tell too many people!