This is one of my favourite date recommendations because it was one my boyfriend Geoff took me on, on our fifth date! Safe to say I was completely blown away, having lived in London but never having heard of this pocket of paradise before.
Sitting in a disused paper factory, Mercato Metropolitano is a street food market and booze hub, consisting of over 40 vendors, an in house microbrewery and also a home to a number of community projects.
The cuisines you can find include Thai, American, Italian, Turkish, French… the list goes on. Wether it’s pizza, pad Thai, cheesy truffle burgers or chicken wings, there is something for everyone and they encourage the use of locally sourced ingredients for all of their vendors.
This place is massive… you can walk around loosing yourself in the delicious smells of each stand and gawking at the incredible decor… it’s currently decked out in a circus theme which is spectacular, with giant elephants and an oversized confetti canon – let’s just say it’s very instagrammable.
There’s adequate indoor and outdoor seating with outdoor heaters for the winter, but this place can get super busy (as you could probably imagine) so get there early to nab a seat or mingle around and get tipsy whilst you wait for a space to open up.
Location wise, it’s smack bang between Borough and Elephant & Castle station, but you can also talk a slow meander from London Bridge quite easily too. And finally, this place is open from 8am most days until 11pm so whether you’ve organised a brunch or after dinner drinks date, this place will be open and ready to serve!
I can’t quite explain how impressive this place is but the last time I went was on a double date and we all spent the first ten minutes walking around in awe at not only the food selection available and the mulled wine in our hands, but also at the sheer scale and vibe of the place, it’s a little bit magical!
RATING: 8/10 (Only minus 2 because it’s so busy and you can be waiting around a while for a table)
COST: 2.5/5 – Entry is free but food prices vary from stand to stand.
WEBSITE: https://www.mercatometropolitano.com
LOCATION: 42 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6DR.
Let me know if you end you visiting! Would love to hear what you think! x
Wow what a cool place!