A Trip to Oz

Today, I ventured to Brixton Village one of London's many hidden gems. The market sits, surprisingly enough, at the Brixton Tube stop - the very most southern stop of the Victoria line - and was quite easy to get to. After glancing at the tube map, I feared it would take ages and ages to reach the Brixton stop, but in actuality it was a quite painless 20 minutes max journey. To get to the market, after exiting the Brixton station, turn right and continue down the sidewalk until reaching Arcade rode. Here, make another right. Almost immediately, store fronts and stalls will begin to pop up. The Caribbean music that blares from almost all of them lets you know you've found the place. Toto, we're not in Kensington anymore!
Keep walking towards the sound of the music, and soon, on the left-hand side of the street, there will be a big blue archway that announces Brixton Village. Duck under this archway and find yourself in another world. Don't mind the smell of fish coming from the fresh fish stall close to the entrance. Check it out if you're brave enough! Welcome to Brixton Village, formerly known as Granville Arcade.

Brixton Village is located in a 1930's arcade market also known as Granville Arcade. It's a fantastic open space with great vaulted ceilings and soft lighting. By 2009, the market was falling into disarray, and Space Makers Agency, a group which helps to restore communities, swept in. Space Makers Agency has worked tirelessly to restore the area by bringing local businesses to the arcade - shops, restaurants, live music, galleries etc. They started by restoring 20 store fronts and inviting local businesses to use the space rent free for 3 months. Today, 18 of the original 20 shops have signed permanent leases.

I stopped in at this great resale shop called Rejuvenate. As the sign suggests, there really is a little bit of something for everyone in here: clothes, shoes, jewelry, nick nacks, and the owner was absolutely adorable. 

Along with a gaggle of fascinatingly fantastic shops and stalls, there was also plenty of food to go around such as The Cornercopia, Etta's Seafood Kitchen, Federation Coffee, and even a crepe place decked out in paper skeletons and papel picado in celebration of Halloween. 

Federation coffee - apparently London's best coffee - looked fantastic, but it was pretty packed, so I kept looking. 

I decided on Columbian restaurant El Rancho de Lalo. Like all the other restaurants in Brixton Village, it was tiny and packed. As I settled myself at my table for one, I took in my surroundings. The smells coming out of the kitchen literally inches from my table were mouth watering, and I noticed that not a single person in the place was speaking english. This was particularly promising as I've just about had it with English cooking. I decided to order the Arepa con Carne and a Corona. I was expecting something in sandwich form, but when my order was up, this is what they put in front of me!

The 'carne' part was absolutely fantastic - perfectly grilled, melt in my mouth, fajita curled my toes. The corn meal pancake part was pretty good too, but a little mealy and charred for my taste. I would have preferred a little fluff to my corn meal, but I suppose that's the nature of the thing.  

After my lunch, I wandered through the more typical market part of Brixton Market... pop up stalls full of junk to buy at whole sale prices: soap, batteries, paper towels; scarves; fake bags; jewelry; and lots and lots of meat - ick!

Click to read more about Brixton Village.