Six reasons to visit Mercato Metropolitano

Established in 2016, Mercato Metropolitano has become a firm favourite in London’s Elephant and Castle neighbourhood and is just one of London’s many street markets (although it’s just off the street!). It’s a sprawling, vibrant space filled with food and drink stalls and lots of activities to get involved with – come rain or shine. It’s an oasis in an urban jungle. 

The market is located on Newington Causeway, between Elephant and Castle tube and train station and Borough tube station. It’s open every day of the week but the opening and closing times differ. Monday to Wednesday it opens from 8 am to 11 pm, Thursday 8 am to midnight, Friday 8 am to 1 am , Saturday 11 am to 1 am and Sunday 11 am to 10 pm. It’s the perfect place for late night eating and drinking over the weekend.

Here are six reasons why you should take a trip to Mercato Metropolitano

1. Amazing food and drinks stalls

Mercato Metropolitano prides itself on being a market that revolves around small-scale farmers, local producers and members of the local community. There’s a wide range of food stalls to choose from, with almost every cuisine imaginable – from BBQ to German, Mexican to Italian and Peruvian (to name a few). You’ll have trouble deciding because everything looks and smells so good! And dessert? Don’t worry, they’ve got that covered too. 

There are a few cocktail bars/stalls dotted around, inside and out, and even an Italian Enoteca where you can enjoy a glass of wine or even a bottle.

There is so much outside space for when the weather is really good. When we visited it was about 28 degrees and everyone was enjoying soaking up the sun and the atmosphere. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of shade too! There’s also an outdoor bowls area, if you feel like having a game or two.

2. Learn about urban gardening and food sustainability

There’s an on-site urban garden where you can learn about how food is grown. There’s also a very cool double-decker bus, called the farmbus, where you can go on-board and learn about food sustainability.

3. Support entrepreneurs 

As well as supporting local producers, Mercato Metropolitano also plays host to craft markets such as Crafty Fox. When we visited, Crafty Fox was having a sample sale and there were loads of stalls selling beautiful items. They host them fairly regularly so keep an eye on their website or sign up to the Crafty Fox newsletter.

4. Buy high quality products to take home

Mercato Metropolitano has a grocer, where you can buy high quality Italian products such as pasta, confectionery, salumi meats, jams, cheese and even books, canvas bags and organic toiletries. There are tables inside too if you want to grab a sandwich, salad, coffee or even a cocktail whilst you shop.

5. Take a class

There’s a variety of classes and workshops on offer; such as pasta making classes, how to make a miniature landscape, macrame workshops, wine tasting and more. Keep an eye out on the Events page of their website to see what’s coming up.

As well as creative classes for the mind, there’s also a fitness studio and boxing gym for the body. 

6. Enjoy a host of events

As well as the individual creative classes, the market also hosts a number of events such as food festivals, music events and even a cinema. There’s also an on-site arts centre. The whole market just feels like a great community space, buzzing with life. 

So if you’ve never considered visiting Elephant and Castle before, here’s six really good reasons to go.