Fancy noodles, posh kebabs and deluxe delis rub shoulders with chic cocktail bars (and a few duds) in this souped-up, soon-to-be nationwide food court
During all the brouhaha about millennials apparently brunching on avo toast instead of saving up to get a mortgage, the bigger picture about the state of modern dining was perhaps missed: meeting friends, having “experiences” and treating yourself to some nice food has leapt upwards in younger generations’ priorities as the prospect of home ownership skedaddled.
At Market Halls in London’s Victoria, a spanking new, all-day modern food court, these notions are writ large. Market Halls was once the nightclub Pacha, but this gargantuan three-floor space has been gutted and filled with permanent stalls selling vivid purple, ruby prawn dumplings, fancy udon noodles and bespoke salt beef. On the Saturday lunchtime I went not long after opening, the place was mobbed, and mainly with the under-30s. Nightclubs such as Pacha are also growing as scarce as first-time mortgages, so it was perhaps destiny that these two things should blend. This is the generation after mine, who missed out on Carol Smillie compelling them to spend every spare penny on Crown Paints and cornice pieces via BBC1’s Changing Rooms. Instead, this lot are eating vegan falafel from a place called, cough, Fanny’s Kebabs, and looking like models while they do it on Instagram. I’m not entirely sure who is winning.
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