The new East End

Mention the East End of London and stereotypes flood the mind. There are market traders speaking in cockney rhyming slang (“Would you Adam and Eve it?” See box for translation) while munching on jellied eels, before heading to the local boozer. Pearly Kings and Queens (couples dressed in sparkly suits) are singing “Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner” on street corners and market traders are saying things like, “Cor blimey, guv.”

From where I am standing in Old Spitalfields Market, the East End cliché couldn’t be further from the truth. The covered market is a glamorous riot of colour and smell. Boutique milliners sell one-off hats, and photographers and artists display their creations to discerning art collectors. 

There are jewellers, t-shirt printers and craftsmen hand-making traditional board games. The stalls are laden with vintage designer clothes, rare reggae records and art deco furniture. Surrounding the stalls are designer boutique shops such as Dower & Hall jewellers, Montezuma’s chocolate emporium and the thrilling Eight Square furniture store, full of unique items.

From 1638 until 20 years ago, Spitalfields Market was a market for “flesh, fowl and roots;” today it is a creative hub for artists and fashion designers. Until 20 years ago, you wouldn’t have wanted to venture anywhere near the area; today, the redeveloped area is London’s hippest neighbourhood and at the centre is the market.

There are some superb food options within the market, especially Leon, a healthy and very tasty fast food store. It has some great beer, too. The foodie highlight in the zone, however, is just across the road at St. John Bread and Wine. 

It is the sister restaurant of one of London’s finest restaurants (for this author it is the best in the country), St. John Bar and Restaurant by the Smithfield meat market. Both restaurants are often praised for almost single-handedly rejuvenating the British culinary scene with the focus on good (and unusual) meats and seasonal vegetables. 

The light and airy Spitalfields venue is slightly more relaxed, if that is possible, and concentrates on smaller dishes of unerringly British food such as goose leg, chicory and mustard, or pollock and fennel. 

It may not sound particularly appealing, but there is a reason that St. John is a favourite of Anthony Bourdain and Jamie Oliver, among pretty much any other chef. And best of all, it is extremely reasonably priced.

The East End of London before the late 1700s was a set of villages outside the medieval walled City of London, which was dominated by smelly tanneries. And from the first time the phrase “East End” was coined in the 1800s, it acquired a reputation as a poor and dangerous area. 

Today, however, the neighbourhoods of Spitalfields, Shoreditch, Hoxton and Bethnal Green are undoubtedly the most exciting areas in London. 

Large immigrant populations are opening culinary delights on every street; old warehouses and breweries are being turned into media start-ups, art galleries and artists’ ateliers. The crux of the movement is Brick Lane, known for the vast amount of curry houses (although most should be avoided, try the Tayyabs Pakistani restaurant on Fieldgate Street).

Cockney Rhyming Slang Box

Make sense of the cockneys with their rhyming slang — plus a few modern ones you’ll hear across Britain.

Adam and Eve = Believe
Barnet Fair = Hair
Bees and honey = Money
Half inch = Pinch (steal)
Pork pies = Lies
Trouble and strife = Wife

And a few modern ones:

Britney Spears = Beers
Butcher's hook = Look (very common, as in, “Have a butcher’s at this…”)
Cream crackered = Knackered