Friday Night Dinner: Market Halls
Market Halls is situated not far from Oxford Circus, on the former location of BHS. It occupies the first floor of the building, and boasts a selection of small, street food pop-up type kitchens, although some of them look fairly permanent. They operate a few sites around London, but the one on Oxford Street is the only one that takes bookings for two (or more) people.
The idea is that you pick a table, and then figure out what you want to eat from all the available vendors. You can order drinks at the bar, or through a QR code at the table. The beer choices were lacking, but there was a reasonable selection of wine and cocktails.
After sitting down, we had a look at the menus, and made a plan, which we then didn't quite follow once we started ordering. As it's not really a restaurant, that also was not important.
We started with a set of MOMO dumplings, from "Himalayan dumplings". They were juicy and filled with chicken. A slightly spicy dressing completed the dish. This pop-up also had a special on, which formed our second starter: crunchy pieces of puffed rice filled with potato, and served with tomatoes, cucumbers, and raw onion. The cucumber and tomato provided a cooling counterpoint to the spice in the rest of the dish.
As my main I enjoyed the Chilli Jam Pork Belly from Krapow!, which was served on rice. The pork was a little crunchy, well seasoned with birdseye chilli, and sprinkled with some salad leaves. My wife ordered the lamb from Salt Shed, another temporary addition to their menu. The slices of perfectly cooked lamb had some sea salt sprinkled over them, and were served with very spicy chillis, pickled radishes, and a slightly garlicky dip.
There are plenty of more pop-up restaurants to try out including a dessert place. If you feel like a good and low-key meal after a hard afternoon (or day!) of shopping, the options at Market Halls will easily satisfy your appetite.
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