FOOD YARD FRIDAY, ELEPHANT & CASTLE

There's a new street food market in town and having been to check it out for you, I can now report back to tell you that you have to go too! Food Yard Friday has opened in Elephant & Castle just off the top of Elephant Road, heading towards Camberwell. The market is built from shipping containers, each of which houses a different food pop up, with a seating area and DJ in the middle. There's a bar for cocktails, an award winning juice bar, and loads of different food offerings. The market isn't just open on Fridays though - you can get food throughout the week from traders including Love Fresh Vietnamese, Elephant Shack, The Frenchie, Black Acorn and Marcel & Sons.

We started with cocktails in the Longwave bar - I went for an elderflower Collins which packed a serious punch but was also lovely and refreshing.

 
We sampled various cold pressed juices from Spark Juices, who won an award for their juice last year. My favourite was the green popeye - spinach, avocado, apple and lime - I'll definitely be making this at home!

Then we got on to food. I reckon the best way to tackle Food Yard Friday is to go with a group of mates, then you can order 1 of everything from each stall and share it all between you. That way you get to sample alllll the food, as it was really tough choosing between the offerings. There's seriously good looking pizza from Elephantastic Pizza - I didn't get to try any of this but it looked divine - plentiful toppings with a really thin crust.

 

I did try the pork and prawn spring rolls from Love Fresh, which were fab. They were fresh and light and so good dipped in their homemade fish and chilli sauces. They sell pots of their chilli sauce on site and I recommend picking up on of these - they gave me a pot of their chilli sauce to take away, and I honestly can't get enough of it, it's so perfectly balanced and good with almost everything.

There was bread being freshly made for rare breed steak burgers at Elephant Shack....

The best thing I tried on the night though was the duck burger from The Frenchie. I've had their burger before but not for a while so was thrilled to be reintroduced. A soft bun holds confit duck with salad and pickles, topped with a cheese of your choice - they have blue, goats or smoked cheese. I went for smoked cheese which was melted over the top of the duck. The burger is served with duck crackling and is utterly divine, despite my awful photo!!

Food Yard Friday is open all week, and then every Friday from 5pm til late with a DJ, and is found just behind Elephant and Castle station. More info available here.