CnC Living Recommends: London Sunday UpMarket w/Bahn mi, Ethiopian vegetarian snacks, and custom clothing

Food (Mexican, Thai, Sri Lankan, Japanese and more!), handmade jewelry, cool clothing, and housewares?  Yep, this would be why markets containing all of the above are one of my favorite activities in London.  Snacking and shopping are always a winning combination.  Here is a quick list of markets if you’re interested in exploring different ones.

Sunday UpMarket is my favorite London market because it’s a medium size, has some unique vendors, and an amazing international variety of food.  It’s also got a little bit of an edgy vibe as evidenced in the items you’ll see for sale.

Food
There’s so much to choose from, but here are my quick hits of the favorite places we’ve tried.
Mon Me Banh Mi is one of my favorite Banh mi places in London.  I was their first customer!  I found them in my internet quest for banh mi and their flavors (great pate and sauce) and meats didn’t disappoint though I would have liked a crisper baguette.  Unfortunately I haven’t seen them the last few times I’ve been to the market so hope they’re still there!

Aren’t their shirts cute?

This was a favorite Thai place.  Their green curry was awesome though I saw last time they seemed to shred chicken into the curry at the end (not the same, if you ask me).

I thought it was funny that the Mexican stand prominently displayed Old El Paso.  Though Old El Paso has done very well in the European and Asian countries I’ve visited.  This stand was always jumping and had fun music.

I actually tried a Brazilian pastry, coxinha, a chicken croquette and practice my limited Portugese at the Brazilian booth here.  Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures, but it was a tasty treat for £2 and every Brazilian I’ve met is fun to talk to so check it out!

Mr. Spend ‘n Chomp also likes the Ethiopian food here (the vegetarian stand, not as much the other one).  They have great seasoned, stewed vegetables and fresh injera (sour spongey bread).

Picture from here since my picture didn’t come out.

Clothing
Options range from funky suit jackets to t-shirts and vintage pieces.

One of our favorite vendors was Reggie Flippo who makes the coolest blazers.  Reggie also makes blazers with contrast stitching and fringe detailing.  My husband owns this pinstriped blazer with a hoodie and it was pretty reasonable at £75.  He gets compliments on this blazer constantly so of course he wanted another blazer when we went last week but Reggie wasn’t there.  Come back!

There are also a number of t-shirt stalls with celebrities or the artist’s own signature logoes/icons (I wanted my husband to get one with a panda wearing headphones, but he deemed it not masculine enough, sigh!)  Like the baby hanging out with the rock star, super model t-shirts?  Nice right?

The entire first floor is now devoted to vintage clothing and accessories.  I didn’t find anything, but it was nice walking through.  There were quite a few fun pieces from the 1950s and 1960s.

Housewares/Decor
There are lovely stalls ranging from lighting (£18 – 45)…

…to paintings (sorry didn’t catch the prices)

Jewelry/accessories
Small vendors sell lovely fascinators on the spot, handmade brass plated jewelry, fresh water pearls, and other goodies.  Alas, no pictures here either but definitely some nice options!

I’d definitely recommend Sunday UpMarket in East London for great food and a few shopping finds!
91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL

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