Mercato Metropolitano

Mercato Metropolitano, located near Elephant & Castle at Newington Causeway, is an Italian urban farmers’ market and food court. It features street food, farmers, artisans, and hosts many fun events. There are two major spaces – one is the supermarket, the other is a big venue with all the food stalls, a cooking theatre, and plenty of seating. There is a lively and buzzing vibe, and so it’s an ideal place to hang out with a group of friends.

The food court has quite a variety of foods available. But since it’s an Italian market, here I picked out a few Italian stalls to try out:

La Pizza Napoletana

Lasagietta pizza (£9)

London has quite a few high quality pizza restaurants so I had pretty high expectations on this one. The menu has lots flavour combos to choose from. I went for the Lasagietta Pizza, which involves a tomato sauce base and topped with buffalo mozzarella and basil. The pizza has a nice crisp on the edges and a fluffy dough. It was very saucy and delicious fresh mozzarella. However, I felt it could use some extra black pepper and salt to lift the flavours. Not the very best ones you can find in London but pretty authentic and good quality Napoletano pizzas.

Rating: 3/5

 

Leggero

Tagliatelle with pesto, mushrooms, tomatoes and toasted almonds

Leggero is known as the first gluten-free Italian restaurant in London. It has a restaurant in Soho besides this stall at Mercato Metropolitano. For all those with gluten intolerance, here’s your pasta fix. I thought it’s an absolutely brilliant idea to start an Italian restaurant featuring gluten-free pasta. But then it’s also risky to set it up at a venue that’s an Italian food galore as they must be able to keep up with how normal pasta tastes like.

Is there a massive difference? Yes there is but I think Leggero did a fabulous job to minimise the differences. The pasta was freshly handmade with a fairly al dente texture. The pesto has a very nutty flavour and matches with the addition of toasted almonds. In overall though, I do feel it needed an extra pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil as it did feel a bit bland.

Rating: 2.5/5

Badiani

Badiani as in the Gelateria Badiani from Florence, Italy. Mercato Metropolitano has brought in this authentic and artisanal Italian gelato into London and we’re all in for a treat. The creamy, smooth and velvety texture is to die for. Moreover, the elegance and sophistication are incomparable to any industrial gelatos. If you’re visiting, you must end your meal with at least a scoop of this heavenly goodness.

Rating: 4.5/5

 


OVERALL RATING:
  • La Pizza Napoletana
  • Leggero
  • Badiani
3.3

Halal Status

No halal meats available Vegetarian options available

http://www.mercatometropolitano.co.uk/

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