Whenever you visit a European capital it becomes obvious how much London is emulating American cities. There’s a distinct lack of independents but a multitude of Starbucks, Costa Coffees and Caffe Neros (who recently made headlines for avoiding corporation tax). So when eateries not owned by multimillion pound global companies open, they’re very welcome.
Grill Market is one of these. For breakfast they have bacon sandwiches and homemade granola, freshly made juices, coffee from Caravan and tea from Teapigs. They also sell deli items like olive oil and crackers. But most interesting is their lunchtime menu, which is based around the grill, with food served with salad (from £6) or as a sandwich (from £5). On the day we visit there’s a Middle Eastern influence: the Persian lamb has sold out, but there’s chicken marinated in a pomegranate glaze, halloumi with harissa, and salads including pearl barley with puy lentils, peas and green beans, quinoa salad with wild rice, and chickpeas with cherry tomatoes.
The sticky pork belly sandwich is full of flavour, likewise the juicy glazed chicken, both grilled in front of us. Everything is made on the premises minus the bread, even the sauces; we try tasty tomato chilli jam with the chicken and blue cheese with sour cream to go with the pork. There's no shortage of well-known fast food outlets in the surrounding area but Grill Market do fresh, interesting food - why bother with Pret?
