A few streets away from the busy traffic motoring along Rosebery Avenue and Farringdon Road, you'll find
Exmouth Market.
Just to clarify, Exmouth Market is the name of a street, though to confuse matters, since 2006 there has been a market – on Exmouth Market.
Situated in the heart of Clerkenwell, Exmouth Market has undergone a big transformation in the past few years, and now attracts a mix of people, drawn by its pleasant atmosphere and outdoor cafe/dining areas.
Along Exmouth Market and in its immediate vicinity you'll find many independent design shops, plenty of places to scoff yourself silly and more than a few drinking dens where you can wash it all down.
The area has a relaxing community feel and comes into its own when the sun pokes its head out from behind the clouds, causing the outdoor seating areas to quickly fill up.
Among the eateries in the neighbourhood is
Morito (32 Exmouth Market), a recently opened tapas bar with an outdoor space. Next door you'll find
Moro (34-36 Exmouth Market) a classy establishment specialising in southern Mediterranean cuisine.
The Kiwi-owned
Caravan (11-13 Exmouth Market) offers a stylish setting and a wide range of dishes – how does almond couscous, tomato ragout, aubergine, and sumac yoghurt (£12) sound? Or perhaps the warm smoked duck breast, ragstone, pear and walnut salad (£15) is more to your fancy.
Cafe Kick (43 Exmouth Market) is so called presumably because of the three table football games inside, so have a drink over a game of footie, or make use of the outdoor seating when the weather allows.
At 55 Exmouth Street you'll find the popular
Ambassador gastropub, offering a good choice of starters and mains.
There's a lot more besides – including a long-established Italian delicatessen (
Gazzano's), a complementary health centre (
Central for Health), and an independent bookshop (
Clerkenwell Tales), "run by book lovers for book lovers".
The aforementioned market (the
market on Exmouth Market) runs from Monday to Friday, with many food stalls offering up tasty lunches between 11am and 2pm.
Weekdays sees the place busy with local workers chilling out and in the evenings theatre-goers from nearby Sadler's Wells often drop by before and after a show. How about dropping by yourself?
