Leather Lane Market

Leathen Lane market close to Chancery Lane
Station is a great little market mainly street food,but also stalls selling clothes, houseware... It's open only during the week .

I opted for a dak galbi ( spicy chicken) at Yog!Yo Korean food , delicious rich in flavor. They are at the top of the street in a beautiful caravan, and I bought a bibimbap at Gangnam ( korean ) ... Delicious!

After you can have wonderful coffee at Prufrock or at Department of Coffee and Social Affairsv.

In two words: Amazing Leather Lane !

Relative to its nearest neighbours that I've frequented, Whitecross and Chapel Markets, Leather Lane market offers a roughly similar variety with a significantly reduced quantity and quality.

Whereas Chapel Market plays host to an assortment of food ingredient stalls and housewares hawkers, Leather Lane's offers books and cut-rate DVDs and random unlabelled apparel. Whitecross Market offers mouthwatering ethnic bites, whilst Leather Lane's has mediocre burritos, Indian, and Thai.

If not for its convenience to both my flat and our former office, I'd probably never visit. Especially with the spurt of new eateries that have opened (and continue to open) in the Farringdon/Clerkenwell area, there's really no reason to have 'just okay' takeaway when you can have 'quite nice' grub instead.

The Leather Lane Market is where I go everyday during lunch.


You find everything there: shoes for £5, tops and trousers from Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Moto (...) for £10 or even less.


There is also a stand held by a French lady where you can find fancy necklaces, earings or other accessories for less than £7. It is my favourite stand. Every colour, every style. If she does not have what you want, you just ask and she gets it for you!


There is also one guy who sells Estee Lauder make-up for £5-7 and branded perfumes for £15.


As Christmas is approaching, they will display nice evening dresses very soon! (Just a tip for you girls ;-))


The stand at the end of the market is where you can buy
Gucci, Chanel or Guess bags and wallets.


so, shop till you drop without making a huge dent in the bank.

If you work around Farringdon/Chancery Lane, Leather Lane is a blessing.

It's a blessing because of the variety of the food: fancy Japanse, Korean, gluten-free, cakes? You have it, you have it ALL. The number of stands varies a lot from a day to another, and depending on the weather.

It's a blessing because it can also save you a whole load of money! I have NEVER spent more than £6 on a meal. Okay, maybe, but that's just when I pig out on sushi.

Why would anyone working around there even consider Pret or EAT? It boggles my mind.

Quick tip: Don't dismiss the shops behind the stalls either. There are some magical Fallafel and asian places to eat there too.

Om nom nom!

Working from the London office for a change I was in dire need of an alternative lunch from the M&S and EAT options. Hearing about Leather Lane Market, a colleague and I wandered down to check out what was on offer.

The whole street was packed full of various street food traders, stalls selling mobile phone accessories and bags, with bricks-and-mortar food businesses down both sides as well.

The sheer number of food options will mean making a decision will be very hard indeed - I'd suggest wandering down both sides first before you do. It's extremely popular with office workers given its location so expect the crowds.

I ended up ordering a box of vegetarian food from Quiche & Roast and it was all delicious for only a fiver. It's really a shame that our office will be moving soon so I won't get to try here again!

Tip: The market runs every weekday from around 10:00 to mid-afternoon.

Like fooding options? Don't mind paying £3 for a donut? Fancy a set of knives?

Leather Lane can be a hot, stanky mess on weekdays. Thousands of office gophers pour into this narrow stretch to pick up grub, clutching their lamb wraps and mediterranean salads scurrying back to whence they came.

On one fine freezing afternoon, yours truly opted for a set of fine steak knives in lieu of a salt beef sandwich. T'was no easy decision.

And it looks like there are new additions at the Lane: I spy an Indonesian, Vietnamese and a taquito-inside-a-burrito stall. Gonna give those a go this week, will report on results.

Tucked between Greville Street and Clerkenwell Road, this market in the heart of the city is almost unknown to tourists. It's an outpost of real London where office workers go to graze at lunch time in the numerous sandwich bars. And lunch times is when to see this market at its most frenetically busy.
As well as having a good feed, you can also buy shoes, clothes, handbags, potted plants, jewellery, fruit and veg and electrical goods, all at extremely keen prices. There's been a market here for over 300 years. If you think you can guess the origin of the street name, think again - it's got nothing to do with an ancient leather trade. In the 13th century the street was called Le Vrunelane, possibly the name of a local merchant. In the 14th century this became corrupted to Loverone Lane, subsequently to Liver and finally to the Leather we know today.


But it's got nothing to do with leather, despite the confusing fact that you can buy leather shoes and handbags there. Honest.


The market is open from 10.30am to 2.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Mmmmm... burritos!
Yuck. Make-up?
Mmmmm... Indian food!
Yuck. Pillows?
Mmmmm... Sushi!
Yuck. Cell phone accessories?

This is my constant battle with Leather Lane. Don't get me wrong, the mmms always outweigh the yucks, but just when I'm getting excited about the delicious falafel or coffee or pad thai I'm about to tuck into, I see that the next stall down is selling 'high street' clothing and ugg boots.

The street food? Delicious. The other stalls just confuse me.

A real local-flavour kind of market, Leather Lane is filled with miscellaneous bits of tat, reject high-street clothes, an array of foodstuff items that may or may not be at the end of their shelf-life, leather gloves, hats, jumble-sale-esque high-end makeup, 'memory foam' pillows, burritos, falafels, etc, etc, etc.

The brick-and-mortar businesses that line the street vary from greasy cafs to designer-like shoe stores (Kate Kanzier) to artisanal coffee shops to authentic sushi bars.

It's the sort of market that you'd thought had been turfed out of Central London. But you'd thought wrongly. Leather Lane Market remains - a great all-rounder market with everything you don't really need but kind of want since it's pretty cheap.

I bought a pillow at one end for £10.

I stayed away from the gefilte fish in a jar at the other end.

I was considering the packet of Hob Nobs for 15p, though.

Leather Lane market is a hidden gem two hops away from Chancery Lane tube station. Like most markets in London there's a wealth of product for consumers to choose from. Whether you need olives, nuts, clothes or cell phone accessories chances are you will be able to find whatever you're looking for here. I bought a respectable black blouse and an adorable Topshop dress from here for £20 total. They have yet to fall apart due to poor stitching, so I believe I made a really good purchase. This place is a bargainer's paradise. You will be able to find good quality stuff if you're prepared to dig through all of the stock these stalls have on offer.