FIRST pubLished in the motherHood
June 2016
Nothing quite beats a street food market—complete with bar—opening on your doorstep right in time for summer. Well, lucky us, because Little Feast opened here in Shepherds Bush last week. Located in Shepherds Bush Yard (which in case you don’t know runs alongside the Goldhawk Road end of Shepherds Bush Market), it is the latest venture by Feast, one of London’s leading street and restaurant food events. We headed down on Saturday afternoon for a bite to eat in the sunshine, and it did not disappoint.
First impressions? What a great little set up. There’s an indoor coffee shop and bar, known as The Arch, decked out with chipboard seating, a corrugated iron ceiling and pendant lights—I realise that sounds a bit hipster cliché but it does look good. Outside, known as The Garden, runs a row of colourful converted garden sheds, each housing the various different street food vendors. There’s relaxed outdoor seating by way of cushion-covered beer barrels, and further tables and chairs under a plant-covered pagoda. Strings of festoon lighting above complete the picture.
The variety of food on offer is as you would expect from a street food market: grilled Cornish fish by Green Goat, burgers by Cheeky Burger, Venezuelan flatbread by Guasacaca, and Vietnamese baguettes and noodles by Nha Trang Kitchen, to name a few. I go for pulled pork noodles with extra spice, the other half goes for a mountainous-looking burger, and the little one chooses Poptata’s ‘legendary’ cheesy fries, of course. We give the cocktails a miss (it’s a bit early), going for ice-cold draft beers instead, and a juice for the boy. My noodles are delicious, especially the pulled pork, and the burger is going down a treat, but I have to say the ‘legendary’ cheesy fries were quite amazing. We finish our meal off with a ‘dangerously good’ brownie from Bad Brownie and another ice-cold beer. Total heaven.
It is safe to say that the three of us really loved this place. The staff are young and friendly, and look like they’re genuinely having a good time. This, together with the mellow tunes, the blue skies and the beautiful sunshine gives Little Feast something of a holiday vibe. Seriously, get yourselves down there at the next sign of sun.
Here’s what you need to know: The Arch and Garden are open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5pm for home-brewed coffees and patisseries in the morning, and freshly made lunches and sharing plates during the day. They also stay open on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for drinks. Little Feast is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm to 11pm, and then all day Saturday until 11pm and Sunday, closing at 8pm. While children are most welcome during the day, they must leave by 5pm.
Little Feast runs until August 16th; see their website for more useful information.