Kingston's Ancient Market

Kingston's redesigned Ancient Market has been unveiled. Here's ten tasty reasons to visit!

Yesterday Kingston Upon Thames officially unveiled its re-designed Ancient Market, tempting visitors with vibrant stalls offering fresh and exotic flavours from around the world.

Kingston’s historic Market Place has been in use since around 1170, with the earliest market on record taking place in the early 13th century and the new look pays homage to this rich history.

The revamp has injected new life to the market square whilst retaining the celebrated character of the area, and modernising the shopping experience through a creative lighting scheme and contemporary stalls.

The market features local traders and producers providing the essentials for daily shopping, as well as some delicious lunch time options and tempting treats for the weekend. Here are ten top tasty reasons to visit this summer.

Dee’s Pies – Dee’s mother is a passionate cook who has never been afraid to dabble with new ingredients and recipes, which inspired Dee’s love of cuisine. His early career blossomed under some of the best and most demanding chefs in Britain and saw him spend long periods of time in Italy, where food is central to life. This creative background has led to a love of the perfect pie, which has won Dee many awards.
NAMU – It was always NAMU’s dream to bring the taste of Japan to Kingston’s Ancient Market and this dream has been realised with a stall that offers an amazing assortment of fresh, enticing fish, meat and irresistible mouth-watering Japanese dishes. The menu includes: gyoza, tempura, udon, teriyaki and katsu dishes as well as Japanese curries.
Exotic Tagine – Award-winning Head Chef Mohammed Tadimi is the creative force behind Exotic Tagine, which tempts foodies with delectable dishes such as classic lamb and chicken tagines, cracked wheat couscous, sesame seed and chickpea falafel, Moroccan wraps, handmade chilli harissa sauce and hummus.
Chilli Cha Cha – The imaginative and talented team at Chilli Cha Cha produce exquisite “East meets West” food such as masala curry, mouth-watering fiery Biryani, crispy Samosas, home-made sauces and an array of tempting wraps based on chicken tikka, peri-peri chicken and even Halloumi.
Freefrom Artisan Foods – This trader specialises in gluten and dairy-free baked goods, cakes and bread, plus quiches, tarts, and soda bread mixes and granolas. Many products are also egg-free and made with no-added sugar, refined ingredients or artificial additives, yet all are extremely tasty. There’s also a selection of hot snacks on offer such as the popular gluten and lactose-free toastie and a vegan brunch.
KORRITO - Launched by sister and brother team, Joo Lee and Sukho Lee, KORRITO offers the mind-blowing and mouth-watering combination of authentic Korean BBQ in burritos, warming rice bowls and healthy salad boxes. The traders are passionate about healthy eating and use the freshest highest quality British free-range meats. The marinades contain Korean pears to provide a natural sweetness; and the home-made Kimchi is loaded with natural probiotics and vitamins.
La French Cabine - French Chef and patron Anthony Crema is originally from Brittany and has more than 25 years’ experience serving fancy French food. By using fresh local ingredients, which are seasonal, sustainable and locally sourced, Anthony provides tasty dishes year-round, all with a certain “Je ne sais quoi”!
Nature’s Goodness – Feeling and looking good is the name of the game at Nature’s Goodness and juicing fans will love the simple yet healthy, tasty, nutritional juices on offer. The traders use raw, fresh, living ingredients which are juiced and blended to order in their whole food state, with no additives, preservatives or dairy, offering a delicious juice which is packed with antioxidants, raw enzymes, vitamins and minerals.
The French Comté - Specialising in cheeses en charcuterie from the Jura mountains in the east of France, The French Comté offers carefully chosen delicacies from the best suppliers the region has to offer. Try the award winning Comté, the varied range of saucissons and the staff’s favourites of Bon Grivois, Cacouyard or Val de Loue.
Foodies should mark Saturday 2 - Sunday 3 August 2014 in their diaries as “Big Kingston Market” will take place in Market Place as part of the Kingston Food Festival. This will be the biggest food event of the year in south west London and foodies can enjoy great food and drink from local growers, producers and restaurateurs alongside a wide range of international gourmet cuisine.

For more information go to kingstonfirst.co.uk