Old Spitalfields Market: Eat, drink and Christmas shop

It’s stunning at any time of year, but there’s something about Christmas lights and that festive buzz that makes it just that bit better.

I went to Old Spitalfields Market on a Saturday afternoon before Christmas for a wholesome day out, a mooch around shops, something to eat and drink and some last minute shopping.

The best part about the market is that it caters for all these things, with its own market stalls, kitchens, and market and independent shops.

We started off with some lunch and there was so much to choose from that it wasn’t easy to make sure we weren’t missing out.

In the end I went for some sticks from Kushi, a yakitori specialist where Japanese skewers are grilled in front of you.

You can choose your own, so I chose a miso salmon, miso butter corn on the cob and miso aubergine.

It was GOOD, like really good, and really filling as well.

My boyfriend got a sandwich from crunch, which are “crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside”.

We both said our lunches were delicious, and for two people with different taste palettes it was great to be able to get different dishes but still be able to sit together on the benches around the market.

After lunch it was time for a shop, and we popped into some gorgeous boutiques littered around the outside of the market.

We had a skin consultation at Youth to the People – which was personalised and felt really special to have. The kind and knowledgeable skin specialists helped us to choose exactly what would work best to give us that Christmas skin glow.

We also went to Peggy Langly and looked through the fashion from all the different designers, and Mercantile had the most gorgeous bits to finish off those stocking fillers and bigger independent presents.

It was the kind of shopping trip where you really had to hold back from buying literally everything because it all looked so lovely and clearly all been made with such care by small businesses.

We’d really worked up another appetite, and there was no other choice but to get in the spiralling queue for the infamous Humble Crumble.

I’m glad I can confirm that it really is worth the hype, and it really is as good as it looks.

You can choose your fruit, your crumble and your toppings, which actually makes life even harder because they all sound so incredibly good.

I picked mixed berries, crumble, custard, with a drizzle of chocolate and some bits of meringue.

I know your mouths will be watering, and mine is again too, it was divine.