Eating & Drinking In...Waterloo

Here's my latest piece for Flavour London magazine, an area guide to eating & drinking in Waterloo.





Waterloo is no shrinking violet. Acting as London’s gateway to the Southbank, the namesake station is the busiest in the UK boasting over 1,500 trains in and out daily. It’s also the local stop for the country’s most popular tourist attracting, helping 3 million a year onto the London Eye.  What far too few of the area’s visitors realise is that Waterloo is also fast becoming a foodie hub for the capital. A hub for those who find Borough too busy and the centre too chaotic. It’s a place solely for those in the know. Let Flavour fill you in...

Lower Marsh

Tap out and turn right as you leave Waterloo Tube station to find Lower Marsh, an ancient market street that overflows with charm and character.  Head here on a weekday and you’ll find the narrow road lined with food-to-go stalls and an occasional veg seller.

If you’ve shopping to do, you’ll have to avoid being lured into brightly coloured Cubana (www.cubana.co.uk) which sits on the street’s corner. This modest Cuban restaurant churns out plate after plate of delicious and underpriced delights. They make their money instead on the Mojitos and other suppable cocktails which whizz off the bar of an evening. Catch their happy hour from 5-6.30 and join the party.

One of the first stalls you’ll see as you head down Lower Marsh is Buen Provecho, which has widely been hailed as one of the best places to eat Mexican in London. Try owner Arturo Ortega Rodriguez ‘s legendary pork pibli tacos or indulge in a toasty cheese quesadilla. Just make sure you add a dollop of roasted tomato and chipotle salsa – it will make your tongue sing.

Pull Your Own Pints At The Thirsty Bear

The Thirsty Bear is a London first - a pub where you can pull your own pint from the comfort of your table. And it's local to me. If only they had a few more beers on offer... Here's my post originally written for www.londonist.com. 


You build your own furniture because it makes it cheaper. Before you head to the airport, you check in online because it’s faster. When you go to the supermarket you scan your own shopping because you like arguing with electronic women who think you’ve bagged double the weight you ought to. We are in a D-I-Y era.

With the opening yesterday evening of The Thirsty Bear at Waterloo, self-service has come to the service industry, with London’s first pull-your-own-pint pub.

The venue, which replaces the old man friendly Stamford Arms, is the first venture by the appropriately named Robot Pub Group, and though we’ve been made aware of this place in Manchester which uses a similar concept, it’s a brand new one to us.