Upmarket Bliss

Above is my favourite result of a glorious trawl through the Sunday Upmarket and various Brick Lane-area shops two weeks ago. This little number came from The Lazy Ones, and I see from their blog that I lucked into their one-off sample sale (my frock was only £20, about 60% off, woo-hoo!). The material is a sort of crepe...I love the big buttons and grey lace detail.

But before that, we oohed and ahhed over Dan Hillier's altered engravings and came periously close to buying a small woodblock featuring this image, Lovers:

We decided to wait. But we shouldn't wait too long, it's all limited ed. Another close call was a £40 cloche with clever folds in pretty blue-grey felt. (No pic to be found, sadly.) Then there was the world's priciest cat t-shirt, which I always fondle, then drop in disgust at the price. I mean, it's a cool graphic, but really, £25 for a flimsy tee? (I guess I top out at about £17. Maybe it's the dollar-conversion that gets to me.) Still, may give in sometime b/c it always makes me laugh.


One thing we didn't hold back on was the excellent vittles to be had at the market! I think the veg pattie below is the best market food I've ever had, and that's saying sumpin'. The main bulk of the pattie was shredded cabbage, with some juicy sweetcorn kernels thrown in. I don't know what the cheese was, but it was very mild and soft. The seaweed flakes entered into some kind of foodie chemical reaction with the yummilicious mayo to give it all a smoky, silky taste. That half-eaten parcel upper left is the other offering from same stall, a sort of sesame rice cake that was very sticky and not terribly tasty - just a hint of sesame going on - but good filler.

You can kind of see the pattie ingredients and a hardworking prep guy below. I would beeline for this stall next time too, it's a welcome alternative to all the wraps and pastry-packaged stuff that dominates the scene. (I love me some oh-so-tasty pastry, but I try to limit wheat intake b/c more than, say, a bagel's worth a day and I get a tight, poky tummy for hours. No fun.)

Saying that, I think Dan chose a very decent plate as well, from the Rainforest Salad operation next to the stall of Japanese vegetarian delights. The orangey couscous was v spicy and interesting - my fork kept travelling over that way...

Could not resist a passionfruit panna cotta from a Brazilian stall...tangy, soothing and refreshing.


The day was gloriously sunny, Dan scored a parking spot just a block from the market (unheard of), and I only wish we'd mobilised a little sooner in the day to take in more of it all.