Meet the traders at Bermondsey's famous Maltby Street Market

The hustle and bustle of a food market is a whole kind of bliss. Customers are picking up tasters on toothpicks, vendors are hard at work juggling pots and pans and card machines and chatting and smiling.

They’re magic, and when it’s a not-so-hidden gem like Maltby Street Market (@maltbystmarket on Instagram), each element shines as you stroll down SE1’s Ropewalk.

We met the personalities of Maltby Street to discuss what makes the market what it is.

Ian Banfield, operations and market manager at Maltby Street Market and owner of Malt Bar (@malt.maltby), says the market is a place where people come to escape the bustling streets of Bermondsey. On choosing vendors, he says: “I search for the very best street food dishes from across the world so that people will keep coming. It’s always a pleasure to greet new people and discuss their street food flavours.”

And an abundance of flavours there is…

The Gyoza Guys

Chef Amir Pem of The Gyoza Guys (@gyozaguys) was raised in Bermondsey and started on the market in 2015, after returning from New York where he was a private chef to Sir Paul McCartney.

‘The market is a hidden oasis with some of the best street food traders that London has to offer’

Unsatisfied with the gyoza offering in London, he decided dumplings needed a spotlight: “Gyoza Guys is my own unique representation of how I think dumplings should be made and served. I’ve currently been at the market coming up to eight years, and it’s a base for us to try new products and welcome the hordes that come and sample my unique gyozas each weekend.”

Pem says the market is a “hidden oasis, with some of the best street food traders that London has to offer”.

The Beefsteaks

Borrowing their first Big Green Egg BBQ to open a pitch in 2014, The Beefsteaks (@thebeefsteaks) know how things are done at Maltby. The stall cooks ex-dairy beef over a fire: “Everything is freshly made on the stall and sustainably sourced. We’re best known for our steak and chips with chimichurri, but I always say don’t sleep on the steak sandwich with the classic horseradish cream.”

If you’re stopping by, expect to hear a lot of metal and hip hop as the “pounding rhythm helps us to serve faster”.

La Pepiá

Maltby Street has been home for La Pepiá (@pepialdn) since 2018, you’ll find them there every weekend, and it’s the place they developed their most popular dish, The Cheese Blanket: “Made by accident one weekend at Maltby Street Market, our signature cheese blanket has become what we are most known for. An ooey gooey layer of cheddar melted directly in front of you, before being thrown over an arepa with a healthy dose of our green herb salsa.”

You can almost envisage the cheese bubbling before your eyes, and what do they recommend tucked under their cheese blanket? “It’s the pepperoni and jalapeños arepa” for them.

Viv’s Coffee

“One of my favourite things about coffee is how easily community can form around it if you give it the right love and attention,” says the owner of Viv’ Coffee (@vivs.coffee).

Starting at the market in December 2022, Viv of Viv’s Coffee says: “Maltby is such a friendly and nurturing market environment from both other traders and locals.” Serving single-origin Guatemalan coffee from Hackney Rascal (@rascal.coffee), the “Finca Filadelfia” is a medium roast with a delicious milk chocolatey flavour. She also does a mean espresso martini…

That’s Banging

Formerly Bangers, That’s Banging (@thats.banging) was born from brainstorming for a unique offering for the market: “We started with giant sandwiches filled with luxury sausage, cheesy mustard mash, pickled shallots and rich gravies. And recently expanded to generous burgers and breakfast buns – and we’ve collaborated with Viv’s Coffee to offer a banging Friday night burger and espresso martini deal.”

Maltby Street Market is a “home away from home” for That’s Banging: “As soon as I walk down the Ropewalk, my mood lifts. There’s an amazing sense of community among the traders and it granted me access to real heavyweights in the street food industry who have offered me their insight and guidance.”

And don’t leave your dog at home. Dogs eat free at That’s Banging!

Breadwinners

Looking for a loaf? Breadwinners (@wearebreadwinners) at Maltby Street Market serve artisan organic bread and pastries, and it is also a not-for-profit social enterprise and charity that supports refugees through employment and work experience programmes.

Martin Cosarinsky Campos, managing director, says: “Maltby Street is one of the most interesting and fun markets that we get to work at, with its super vibrant Ropewalk featuring other really cool food vendors. Working at this market has allowed us to support so many young people by employing them as market stall managers or giving them voluntary work experience.”

Stall manager Sakandar loves talking to customers: “I enjoy letting people know that Breadwinners is a charity that helps refugees. It’s the main point that I tell the customers when they come to buy their bread at our market.”

Malt

Ian Banfield created Malt (@malt.maltby) in 2020 in one of the vacant railway arches. He says it had been home to the LASSCO furniture workshop, “where I spent many years cutting flooring and repairing antiques”.

‘It’s part of the ever-changing story of the Ropewalk’

Adding: “Malt has a workshop feel as I kept the benches and worktops from its earlier incarnation. It has become a place for the enjoyment of the very best craft beer, wine and cider the UK has to offer where punters can savour the experience of Maltby Street Market. In the evenings we turn down the lights and host live music. The faint whiff of old motorbikes and furniture polish doesn’t seem to faze anyone – it’s part of the ever-changing story of the Ropewalk!”

The Greek Pot

At The Greek Pot (@the.greek.pot), customers can expect authentic casserole recipes: moussaka and pastitsio, vegan stuffed peppers (their favourite dish), Greek salad with Kalamata olives and extra virgin Greek olive oil, and a variety of filo pastry pies and oven-baked zucchini patties.

Joining the market more recently, they explain: “When you receive a call from one of the most popular and beautiful markets in London, you grab the opportunity.”

Taylor’s of Maltby Street

When the market started looking to expand its fresh produce offering, Taylor’s of Maltby Street (@taylorsofmaltbyst) got the call. They pride themselves on providing the freshest fruit and vegetables, “which we source directly from farms across Kent, Surrey and Sussex”.

They tell The Biscuit: “We try and stock items that you can’t buy in supermarkets so that when customers come into the shop, they see things that aren’t normally on the shelf. One of our core values is trying to keep seasonal eating at the forefront of our business, and we only ever sell English asparagus, sweetcorn, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.”

Adding: “Working on Maltby Street Market is like being part of a big family! The traders all look out for each other and help out when needed. We have also got a regular customer base who are now more like friends than customers.”

Bumpin’ Rinds

“Flavour is queen for me,” says the owner of Bumpin’ Rinds (@bumpinrinds) juice stall, “so I always use the maximum quantity possible of fresh herbs and aromatics to provide a really exciting flavour profile in each juice.”

A seasonal vendor, Bumpin’ Rinds is open for business again on Saturday 3 June and ready to welcome back regular customers, saying: “I love the community we’ve got here, both among traders and our customers. We all look out for each other and that’s quite special in London. My pitch is opposite my lovely suppliers, Taylor’s, and I do trades throughout the day with my pals, we all eat like kings here.

“We have a really distinctive atmosphere and aesthetic, nowhere else in London looks like Maltby Street Market, locals describe it as a hidden gem – and it really is.”