Surrey StrEatery

Croydon Council and the Greater London Authority, along with the Portas Town Team, have opened Surrey StrEatery on, you guessed it, Surrey Street, a market street that’s existed in some form or other since the 13th century. It’s kind of like a food court, but with indoor street food stalls.

Seven street food stalls were invited/accepted to open in the building for half a year and there are also events and a good overall sense of community there. The seven stalls get promotion for the 26 weeks as well as general business support; I think it’s a brilliant idea to help out new local small businesses!

When I visited earlier this month, Christmas was in full swing at the StrEatery, with food hampers filled with goods from the stalls available for gifting. It was warm inside and it was welcoming; every stall radiated smiles.

The current stands there are:

• Cravings “La Carreta” – Mexican street food
• Mum’s the Chef – fresh wraps
• Olivier’s Bakery – bakery and patissserie
• Plumbun – cakes
• Ro Co Coffee – coffee
• Sannas Goan Street Food – Goan street food
• The Liquid Pod – soups, stews and smoothies

I grabbed a flat white from Ro Co (excellent) and perused the rest of the stalls.

That day, I opted for a bit of Goan food – for £5.50, I received a plate with Goan fish curry on a soft steamed rice cake, freshly fried vegetable bhajis, a lamb samosa and a bit of homemade carrot pickle. It was all brilliant – the curry was fabulous, the bhajis were crisp and not greasy, and the samosa had a great spicing to the lamb.

I really enjoyed my visit there and I can’t wait to get back in the new year to try the other stands. It’s definitely worth a visit and after you’ve had a good fill, you can pop outside and shop for groceries to take home too!

It’s open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 8am to 5pm each day. (Do check for Christmas openings!)

Surrey StrEatery
Unit 3 Bridge House
13 Surrey Street
Croydon CR0 1RG