Crewe Market Hall
This past weekend I visited Crewe market hall after it’s £3million refurbishment. Once a traditional market, the market hall is now home to lots of independent businesses, plenty of seating and even a stage.
I love a market hall. I first came across public markets in New York and then again in San Francisco. They’re ideal because sometimes you can’t decide as a group what kind of food you want, and as a vegan it means I can eat something vegan but the people I’m with also have a choice of different foods if they want.
I’ve been looking forward to Crewe Market Hall opening because we’re already big fans of Nature’s Street Chef who make fully vegan street food and they have opened there. We’ve had a few takeaways from them over the past year and every one has been delicious.
The market hall looks really great from the outside, an amalgamation of the original grade 2 listed building and big glass doors and windows. I’m writing this in May 2021 so there are still COVID restrictions in place. I really have to applaud the market hall for opening with restrictions in place. Not only must it be a challenge to open a new venue but they have also had to put temporary restrictions in place until (hopefully) June 21st when they are opening up completely.
At the moment you are greeted by really helpful staff at the doors who explain the restrictions, get you to sign in via track and trace and help you find a table. There’s a code to scan at your table which takes you to a webpage that you can view all the vendors menus and order and pay from there. Then when your food is ready they bring it to you. It was so easy I couldn’t quite believe it! If you’re just going to look at the shops you obviously don’t have to order at a table and you’re free to have a look around but you must wear a mask unless you’re exempt. I really haven’t been out much since March last year and this was the first time I’ve eaten out since then. I felt so safe and looked after and I could see how much cleaning was going on.
There was lots of tables and I’m sure in June they will be able to add even more if they want to. We had Cheesy Nachos and a southern fried tofu wrap from Nature’s Street Chef which was a filling and tasty lunch and very reasonably priced. Casa Mexica is one of the food businesses there and they have a couple of vegan options including a Soya Picante which is tofu in a sweet and spicy sauce. All the non-meat pizzas at Jordy’s Pizza can be had without mozzarella or with vegan cheese and there’s also an option of coconut milk at Mini Beans Coffee although there is a 50p charge. The Crewe Dog has vegan alcohol options too which would be great to enjoy with the live music the market has at weekends!
As well as the ready to eat food there are other shops there including Crewe Asian Store and even Burton West Barbers. I loved B.Y.O.C which is a sustainable living shop. I will definitely be popping in to top up on my Ocean Savers cleaning products and to pick up an Eco Living shampoo bar to try out.
There’s already been a quiz night at the market plus lots of live music so I’m sure there are many more events to come. I will be selling my vegan cakes at the Young Traders Market on Saturday 5th June from 10am – 4pm and I’m so looking forward to that! I really recommend you visit Crewe Market Hall soon, it’s been very popular in it’s first week and I can only imagine it will become even busier as more and more people find out about it.