Inside London’s BIGGEST Italian Food Hall: Eataly

Time for the World’s Largest Italian Food market. According to Eataly the bigger the better. Located in the City of London, right next to Liverpool Street Station, Eataly opened the world’s largest Italian food market, 40,000 square feet big.

Which started in 2017, and resulted for me of anticipation for nearly three years, the massive food market and restaurant hub has finally opened to the public. Founded in Italy, the chain has swept the States with stores in New York, LA and Chicago, while also expanding worldwide with halls in Moscow, Tokyo, and Munich. It’s a wonder it’s taken them so long to get to London, actually…

And I am talking about cured meat, cheese, fish, fruit, vegetables, pastas, olive oil, wine, you name it and Eataly has it. You here at the right place to start cooking the best Italian food at home. Despite the pandemic it is ready to open its doors to the public.

Not everything can be open unfortunately. The area that is first to open on the 29th of April is the market and retail space, along with take-away eateries and La Terazza di Eataly, their fancy outdoor dining space, home to Italian sharing dishes and an Aperol Spritzeria. Be aware that you need to have a booking in advance now. Once indoor restaurants are allowed to open (which is expected to be on the 17th of May) their indoor restaurants and cooking school will open.

I had to behave myself not to buy everything in Eataly. From temptations to sweet, hand made gelato and deserts to pasta, meat and cheese. They are really proud about their wine collection and rightly so. They have over 15,000 bottles, around 2,000 different types of Italian wine, making it the largest Italian wine selection in London.

Then there are the takeaway restaurants which include Pizza all Pala, which serves Roman-style pizza, Pasta Fresca Bar (fresh pasta), and Mada In Eataly, which offers a winsome mix of paninis, focaccia, salads, and other classic meals. Their is a coffee bar, Gran Caffe, which serves illy coffee to fuel your wanders around the market, and these hallowed halls of deliciousness will also house a bulk refill section: the first Eataly packaging-free area in the world.

Don’t worry if you aren’t the world’s best chef and more clumsy in the kitchen. Eataly will offer cooking classes from the 20th of May. Then two sit-down restaurants, Cucina del Mercato and Pasta a Pizza, will open their doors as well. A third fine dining spot, Terra, will open its doors later in September.

So yes my visit to this 42,000 square feet of Italian food heaven was a delight. It is located on Broadgate, right outside Liverpool Street Station and part of London’s largest pedestrian neighbourhood. So if we can’t travel to Italy, we will travel to Eataly and take Italy into hour homes ourselves.