40 Maltby street is one of those little known secrets that locals want to keep to themselves. I’m one of them and so I’m only reluctantly writing this.
40 Maltby street is a nice little place tucked away under the arches behind Tower Bridge road (not far from Bermondsey str). It forms part of Maltby street market, which is an offspring of Borough market. Essentially, disgruntled market vendors became fed up with the cost of operating at Borough market and started a new food market, Maltby street food market.
You’ll find many producers in Maltby street food market that primarily act as wholesalers to other vendors (e.g., Monmouth coffee and St. John’s bakery), but are also open to the public. 40 Maltby street is no exception to this.
During most of the week 40 Maltby street acts as a wine wholesaler & retailer, specialising in natural & biological wines (no pesticides, etc) and supplying to the likes of restaurant Brawn. However, on Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday afternoon the front of the store is transformed into a winebar/restaurant. The food at 40 Maltby street is a mix between British country style food.
The atmosphere is extremely relaxed and most of the dinners are locals from the area that frequent the restaurant on a regular basis (some even bring their kids and pets along). The service is very pleasant and more than happy to help you make a choice when it comes to wines and food.
We’ve been to 40 Maltby street several times and each time we were impressed by the cooking. This time was no different. Even though the former head chef left back to Australia this summer they’ve managed to continue in the same style of cooking. The dishes menu keeps changing and with Borough market and Maltby market around the corner, the quality of produce is as good as it can be.
The dishes at 40 Maltby street are meant to be shared and are perfect bite-size proportions to go with the many many wines you can try. This time we tried:
-Eggs & Mayo with anchovies (8.5/10)
-Beetroot salad with creme fraiche (8.5/10)
-Corn on a cob with crab butter (9/10)
-Smoked mackerel & potatoes (8.5/10)
-Roast chicken with chanterelle mushrooms (9/10)
-Custard dessert (8.5/10)
-Buttermilk pudding with berries (8.5/10)
40 Maltby street can easily hold their own against wine-bar powerhouses such as Terroirs and Brawn. The bill came to £65 (including discretionary service charge and 2 glasses of wine).
Tip: Come early because 40 Maltby street doen’t do reservations and the place fills up quickly (food is served on Thursday, Friday from 17.30 until 20.00pm and Saturday during the day from 10.00am until 5pm)!