Wood Street Indoor Market is full of independent traders displaying their passion and selling it. There are vintage clothes shops, record stores, medal and war memorabilia, the chair man, antiques, and soap! The enthusiasm that they all have for their products and for making Wood Street a better place, means the Indoor Market is a lovely friendly welcoming place. It’s designed for poking around and finding a gem.
And both Wood Street Coffee and Aura Rosa Cakes are real gems. They’re worth walking 20 minutes from Walthamstow Central for – in fact, I’ve been telling half the office to come to e17 on a Sunday just for a piece of cake.
Wood Street Coffee is run by Clare and Gareth and they’re starting small and building their business from scratch. Their desire to deliver good quality products, with a smile, means they have the capacity to create a great independent coffee shop. They’ve got a great, simple brand for their new venture, and their presence is helping give the market more of an identity.
I visited with a good friend, and we sat outside in the windy sunshine, feeling glam in our sunglasses, sipping a flat white (£2.20) and a cappuccino (£2.20), on retro furniture supplied by The Chair Man – a Wood Street upcycler. It's quieter than other Walthamstow venues, a consequence of being slightly further from central Walthamstow, and being a Sunday. We visited after lunch at Cafe Bonito and I think it’s much busier in the morning.
The Climpsons and Sons coffee was mellow and light – not as strong as I’d expected but had definite depth and body. I was over the moon that they had soya milk and for no extra charge. With such little storage space, I’ve learned to manage my expectations and cope with real milk. Decaf is also available – they’re very accommodating folks!
The mellowness of the coffee was really refreshing with the rich, rich, chocolate cake I had from Aura Rosa Cakes. (Wood Street Coffee does have their own cake suppliers, but by 3pm, there was nothing left!) The cake stall is another recent addition, currently a pop up stall that will soon occupy one of the shops. It was being painted white and pink as we shopped! Jason and Gio were happy to chat to us about the cake and their business plans, their excitement was infectious.
They had a full range of cakes, meringues, cupcakes and crème brulee. We chose a chocolate cake and a cheesecake.
The Chockaberry cake (£3.50 a slice) was three layers of light chocolate sponge soaked in rum, with raspberry cream and covered with chocolate ganache, topped with a raspberry macaroon and fresh raspberries. The macaroon was a raspberry explosion – such a strong flavour it tasted like bakewell tart – a delicious extra treat.
My friend had Amaretto cheesecake topped with caramelised peaches (£3.50 a slice), which had a subtle but distinctive flavour of amaretto, rich and creamy.
The combination of new coffee and cake stalls has made Wood Street Market a Sunday destination, bringing in customers that probably didn't visit as regularly as before. The only downside of visiting on Sundays is that not all the shops are open, which makes it a less fruitful trip. I had been hoping to pick up some raspberry vodka from the Gin Palace, Mother's Ruin, but I will have to go back on another occastion. Let’s hope their customer base grows and they’re able to open all weekend very soon.
A full directory of the Wood Street Indoor Market is online.
Accessibility... Wood Street Market is wheelchair accessible, though it would be impossible to enter most of the shops. All the shops have full windows and I’m sure all owners would happily bring things out to view. Wood Street Coffee is right by the entrance on Marlowe Road, with a concrete ramp and enough space to move around inside. Cafe Aura Rosa is the first shop by one of the two entrances on Wood Street. No toilets available.
Popular with... the e17 Twitterati, local residents and hipsters from Hackney, caters for everyone.
And both Wood Street Coffee and Aura Rosa Cakes are real gems. They’re worth walking 20 minutes from Walthamstow Central for – in fact, I’ve been telling half the office to come to e17 on a Sunday just for a piece of cake.
Wood Street Coffee is run by Clare and Gareth and they’re starting small and building their business from scratch. Their desire to deliver good quality products, with a smile, means they have the capacity to create a great independent coffee shop. They’ve got a great, simple brand for their new venture, and their presence is helping give the market more of an identity.
The Climpsons and Sons coffee was mellow and light – not as strong as I’d expected but had definite depth and body. I was over the moon that they had soya milk and for no extra charge. With such little storage space, I’ve learned to manage my expectations and cope with real milk. Decaf is also available – they’re very accommodating folks!
The mellowness of the coffee was really refreshing with the rich, rich, chocolate cake I had from Aura Rosa Cakes. (Wood Street Coffee does have their own cake suppliers, but by 3pm, there was nothing left!) The cake stall is another recent addition, currently a pop up stall that will soon occupy one of the shops. It was being painted white and pink as we shopped! Jason and Gio were happy to chat to us about the cake and their business plans, their excitement was infectious.
They had a full range of cakes, meringues, cupcakes and crème brulee. We chose a chocolate cake and a cheesecake.
The Chockaberry cake (£3.50 a slice) was three layers of light chocolate sponge soaked in rum, with raspberry cream and covered with chocolate ganache, topped with a raspberry macaroon and fresh raspberries. The macaroon was a raspberry explosion – such a strong flavour it tasted like bakewell tart – a delicious extra treat.
A full directory of the Wood Street Indoor Market is online.
Accessibility... Wood Street Market is wheelchair accessible, though it would be impossible to enter most of the shops. All the shops have full windows and I’m sure all owners would happily bring things out to view. Wood Street Coffee is right by the entrance on Marlowe Road, with a concrete ramp and enough space to move around inside. Cafe Aura Rosa is the first shop by one of the two entrances on Wood Street. No toilets available.
Popular with... the e17 Twitterati, local residents and hipsters from Hackney, caters for everyone.
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