New Food Market

Greenwich Market, Wednesdays to Sundays.

Several of us have been keeping an eye on proceedings at Greenwich Market's new foodie section (or the expansion of the old section) - and yesterday was the first day.

I confess I hadn't been that excited about it - the one that operates on the usual busy market weekends perhaps wisely concentrates on tourists - so the food tends towards the scoff-it-on-the-spot variety - interesting enough, but not the kind of ingredients you can get somewhere like Blackheath Farmers Market. I had assumed an expansion of the same.

Still - I had to go and have a look. Obviously.

It's clearly early days - there can't have been more than half a dozen stalls, spaced out in the market - very open and airy, but slightly empty-looking. And some of them were the usual suspects - as I say, nice enough, but not somewhere I'd go for my groceries. But I was very pleased to see at least two 'proper' fruit and veg stalls - one selling Kentish farm goods - from free range eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers to first-of-the-season strawberries, the other the Greenwich Community fruit and veg stall - extremely good value.

There were sundry bigwigs wandering around while I was there (that's how I could tell it was the first day - nothing if not observant, me...) and photographers, presumably for the local papers, but my own pics turned out utterly rubbish. Just imagine a fairly empty Greenwich Market Hall with a few very nice-looking stalls (the fairy cakes stall is scrummy - and no, I refuse to call them 'cupcakes...') and you'll have it.

The service on all the stalls was welcoming and friendly - if a little slow, as the stallholders chatted with everyone - a throwback to ye olden days when shopping was a social experience.

As I say, it's early days. There aren't that many stalls. But it's definitely worth a look - patronise it now and there will be more...