Not another bloody market kitchen

I think it works great if it's lots of friends on a night out who want to eat as part of that without spending the whole evening in a restaurant, it's also spontaneous with no need to book, but for families it's less practical.

I haven’t been in a UK food court but the ones where I live in one mall in particular is very good. There’s a bog standard food court but there’s also another one in the same mall thats more upmarket. I like that one and I think it might be similar to a market kitchen

Oh god, I can’t STAND small plates and food coming out at the convenience of the kitchen! I just want my own - decent sized - plate of food, thank you very much. Small plates never have enough, and you end up tiptoeing around who is going to have the last mouthful. Unfortunately I live in London where virtually everywhere now operates on this model.

At the ones I went to you just all sit at a table and order your food and drinks via a QR code, which links to the menus of all the bars and food places, all on one web page. The food and drink is brought to your table. No queuing! Equally, if you want to go and chat to the vendors about what's on offer beford you order, you can.

I love the market halls in London, they're really convenient with lots of choice and generally the food is fine. But I agree they're not a substitute for a nice restaurant. More like a substitute for a quick visit to Pret before the theatre, or an evening with colleagues where the alternative is a crowded pub with nasty beige food.

Thing is they don’t have ‘hawker’ prices. In borough market you can pay up to £15 for a luxury sandwich or burger. Nearby you can go to a proper burger place and pay the same, but have a table under a heater or in the sun, table service and have wine delivered on the side. It feels like a con when you are paying restaurant prices and can’t even pull up a stool to a bar to eat it.

I quite like the one at Victoria (Market Hall?) for a quick bite before the theatre or getting back on the train but DH and I make sure we go to the same stall otherwise one of us has finished before the other gets any food. They don't replace a restaurant for me. I see a lot of large groups who are using them mainly as a pub in which you can go and get snacks as you get hungry individually.

I understand places not taking a gamble and opening with a new cuisine at the moment though. You get an initial flurry and then (certainly in my large town) everyone goes back to the Tale of Spices Indian, Prezzo, Wagamama and the local Italian.

I would rather not have to carry my own food round on a plastic tray.

Im not a prisoner.

There are lots of them where I live, it’s a good place to go where everyone fancies something different but I agree it’s a bit uninspiring. I’d rather have a nice sit down restaurant with a waiter and not have to go to a bar to order my food.

those places are grim and none of the food is actually good. They’re only useful for a quick bite mid shop. And even then I’d rather not.

I'd love one of these! They're called hawker markets in Malaysia

You're quite right, its all very samey and not worth the price imo.
I read something about how its the developers, they have a formula for what works/gets planning. They charge so high rents that the only ones that can afford to set up are those with venture capital behind them, which leads to the most unimaginative food going.

I think that’s the issue for me. The walking and eating, but not at the same time as your separate queues went at different speeds, and street food such as tacos etc - whilst lovely - are bloody tricky to each standing/walking. I think I really am just getting old, as I’d rather just go hungry than walk and eat messy food!

Not like Borough Market at all. BM doesn't have any large seating area and has shops selling food (fruit & veg, cheese, meat), not just food to eat there & then

They are a good idea. But when it’s the tenth one, all with very similar outlets, it’s hard to get excited

We have one opened a couple of years ago in our small town. Tbh it looks really uninviting and it's been literally empty each time I've passed. Maybe they're busier in the evening? Are they generally popular with people on here?

It's a bit motorway service station but great is you got people that like widely different food types.

I didn't know it was called that. I've been to seven dials a few times and really like it. DD can have dumplings and I can have a drink and then be on our way quickly.

Also a friend and I did it and ordered dirty burgers and a pint. It was fab and so fast.

It can work really well - it it's not insanely busy and you aren't all super hungry or hangry. But yes, I'd rather sit somewhere and have a chat while a waiter who has taken my order brings my food over to me. Otherwise you just end up sitting on your own eating while your friends queue or vice versa.

I love the idea of these more than the reality. I like trying different cuisines and choosing what I fancy but dining together.
But I find the reality of slightly drafty, echoey buildings and benches/ find seating / self clear / having to balance trays etc less appealing. I've had some nice food at them though.

I've been to three of these (first in York 3 years ago, then one in Spain and one in Denmark) and absolutely loved them. Amazing range of choices and fantastic, authentic food. They were new to me and, as far as I know, there's nothing like that anywhere near where I live (rural NW England). I can see that it must start to lose its novelty if they are cropping up all over the place in a single area though!

The food hall thing is all right if you're just grabbing a bite to eat before a gig or catching up with a work mate in your lunch break or something, but it's really nothing like sitting down to eat in a restaurant and if there's a big group of you i find it becomes weirdly stressful somehow. YANBU.

They serve a purpose for some people and there's clearly a market (ahem) for it.

Forgive me for being facetious but if your town has historically had such a vibrant food scene then surely that still co-exists with the new food markets? Or have places shut down in order to make space for food courts?

Like Borough Market? I really hate them - everyone queues alone for the food they want, sometimes for ages. You then have to find each other, and at least one of you now had cold food or gave up waiting and ate it while it was hot so has to sit while you eat yours. Or you end up eating something you don’t really fancy because the majority of your group want tacos and you’d rather not be standing in an alt-queue like a nigella no-mates.

Hate it. I’d rather sit in a truckers cafe, macDonalds or some other equally awful fast food place … or just go and find a decent gastro pub/restaurant and have table service. But I AM getting old!

They are basically a (fancier) version of what started as an American shopping mall food court.

I don't find them relaxing it all. I have hearing loss and find them overwhelming. I'd far rather eat in a cozy corner of a restaurant which specialises in one type of cuisine.