Market Place is one of London's pleasant surprises. If you don't know it, it's a small pedestrianized precinct just north of Oxford Street. Within one block you go from the sometimes unbearable crowds and tacky shopfronts of Oxford Street to a little oasis of calm that's packed with decent places to eat, drink or have a coffee.
There are several restaurants and cafes to choose from but one place that's quite easy to miss is 4 Market Place.
4 Market Place is a rare thing: It's a basement cafe. If you were to walk past quickly, you might not even realize it was there. I really like the novelty of having to walk down some steps to get to the front door. It gives the place an air of clandestine exclusivity you don't often get with cafes. So it's a great shame the toasted sausage sandwich on brown I ordered didn't live up to the promising location.
It wasn't a bad sandwich, just mediocre. The sausage was quite salty and lacking in flavour. The toasted bread bland. On the plus side, the price (£1.80) was a bargain for central London. Just think what an amazing place this would be if it served really great food.
2 out of 5
