Living in Southfields London: A Local Area Guide
Southfields offers more bang for your buck than some of the more well-known areas of South-West London, according to luxury London lifestyle magazine The Resident, making it a good choice for first-time buyers. But there’s more to the area than good value house prices. Below is a list of places that really give the area its sense of community and fun for those living in Southfields London. Compiled by locals, for locals.
This weekly Saturday market stays open every weekend, come rain or shine. Located at Wimbledon Park Primary School just off Havana Road, it’s the ideal place to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables, seasonal cut flowers, organic meat and poultry, seasonal game meats, and a massive selection of dairy like unpasteurised milk and goat’s cheese. This year sees the celebration of the market’s 20th birthday, for which there’s bound to be a few surprises. Currently in season at the time of this article are root vegetables such as onions, turnips, ginger and beetroot, yet as the year rolls on, even Christmas turkeys aren’t left out of the roster.
A trendy gastropub that boasts a mouth-watering menu of moule-frites, Padron peppers, ox-cheek and octopus, to name just a few of their stand-out dishes. They’re currently doing food through Deliveroo only during the pandemic, but this is a venue usually bustling with events and people living in Southfields. The Earlsfield even has a cocktail named after it, made up of gin, raspberries, lemon, elderflower and sugar. Opening hours are from noon until 11 every night, and you can find it at 511 Garratt Lane, SW18 4SW.
Conveniently placed on the outskirts of Wandsworth, Southside shopping centre may not be quite the hallmark of independent businesses and local produce that Wimbledon Park’s Farmer’s Market is, but it’s an essential one-stop-shop for either an important restock or just some retail therapy. Plus, when it comes to shopping centres, this one stands out as a cut above the rest thanks to its inclusion of a few key brands that are too often left out of the usual shopping centre roster. Notably Uniqlo, Decathlon and American favourite Quiznos.
Donburi & Co.’s Earlsfield location is consistent with their city-wide reputation which stretches across Spitalfields, Brixton and Croydon too. It’s a healthy, well priced and delicious take on classic Korean food like donburi, bibimbab and even Takoyaki – crispy octopus balls topped with teriyaki and Japanese mayo. Living in Southfields is made just that little bit better by knowing that a kimchi pancake or some Korean fried chicken is never more than a few minutes away if you order online. Follow their Instagram page for a mouth-watering stream of photos.
A country pub at heart, The Telegraph pub takes its name from a shutter station that used to stand where it does today, which was used during the late 18th century to transmit messages between London and Portsmouth during the Napoleonic wars. Set in beautiful Putney-Heath, this is a quintessential English pub. Their bar is stuffed full of local ales and their mailing list, which can be found on Facebook, will keep you updated on all COVID-19 news as well as ensure that you’re entered to win a meal worth £50 every single month.
In the heart of Earlsfield is a pub so steeped in exterior charm that you could be forgiven for missing it completely, having mistaken it instead for some kind of French bistro. Yet the inside is anything but. Rather, it’s a modern take on classic British upholstery, complemented by the cosy smell of fresh-cooked Scotch eggs, burgers or fries. Quite a special balancing act goes on at the Halfway House, between stylish family-friendly gastropub and sport-showing, pool-playing local. Hence, Halfway House seems the perfect name for something which caters to all, yet magically exceeds expectations in both aspects.
What if your brunch & breakfast spot not only kept serving morning items late into the day, but also sold beer when night fell? What if they hosted evenings where you could meet local brewers in person as you tasted the fruits of their labour? What if your first coffee was free upon visiting? Well, then, you’d probably be at Bean & Hop in Earlsfield. A local institution also hireable for private events, Bean and Hop is the sort of place you used to dream about taking your laptop to – where you can get a whole day’s work done and be sorted for breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks and a well-deserved beer without even lifting a finger. Bean & Hop is the kind of place that makes living in Southfields London extra-special.