WHERE TO STAY, EAT AND WHAT TO DO IN SHEPHERD’S BUSH
For its colourful hundred year old market, Europe’s largest shopping centre, top restaurants and lively music venues head out West to Shepherd’s Bush.
Known affectionately these days as SheBu, the area around the previously somewhat run-down green attracts not just locals but international visitors, music lovers and fashionistas.
Above: Shepherd's Bush market. Credit: fmarchettiphotography
Staying
You could be in New York as you step inside the Hoxton Shepherd’s Bush, the newest and largest of the smart London Hoxton hotels. With a cool, chic interior It overlooks Shepherd’ Bush Green and has a metropolitan ambience which brings an elegance to a long-overlooked area of West London. Its Chets restaurant described as Thai-Americana serving American comfort food with a Thai twist is open from breakfast to dinner.
Above: Hoxton Hotel Shepherd's Bush
Down the road is the seven storey luxury Dorsett Hotel which opened in 2014 on the site of the old Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion. The Asian owned hotel hosts regular art and music events and has the Jin bar and a speciality Chinese restaurant Shikuemn next door
Shopping
Take a stroll around the iconic Shepherd’s Bush market which has been here since 1914 and still buzzes with a multi-cultural energy, the smells of street food and the colours of swathes of fabric, clothes, bric brac and even squawks from a tiny pet shop.
Above: Shepherd's Bush market. Credit: fmarchettiphotography
Photographer Francesco Marchetti spent time listening to the stories of the people here and piecing together the social history of the market while capturing some of the personalities that make this one of the capital’s favourite markets.
Many of the stall holders run businesses that have traded here for generations such as Tony, who has worked on lingerie stall Bobby’s, oringally established by his uncle, since 1976 and Joginder who claims ‘only the God knows’ where things are in his crammed fabric shop. There are plans to redevelop the site and locals hope that the market may get its much needed makeover while retaining its personality and charm.
Above: Westfield
The arrival of the shopping centre Westfield may have put the area on the map again, but market traders fear the effects of gentrification. Designer shops and champagne bars sit alongside high street chains, a cinema and endless eating outlets. The walk from the station up to the entrance is filled with dining options including Copper Kettle, the first UK branch of an established Indian chain founded in Mumbai
Eating
The area was synonymous with the BBC for many years, but when the corporation moved to Manchester from its premises at White City the building got a new lease of life and now houses luxury apartments and smart restaurants such as The Broadcaster bar and rooftop wth views over west London . At the heart of the White City development is the latest branch of the f\Chelsea institution Bluebird café. In the same space you find Endo at the Rotunda, the debut restaurant form Japanese chef Endo Kazutoshi, described as an immersive, intimate and memorable dining experience.
For a more relaxed meal, try The Hawk’s Nest, a neighbourhood favourite with an archway bar and garden tucked away near the market
Music and Culture
The O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and the nearby Hammersmith Apollo have attracted hundreds of big names over the years but Shepherd’s Bush is also home to smaller arts spaces. The Bush Hall built in 1904 and formerly a dancehall is now an independent grassroots music venue with the homely Bush Hall Dining Room next door. The Bush Theatre is known internationally for discovering and promoting the work of new and upcoming playwrights and has a lovely Library bar and café.
Getting here: take the tube to Shepherd’s Bush, Goldhawk Road or Shepherd’s Bush Market stations. The London Overground also stops at Shepherd’s Bush station.
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