El Cantara, Westfield East

El Cantara, Westfield East

The guys behind El Cantara are used to pioneering foodie firsts. They brought Spanish and Moroccan food to Soho, and now they’re bringing the culinary treasures of Marrakech and Andalusia to the Great Eastern Market in Westfield East.

Here, you’ll find a tapas menu (when I visited they were stuffing red peppers with spinach, and there was an Iberico ham slicing masterclass) which you can sit and enjoy at the bar or take home and pass off as your own.

Spices are ground to order, and customers are treated to useful kitchen tips like how to make your own Harissa paste and there’s a fresh delicatessen counter and shelves full of specialities as well as Moroccan cosmetics, including Argan oil and black eucalyptus soap.

So what if there’s a 32,000 sq ft Waitrose right next door, since when did they have a chef on site offering up top tips for a tagine ?

El Cantara Delicatessen, The Great Eastern Market, Westfield Stratford City