The west London district of Shepherd’s Bush supposedly takes its name from the use of the common land as a resting point for shepherds on their way to Smithfield Market in the City of London. Development did not take place properly until the late nineteenth century, and the centre is based around the triangular area of open grass surrounded by trees and roads with shops, which is gradually being gentrified.
Shepherd’s Bush is now best known for its Loftus Road football stadium, which is home to Queens Park Rangers FC, and for its Westfield Shopping Centre, the largest urban shopping centre in Europe. The area also has its own market, Shepherd's Bush Market, which has been around for over a century, and is open every day. Based on the east side of the railway viaduct between Uxbridge Road and Goldhawk Road, the market serves the local Irish and Afro-Caribbean community with fresh and cooked foods, music CDs and household goods and furnishings.
Once you step outside of the shopping centre, you can explore Shepherd’s Bush’s independent retailers including cafés and restaurants oozing with character. These range from the Embassy Café, which does a great fry up, to the Hummingbird Deli, which offers healthier, salads, quiches and tortillas. A taste of the Middle East can be found at Abu Zaad, while Bush Hall Dining Rooms specialises in retro-modern dishes, and the recently opened Dorsett Hotel adds fine dining to the local offer with its in-house restaurant Shikumen.
