Borough Market is one of my all-time favourite places in London. It’s a gourmet food market right near London Bridge and South Bank and a definite must if you come to London and have even the remotest interest in cooking or eating. It’s not exactly a farmers’ market but there are plenty of farmers plying their wares.
That said, it’s hardly a hidden gem. Borough Market is popular with locals and tourists alike and it does get extremely crowded, especially at lunch time on a Saturday.
My advice is to go as early as possible. If you can manage it, go at 8 o’clock in the morning, but any time before 10 o’clock is still reasonable. You can buy a delicious coffee from the Monmouth stand just inside the main gates of the market (or from the cafe around the corner in Stoney Street) and then wander around the uncrowded market gawking and sampling the fabulous food.
Alternatively go on a Thursday or Friday. The market is much smaller than on Saturdays, but you’ll still have fun. It’s also worth noting that the food shops on Stoney Street and Park Street (right beside the market) are also open from Monday to Saturday, including Monmouth Coffee Company and Neal’s Yard Dairy (left), the grand-daddy of all cheese shops. (Both have outlets in Covent Garden as well).
You can stock up on food for the week – fresh, seasonal vegetables and fruit are plentiful. It’s also the place to come for good quality fish or meat, from sausages from the Ginger Pig, to organic poultry or game meat such as pheasants or rabbit. Plenty of places have free samples, whether it be tiny cubes of Caerphilly cheese or Turkish Delight. If you ever wanted to try the difference between white or black truffle oil or Chegworth Valley juice made from pressed Bramley apples versus Cox, Borough Market is the place for you. One word of warning – keep an eye on your money. I’m not so much talking about pickpockets, though it’s probably not a bad idea to keep a look out for those, but it’s very easy to spend far too much money.
If you do go later in the day, or you are hungry early, you can get really good felafel rolls from the Middle Eastern stand or great chorizo and rocket sandwiches from Brindisa. But if you like cheese, then I really recommend Cheese Man – now called Kaposein but since he didn’t have a name for years, he will always be Cheese Man to me. He makes probably the world’s most awesome cheese sandwiches or raclettes (melted cheese and gherkins over potatoes).
Here’s a pic of Cheese Man (or one of his helpers) scraping cheese over the potatoes for raclettes, while the other semi-circle of cheese melts:
There’s plenty for dessert too – check out this array of delectable cakes and pastries…
or my friend Kimberley next to a tower of Flour Power brownies.
Here are some more pics of the produce on sale at various times of year:
Note: Most, if not all, of these photographs are mine. Some may have been taken by my friend Kimberley but I have to admit I have lost track of which are which. Pictures were taken 2004-2009 at various times of year – this is not all in season at the same time!
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Nomadic Matt | Free things to do in London
Nice guide, and great pictures, but as an extra tip I’d say it’s worth going 4pm ish sometimes, as the prices go down a lot as some of the stall holders attempt to get rid of their stuff. Bread can sometimes be half price.
Also – make sure anything you buy is weighed properly. I’ve been living next to this market for the last six years, and prices have gone up massively, almost like there’s a tourist tariff. If something seems a bit pricey, get them to double check the weight/cost. They try it on sometimes!
But it is a great market, and it a better experience when combined with a stop on the Southwark Tavern, just on the corner
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I love London in general, I never want to leave but I haven’t even heard of this market before which appears to be a terrible thing going by this post. I have lots of family there who love to cook so I will definitely be asking them about this.
Cheers Conor
My guess is they’ll either rave about how great it is or tell you it’s crowded and overpriced. The latter is true but if you take my advice above, you’ll be able to enjoy it just the shame. I love it! – Caitlin.
I love borough market too but the prices can be ridiculous. On Saturday i bought 3 small yellow tomatoes and 2 small green heirlooms and it came to £4.94!!! that’s £1 per tomato (i repeat these were small not the massive ones) – not even Harrods food hall charges these prices.
Wow, that’s a lot. That’s a pretty extreme example – not everything is that expensive in my experience. I probably wouldn’t have bought the tomatoes myself. – Caitlin.