Borough Market is a great place to grab your lunch. Their burgers are huge! Put a bit of tomato sauce on top, a few grilled onions (no salad), and there’s your dinner. It’s hardcore food for gourmet foodies: all the fish still have their heads, all the meat is covered in blood, and all the cheeses are covered in blue veins and a white fluff of fungus.
Fishmonger stall
There are lots of very strong aromas all around the place – you can tell the fish stall is coming from fifty feet away. I’m standing next to an oyster stall with tubs and buckets of shells that look like they’ve sloshed straight out of the sea. They’ve still got the ocean foam on top. Lobsters are lined up like Red Army soldiers, slimy eels are stretched out like stripy ties in a suit shop, and vinegary whelks and winkles have been piled high in a mountain of ice.
Bakers & Greengrocers
The bakers don’t sell boring bread rolls like you buy in Tesco. These ones have been sculptured into swirling shapes, then dipped into sunflower seeds and brushed with a face-full of flour. Another stall has a brick wall of huge chunky pork pies and shoe-sized pasties.
I like the way the greengrocer has arranged his vegetables like flowers. It’s all raspberries and apricots, pale pink turnips and an oak-tub of cauliflowers. It’s so pretty you don’t want to take anything out in case it ruins his display.
Try and find Maria’s Market Cafe – that’s one of my favourite coffee stops in London. It’s not a posh place. It’s more like a builder’s cafe with a checkerboard tablecloth and chunky mugs of tea. It’s the kind of place that puts a bottle of tomato sauce on the table for your bacon sandwich.
. If you like the idea of having a quick meal at Borough Market, then you might like Leadenhall Market as well
The author Craig Cross owns city-guide.london and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon
Your comments and questions
Julia This is a lovely little market that many people don't know about but I recommend that you give it a visit. It has some of the best food stalls that I have been too. They have some really amazing cheeses, fancy breads and sweets
Ben It is always very busy and because it is under the railway it has a nice atmosphere that you don't get in any other street market that I have been to
Patricia What day is Borough Market?
Craig Hi Patricia. It's open from Monday to Saturday but only half of the stalls are open on Monday and Tuesday. So you want to try and go Wednesday to Saturday if you can.
JP Is there a car park at Borough Market?
Craig Hi JP. It doesn't have its own car park, but there's an NCP car park near London Bridge station. It's probably only a 5-minute walk -- ncp.co.uk/find-a-car-park/car-parks/london-bridge/
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