London’s Borough Market Is a Top Food Destination for Good Reason
A trip to England typically means low expectations on the food you’ll be enjoying. After all, there are only so many ways you can enjoy fish and chips. But there are culinary highlights to be found, and we believe that the top food destination is London’s Borough Market and one very much worth checking out.
Origin of London’s Borough Market
When the market officially started is unclear. There are records that indicate a market at that location near London Bridge dating back as far as 1276. What is clear is that Borough Market has enough high quality food to satisfy any hunger.
There is so much to love about Borough Market. With well over 100 food stalls offering up a wide variety of gourmet food, you can come multiple times during your London visit and have a different experience every time.
As you read up on this famed marketplace, you’ll quickly find countless stories about the best places to checkout and eat at Borough Market. We’ll offer you a few specific London food destinations to choose from, but the reality is the there is so much to see, smell and eat across the four plus acres. Just make sure you come plenty hungry!
What you’ll discover on your visit can vary based on the the ethnic food you desire, with plenty to choose from. Or you can seek out specific types of food from fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads and of course desserts.
Foodie Paradise
One of the better known places within Borough Market is Richard Haward’s Oyster Shop. The Haward family has been harvesting and serving up fresh oysters since the 1700s. Their oysters are not only delicious, they are also huge.
If oysters are not your things, how about something to drink instead? We discovered a refreshing drink touted as “summer in a cup.” Lavender lemonade from the Lavender at Borough Market vendor was a unique take on a summertime tradition. The deep purple drink is full of flavor, with a nice blend of lavender with freshly squeezed lemons. This tasty summer drink is a bargain at just £5.
On our latest visit to Borough Market, near the top of the list of items we selected was this amazing mushroom risotto. This amazing dish is served with parmesan and truffle oil. Cooked up and served to you direct from a giant skillet, this dish reminded us of one of our favorite meals onboard Disney Cruise Lines and their version of mushroom risotto.
Next up for us was a giant sausage roll from The Ginger Pig. The portion was large, and the taste was good. The Ginger Pig has been a staple of the resurgence of Borough Market for the last quarter century, and before that they were supplying their farm fresh products to Londoners. If you want to try this world famous sausage roll and cannot get to London, here is the recipe.
There is no better place in London to satisfy a sweet tooth that at Borough Market. You can wander up and down and find pretty much any dessert under the sun, made fresh and ready for you to devour. Here are a couple options to consider; one we tried and fell in love with, and one that was so good we went back for more.
Don’t Forget Dessert
Even a small amount of web browsing about Borough Market will produce for you a number of stories and photographs of the chocolate covered strawberries offered up by Turnips. While there is a lot of hype about this simple but amazing dessert, this completely lives up to it. A cup full of about a dozen ripe strawberries covered in an ample amount of melted milk chocolate, despite the simplicity of the dish, it was our favorite.
The Borough Market classic dessert stands on its own as a climatic end to your stroll through the market. This dessert has become a legend of sorts, known as the dessert that they tried to ban at the market. We were unaware of the controversy, where the Borough Market administration allegedly suggested that their heaven in a cup was “neither fruit, veg or related produce.
Controversy aside, this our favorite dessert. During our visit, we were sampling foods and not always finishing up every bite. Except for this one, where we all but licked the cup clean.
On our first visit to Borough Market, we didn’t have a lot of time to go up and down all the aisles. During our brief visit, we stumbled on a kiosk selling a variety of fudge. On our return, we knew we needed to find this stand again and indulge again. The fudge at Whirld is that good!
There is no such thing as bad fudge, so when you taste some that distinguishes itself from others it is remarkable. The flavor packed squares of fudge are handmade and just melt in your mouth. They offer a variety of flavors, including the standards like peanut butter and chocolate fudge. Two that stand out to us are the peanut butter fudge and the sea salt caramel. The beauty of this little shop is you can mix and match the servings and try a variety, which we completely endorse.
A visit to Borough Market for a food lover is a visit to one of the top culinary destinations in the world. Accolades for the market are numerous, including the ranking as the third best food market in the world by Food & Wine magazine. There are several other markets in London that are noteworthy, including Camden Market which we’ve had highly recommended to us.
Planning Your Visit
On our last visit, we did do a guided tour though it is not necessary. Just see something you like and give it a try. Where the tour was helpful was helping to pick out some of the iconic and must locations to try, where we didn’t necessarily have the knowledge.
Borough Market only has one officially sanctioned tour. We did investigate the opportunity to be guided around by food expert, TV chef and author Celia Brooks. This type of tour worked really well for us when we visited Granville Island Market in Vancouver, getting some behind the scenes and history thrown in with the delicious food. Celia offers her tours only on Friday’s between 10AM and 1PM, but not every week. She was not offering tour the day we wanted, but as we said you really don’t need a guide to have a good time. If you are set on a London food tour, make sure Borough Market is one of your destinations.
If there is a negative about Borough Market, it is the large crowds. There are a lot of people, and in certain areas where you might sit to eat your food crowds of pigeons. We timed our visit past the peak hours around lunch, and that may have helped a little, but there were still a lot of people. Saturday is especially busy. You might consider a visit on Sunday, if your schedule allows. The market is closed on Monday. Seating is at a premium, so be prepared to eat standing up.
Getting to Borough Market is easy via the London Underground. The market is located next to the London Bridge rail terminal and London Underground station along the Jubilee line and Northern Line.
If you’re also a fan of the Harry Potter movies, it is worth noting Borough Market and nearby Leadenhall Market have been featured in the movies. If you want to learn more and consider a London Harry Potter tour, read our review here. Need other London recommendations, check out some of our favorite highlights.
London’s Borough Market is open every day except Monday. They open at 10AM, except for Saturday when they open up an hour earlier. They have a great website which provides maps of vendors, and a robust list of FAQs.
