For Christmas this past year, my sister gave me a book on Borough Markets. I flicked through it eagerly going first to the recipes and even made a couple of them. I didn’t realise that only a 6 months later I would actually be at Borough Markets sampling some of this very fine produce that I was reading about. Borough Markets are London’s oldest markets, incredibly since Roman times when they built the London Bridge, they have been at this location for 250 years and is a market steeped in history and pride of the storekeepers. Artisanal is a term that comes to mind when walking through these stalls (although I hope Artisanal is not a term that become abused as I suspect it might, look out for McDonald’s “Artisan burger” 
)
Fresh pasta made 15 hours ago
Various cheeses on offer
Mmmm sausages!
Various baked goods
The day after arriving, our first stop is here. We’re taken by my sister’s friend Candy who is an expat from America who has lived in London for 4 years. She shows us around Borough Markets, which are huge, much bigger than I ever envisaged. There are throngs of people everywhere. It seems that either half of London is on holiday or that the neighbouring offices house a great number of people that pour out into the markets every lunch time to wait in long queues to eat delicious home grown locally made produce.
Huge slabs of chocolate and truffles
Pick your own truffles
Nuts, dried fruit and chocolate coated goodies
Prices vary but on the whole they’re generally at a premium. Most of the providores are artisans proud of their produce and there are many samples proffered to the waiting public in an attempt to seduce.
Huge mounds of butter
Slices of cakes, eclairs and strudels
Delicious sounding jams
Along with picture perfect fruit and vegetables, there are vividly coloured flowers and a range of seafood, some of which I’ve never seen before like the long cylindrical clams.
Wild things!
Seafood on offer
Huge lobsters
Big crabs with fat claws
Impressive mushroom medley
Different kinds of tomatoes
How perfect do these tubs of redcurrants look?
Even French food gets a look in
“Harry Potter No. # 3 filmed here” You didn’t think I’d miss the chance for a Harry Potter moment?
There’s even a sign near the pub saying that a scene from Harry Potter was filmed here-one look at the pub and you can definitely see that it could have been.
Free range Basque Pig Salami
Enough of this browsing, we’re ready to eat and it seems so are most of the markets as the queues stretch out long for most of the hot food. We tried to get a table at Tapas Brindisa to no avail so we settle with one of their Chorizo rolls (a double with two sausages £4.75). I line up at another stand whose name escapes me, just look for the queue, and get a roll filled with Wild Boar sausage and a Devils on Horseback roll filled with cumberland sausages wrapped in bacon and prunes (both £4.00 for large £3 for small). The Wild Boar sausage was guaranteed at least 90% meat which is a refreshing change for English sausages from what we’ve seen on The F Word.
Brindisa’s stall-for those who can’t get a table at the restaurant, which is… everyone
Brindisa’s Chorizo roll (double sized) £4.75
The chorizo roll is small-ish although the double amount of chorizo is good for chorizo lovers like me. It’s a good sausage although I feel as though something is missing from the roll. My husband and Candy however are thoroughly impressed by it.
Devils on Horseback roll £ 4
The Devils on Horseback roll with cumberland sausage wrapped in bacon and prunes is very good and absolutely enormous filled with caramelised onions and salad. The roll however is very floury and we find ourselves leaving the roll behind and eating the filling.
Wild Boar sausage roll £4
The Wild Boar sausage on a roll, also filled with onions and salad is a strongly flavoured and very meaty as promised. Adding a cranberry sauce to it helps to sweeten it and ease off the intense edge off it.
We dust the flour off our face and hands, stomachs full of all sorts of exotic goodies.
Borough Markets
Southwark Street London SE1 1TL
In front of London Bridge subway station, use “Borough High Street” exit.
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
Thursdays: 11am – 5pm
Fridays: 12pm – 6pm
Saturdays: 9am – 4pm
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
22 Comments | Add your own
Now I know where I’ll go next time I’m in London! Those look so delectable my mouth is watering. If I had a sis living there, I’d never leave.
The mushroom stall looks amazing! The chocolate truffles look rather tempting as well
The mushrooms and seafood and redcurrants and nuts and …. oh it all looks fabulous and makes me want to buy it and cook it. And eat it.
ok, this is what a *real* market should be! honestly, getting bit bored with sydney markets coz of the same sellers :-/
Oh I ADORE this market and looking at these photos make me miss London SO BADLY. Everytime I go there, I always get the Pork & Stilton burger and the scallops. But the Chorizo rolls are definitely worth it too.
This market is how all markets should be! The pictures are all heavenly and there’s so much to look at! I am a hoarder, so I would have wanted to buy everything! Of course being overseas, a voice of reason would kick in and self restraint would be needed. So glad you enjoyed it. That sausage in a roll looks mouth-wateringly good
Stop, I can’t take it anymore… Glorious wonderful food and I am clear across the Atlantic ocean. Oh, how I love London. My next visit I will go to this market. Our markets here pale in comparison.
Those rolls are… wow.. I wish I could say I was speechless because my mouth was stuffed full of wild boar sausage roll!
holy cow, you hit the jackpot! i don’t think i’d ever willingly leave–they’d have to drag me out by my ears.
Borough Markets are really nice and especially good in the summer. It’s a favourite spot to take people when they come over from Oz for a visit. The only problem is the fashion factor that has taken over market culture, all food has to to be marketed to the ‘right on’ middle class who buy organic free range low food miles teaspoons and wallpaper. Once you get past the uber-cool appearance that has to be maintained then the markets are quite nice. Especially the stall that sells cooked scallops for immediate eating.
My local market is Broadway Market in Hackney. I spend hours there every saturday drinking vietnamese coffee and watching the ironically dressed wander up and down.
Three more days and me and my dog will be there again…
THIS is the push in my plan to visit London, which I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. *Sigh* Was it as wonderful as it looks?
I cannot get over the size of the lobster & crab, much less the selection of mushrooms and all those chocolate truffles. *Sigh*
This place looks amazing. The markets in the UK are so different to Oz, aren’t they, with unusual (to us) produce and a more ‘old’ vibe. Spitalfields market is also good, with vintage stuff and a small foods section.
Oh i LOVED borough markets, i bought way too many goodies from there. Including the best parmigianno reggiano ever! I could have eaten the whole block as is, no crackers necessary!
Hi Sharon-A trip to London is definitely not complete without a visit to Borough. And that day it seemed that half of London was there too!
Hi Popeye-I was really impressed by the range of mushrooms there too! And the amount of chocolate…it’s the stuff that dreams are made of!
Hi SydneyGal-Definitely! I just wanted to eat, buy and cook it all
Hi tian-There’s definitely a lot of repetition in markets here. Some new stalls would definitely be welcome!
Hi Mae-I don’t blame you, I wish we had something like that here in Sydney. The only problem for me was deciding what to eat when there
Hi Maria-I agree, and yes I had to restrain myself, it was hard though!
Thanks so much 
Hi Kim-Yep I’m now sitting 24 hours away from London. In fact I think you might be closer than we are! I guess there’s nothing quite like Borough
Hi Y-It was indeed very hard getting your lips wrapped around the rolls, I guess one has to accept getting a faceful of flour
Hi grace-It’s hard to drag yourself out but sometimes you feel like you need to to get some breathing space. It gets crowded in there!
Hi Uncle Hunty-I did see a definite emphasis on organic and low food miles. I wish I had the chance to try the scallops (too many delicious sounding things!)
Lucky you, you sound like you have the ideal weekend day at Hackney markets planned! Maybe I’ll get a chance to visit next time!
Hi Sandie-It was fantastic, so many unusual ingredients that we just don’t get here in Australia!
I’d definitely recommend it, even for a couple of visits so you can get to try all the freshly cooked food for lunch
Hi belle-Yep it’s definitely different to here. Interestingly, the prices are not inexpensive as they’re specialty suppliers whereas sometimes at markets here you can find bargains. I guess it’s a different type of produce with most of them being artisans whereas here you can get people baking homemade cakes.
On my last trip I went to Spitalfields and found all of these cute things but it started raining before I got to the food so we sat in a cafe instead
Hi Sarah-Cool! Was it from the cheese stall in the picture? I love a good Reggiano, it’s something I love just by itself too
Came across your site, when I was searching for Nigella’s recipes. What a wonderful, informative site you have. Your London posts are relly helpful for me , as we will be visiting London in 2009. We will definitely go to the market and the tapas restaurant you suggested. Also, any suggestions regarding where to stay ? We are really confused about the areas that are best to book, for a family of 4.
Thank you again for the great information on your site
Hi Edith-That’s great to hear, I’m so glad that it helped
As for where to stay, I’m not sure. I stayed with my sister so I didn’t look into London accommodation at all, sorry I couldn’t help
Perhaps tripadvisor could give some hotel advice? I usually look there before I book a place.
Wow, I knew Borough Market was good but I didn’t know it was that good. I can’t wait till I next go up to London!
Hi Angela-It’s quite mindblowing how crammed of delicious goodies it is. All I kept thinking was “drink it up” as there’s nothing like that in Sydney!
Next time you are there make sure you try the Comte cheese and the Pâté Moi mushroom pate. And the gluten free brownies (down the same side aisle as the truffle stand) – YUM!
3 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] reading NQN’s post on London’s Borough Markets got me wondering: why do I breeze round markets, often buying nothing, but when I see pictures, I [...]
[...] — I don’t know why I’d expected it to be bigger, perhaps it was from reading not one but two posts from Aussie food bloggers on London’s Borough Markets. Also I’d hoped to [...]
[...] had seen Razor Clams while at Borough Markets and they’re curious looking things. Long and cylindrical they’re shaped like a [...]
Post a Comment