Tempt Your Taste Buds at Borough Market in London

On 1May2019
By Heather

Walking around central London around midday, my stomach started growling at me, “Feed Me!” Most of the time while I’m traveling I tend to forget to eat since I’m too busy taking photographs of my latest destination. On this most recent visit, I remembered reading blog posts of the largest and oldest food market in London that other travel bloggers were raving about. Thus beginning my quest to find the Borough Market.

Table of Contents

Getting There

I spent six days exploring London on my first visit there so; I was surprised that I never came across it. The funny thing is that I walked right by the back end of the market without realizing it. Walking on the Southbank along the Thames past Shakespeare’s Globe toward London Bridge, Borough Market is right before the bridge. If you want to save your feet some walking, you can take the tube and get off at either Jubilee or Northern stations. You can also get off at the London Bridge train station. The market is right next to the train station with signs marking the way around the area.

Three Crown Square

Walking up to Borough Market you can be a little overwhelmed by the sheer size of the market with its many aisles and open spaces filled with food vendors. My best advice is to dive in! I started on the outside moving right and in until I navigated the central area (Three Crown Square) completely. Three Crown Square is the largest area of the market that houses produce; fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, and cheeses can be found here. I saw so many different types of food that I have never heard of or even tried. What is great about this food market is that many stalls offer samples to entice you to buy their produce. I tried a couple of new types of food while I was there, French Duck Confit and Seaweed & Cider Sausage. Yum!

Middle Road and Green Market

The periphery area around Three Crown Square is filled with food stalls from all around the world. You can find a lot of specialty foods in these areas. I was so tempted to get something from every stall that I went by. The smells of freshly baked bread and the decadent desserts were stalling me from finding something substantial to eat for lunch.

Pad Thai

So coming across this Pad Thai food stall in the Green Market was serendipitous since I was heading to Thailand in less than two weeks. As I am not a huge fan of spicy food, I was very nervous about finding anything to eat while I was in Thailand. I ordered a Pad Thai with Chicken and watched them cook it. Then when it was my turn to eat it, I nervously stuck my fork into the Pad Thai and scooped up a big bite. Wow! It was quite tasty! I ended up devouring it and was even tempted to get another one. I’m so grateful in finding Borough Market and trying Pad Thai before my big trip. It has given me so much more confidence in trying different types of Thai dishes while I have been living in Thailand for three months.

History & Information

Borough Market has been in London since the 12th century. There are even some references to the market that put it being around in 1014. Although this location of the food market has been providing fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, meat, game, baked bread and pastries along the riverside wharf since the 19th century. The buildings that house the food stalls were built in the 1850s.

Borough Market is open Monday through Saturday. Open hours are Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with some exceptions on Friday staying open until 6 p.m. and Saturday opening at 8 a.m. There is a limited market with not as many food vendors set up on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday through Saturday is when you can find the market full and tons of people browsing the stalls.

If you are interested in a food tour of the market, the only licensed food tour through Borough Market is Gastro Tours with Celia Brooks. Although there are many food tours through London that might make a stop at this fabulous food market. But, you don’t have to take a food tour to enjoy all the delicious food that you will find here at Borough Market. Come and visit and tempt your taste buds with endless aisles of appetizing treats for your eyes and tummy. Bon Appétit!

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