Borough Market: Food, Food, and Then Food. (Did I Mention Food?)

The Borough Market, on the south side of the Thames River, was established in 1756 and has been in operation ever since. The area is near the river, the Shard, and the London Bridge. The first time we visited, the weather was rainy, actually it was pouring down rain. As the market is mostly covered, it was crowded with intrepid visitors and shoppers from all over the world.

The market is made up of dozens of independent merchants, each selling their particular wares to the public. It appeared to be both a regular food market for the locals and a tourist spot for the out-of-towners. As we arrived, we were greeted with a booth totally dedicated to olive oils; hundreds of kinds of olive oils.  That was an indicator of what was to come!

Walking along, dodging drips from the occasional leak in the roof over the market, we saw booths for spices, teas, fresh fruit and vegetables, breads, pastries, dried fruits and powdered fruits, cheeses, even one dedicated to various kinds of brittles. There were also stands selling food ready to eat: venison burgers, paella, Indian food, smoothies, fruit drinks and seafoods, including oysters on the half shell.

Fish and Chips to go, yum! © 2018 englandforallreasons.com

What soon caught our eye was a fish and chips takeaway named “fish!kitchen.”  We decided to split an order of cod and chips and it was delicious, as it should be—fish!kitchen was the winner of the 2017 Best in Britain Fish & Chip foodservice operation. With only one small table for four on the side of the food stand, and a bench, both occupied, we ended up standing to eat but, hey, that’s what you do in a food market and it was a good “memory building” experience.  fish!kitchen also has a restaurant with glass on all sides with what is reported to be a great view of The Shard, but as it was pouring rain, we could barely see across the street, much less to the top of The Shard. We have since been there twice, once sitting in the restaurant and once in the larger outdoor patio when the weather was delightful.

As we crossed back from fish!kitchen we saw a small stand selling donuts, so we decided to see what they had. We chose the most amazing cream-filled donut. The donut itself was light and fluffy; the cream was a good, sweet heavy crème anglaise. Truly delicious!

Continuing the eating adventure, I spotted a stall selling paella, curried chicken and freshly fried calamari which I couldn’t resist.  The tempura batter was light and tasty, and the calamari was tender and not overcooked.

Sausage roll. Marvelous! © 2018 englandforallreasons.com

One more stop yielded my absolute favorite street food, the Sausage Roll, which is a classic bit of deliciousness—a sausage wrapped in puff pastry, baked to perfection.  One simply cannot visit England and not have at least one sausage roll.

Fresh fruit, simply amazing. © 2018 englandforallreasons.com

Fortified by our standing lunch, we tackled the rest of the market. In addition to the fruits and veggies, we saw a fresh fish market and another stand selling cider which we took a few minutes to explore. One item on the menu list was a pear wine, which we sampled. It was smooth and very sweet but didn’t taste much like a pear. The Irish lady staffing the booth was engaging and funny, and suggested we a sample of “mead” might be in order. Mead is a type of brew made from honey which is very sweet, tastes a lot like honey and would be good as a dessert wine. Overall, that was a fun booth to visit.

Ah, we could have eaten our way through the market, but sadly, our time had run out and we had to depart. But Borough Market is definitely on our list of do-again places!