London Shopping: Borough Market

Posted by David Whitley Sep 11, 2007

London shopping: Foodie Paradise

There can be few worse places to go when hungry than Borough Market on Borough High Street, South London. Well, if you want to emerge without an overdraft and huge bagfuls of food, anyway. In terms of London shopping, it’s a foodie paradise.

Organic vegetables to free range meats

Sheltered from the elements in cramped stalls near London Bridge station, Borough Market attracts traders from across the country, all selling some of the best food it’s possible to find in the UK. Whether it’s organic vegetables, ice cream from Cornwall, speciality cheeses from France or free range meats from Kent, no one is able to resist all of the stalls. Well, I’m certainly not anyway, and end up spending a fortune every time I visit.

Cheese sampling and free chocolate brownies

The best part about the market is that most of the stalls offer free tasters of their products, which means visitors can go round gorging themselves on little titbits. Whether it’s cheese sampling, or spreading mustards and jams on to fresh bread, it’s a miniature feast at zero cost. Round it all off with a trip to the chocolate brownie stand – they are to die for, and it’s no coincidence that there’s always a huge gathering of people outside it.

Venison steaks, pork and stilton burgers, wild boar sausages

I defy any fully fledged carnivore to leave without scoffing down one of the sizzling meats being grilled, however. Throughout the market, something is always cooking, whether it’s roast beef and lamb or something a little more interesting. Venison steaks, pork and stilton burgers and wild boar sausages are just three examples.