In my opinion, one of the most exciting aspects of traveling is being able to try different foods from all over the world! London is home to over 35,000 food establishments. Included in these establishments are large food markets with hundreds of different merchants selling their creations. Some of the more popular London markets include Borough Market, Portobello Road Market, Camden Market, and many more. My first experience with an London market was Borough Market.
Borough Market is one of the largest and one of the oldest food markets in London. It is located in the borough of Southwark. It’s open Monday through Saturday, opening at 10 a.m on the weekdays, and 8 a.m. on Saturday. I decided to go on a week day before class, to avoid the large tourist crowds present on the weekends. The market is technically outside, but covered by a huge, covered surface to protect it from the infamous London rain.
Vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch. All of my senses were overwhelmed by food when I first arrived at Borough Market. The best way to describe Borough Market is a maze of food tents. I would be lying if I said I didn’t get lost several times walking around the market.
Several of us journeyed to the market together, so that we could share our meals and try different things. In order to make a decision about what food we wanted to get, we did several laps around the market. First, we decided on trying coffee from London’s famous Monmouth Coffee Company. After that, we split a cinnamon bun from the Bread Ahead food tent. Also from Bread Ahead, we purchased a caramel sea-salt honey donut, and a velvet chocolate donut. Finally, we ended our Borough Market journey with pulled-pork mac and cheese, from the food tent, Hash.
Based on my market experience, here is some advice when venturing out to the London Market’s:
- Bring friends! If you bring a group to the market, you can try lots of different things by splitting meals. You can also save a lot of money by sharing food, which leads me to point number two…
- Budget! Trust me, I could have spent hundreds of pounds at this singular market with all of the different food options. However, in order to save money for other adventures, limit yourself to a budget when visiting one of these markets.
- Explore! I prefer to explore the whole market before purchasing anything, because I get to see all of my options. This can be time consuming, so make sure to get to the market early so you can beat the crowds. Also, explore all the different food markets around the city, so you can see what they all have to offer.
I can’t wait to visit more food markets here in London and share my experiences with you!
