Borough Market

Borough High St, Borough, London
Visited 15th August 2009
For an Aussie teacher living in Hong Kong I tend to visit London a fair bit. While Borough Market isn't my reason for rocking into town I always try and find time for a trip to this great market. It's situated just past the southern end of Tower Bridge, under the train lines next to Southwark Cathedral. It has been running on its current site since 1796, though there has apparently been a market in the area since Roman times.
The key to Borough Market is not shopping, but browsing; though a better term would probably be grazing. Before the commitment of actually buying anything it's always worth a stroll to see what tasty tit bits and samples are up for offer (my other favourite place for a graze is Sapporo Airport). I wondered the stalls and gazed starry eyed at a cornucopia of fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, fish, meat, game, cheese, bread, cakes, chocolate, beer, wine and a thousand other exciting things. When there was something to try I did. I managed to sample a delicious range of cured meats, cheese, a tasty little bit of chocolate or two and even a couple of sips of wine.

Eventually however it was time for a solid lunch and we ended up at the barbecue out back of Brindisa. This supplier of Spanish produce fires up the barbecue and sells chewie rolls dossed with olive oil and then filled with roasted capsicum, rocket and a choice of one or two spicy chorizo sausages; we of course went for the double. OK it was just a sandwich but it was a good sandwich and a sandwich which seemed to encapsulate Borough Market; tasty food, made with fresh local ingredients, but with a twist of international flavour. My only complaint was the element of danger eating these sandwiches; dripping chorizo fat, roasted capsicum juice and olive oil, is tasty, but does tend to stain your favourite t-shirt. For the sceptics Borough Market goes a long way to proving the quality of contemporary English food.
Visit market website.