I recently visited friends in London for a culinary weekend. One of my main goals was to visit Borough Market, London’s oldest food market.
After a great breakfast at Brindisa, a nearby Spanish cafe, we found the market to be buzzing with people. And the vendors – what a wonderful mixture of produce farmers (many providing organic products), artisan cheese producers, honey producers, ethnic food vendors, bakers, butchers, seafood vendors and artisan chocolate makers. There was a huge assortment of fresh, local, seasonal produce, fresh eggs, butter and cheeses, breads and baked good. There were also gorgeous towels and cards (with food themes) by artist Richard Bramble. The market itself was quite large and it was surrounded by gourmet specialty shops, too – just about anything you could want.
Borough Market is conveniently located near London Bridge Station. Be sure to visit stunning Southwark Cathedral next door, too.
We also visited Marylebone’s Sunday morning market, which opened in London in 2003. This market was smaller than Borough Market, but filled with local farmers and vendors who come from within 100 miles of London. The vendors there must sell, grow or make everything they sell. There were produce farmers, wild game vendors, cheese producers, bread vendors, poultry and egg stands, butchers, sausage makers and wine makers. There was a nice variety of fresh vegetables, meats, honey, dairy products and prepared foods. And the apples there were delicious – crisp and sweet with just a touch of tartness!
Marylebone Market, which is open on Sundays only from 10am-2pm, is located just off Marylebone High Street, W1, near Baker Street or Bond Street tube stations.
For additional information on London’s farmers markets, click here.