Borough Market, London: A Very Literary Food Paradise

maki — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:44:37 +0200

When I found out that I’d be in London this week for a couple of days, my thoughts immediately turned to what food-related things I could fit into my schedule. Tea and scones, check. Curry, check. A visit to Japan Centre, check. But at the top of my list was a proper roam around Borough Market.

Long time readers of Just Hungry may know that I absolutely love markets, and go to them whenever and wherever I can. One big reason I’ve decided to move to the south of France is because of the wonderful markets here. So, how does London’s oldest market compare to some of my favorites? While Borough Market is not the biggest market, nor does it have the widest selection, or even the best selection, of foodstuffs, it’s a very special place. In my opinion, it’s simply the most intellectually pleasing market there is.

Let’s start with the literary quotes on colorful banners, hanging from the beams:

Of course, there has to be at least one from Shakepeare.

I think this one is my favorite.

A little lower down, there are the boards displayed by individual vendors. This one is at the Fish Kitchen (aka Fish!), a fish and chips purveyor.

(This is the fish and chips they talk of, eaten sprinkled with vinegar and salt of course.)

This tree shaped sign stands next to a stall selling jams and chutneys.

This one is so beautifully done, I wouldn’t mind hanging it on my wall as art. I wonder if there are graphic design pros that create these display boards, or if the stall holders letter them themselves?

A sign of the times, but with a sense of humor.

How could you resist pies with such cheerful features?

Here’s the cheese display at Neal’s Yard Dairy. The contents and provenance of each cheese is carefully noted, though of course if you ask the cheesemongers they’ll happily explain it to you all over again, together with a sample.

One big cheese, made with love.

It’s not just the fans of the written word that are happy here. How about these displays of vegetables, just like still life paintings?

Even humble onions and potatoes get the artistic treatment.

I’ve seen witty signage and beautiful displays like this elsewhere in the UK, but at Borough Market you get to see the best, all in one place.

Food wise, the prepared foods are the main draw of Borough Market, especially for visitors. You can get everything from fish and chips to Thai green curry to hot dogs to chicken sandwiches. You can eat things on the spot, or take them home with you. And the samples are plentiful - here some rose-scented Turkish Delight; there some date and apple chutney; and how about some gluten-free chocolate brownies, or perhaps some Eccles cake? You could probably make a meal of just the samples. But don’t miss out on the meat pies, the sausage rolls, the domestic and imported cheeses, and so much more.

Having spent some of my growing up years in England, I have a special spot in my heart, not to mention my stomach, for British food. I know that British food still has a bad reputation in other countries, but a visit to Borough Market will do a lot to rid you of such misconceptions. At its finest, British food is grand.

Borough Market is open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Check for hours and directions on the official website.

(Footnote: My favorite food of the whole market:)

JustHungry road trip report: Hello London, part 1

Guruman — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:45:40 +0100

Because Maki went under the knife last week, an understudy (yours truly) was sent to London for an interesting event. Here’s part one of my trip report.

Mobile device companies, such as Nokia, are gradually discovering the value of bloggers as a customer base. As part of a targeted event, JustHungry was invited together with other selected bloggers to spend a few days in London, where we could test the newest in mobile phone technology in practice.

Besides JustHungry, the following blogs participated:

La olla Suiza a Swiss writing from Spain; also writing in German on 1x umrühren bitte
La cuisine de Mercotte, the reine des macarons (queen of macaroons) from France
Milsabores the number 1 foodblogger from Venezuela
Cooking Diva from Panama
il Cavoletto di Bruxelles, a Belgian writing from Italy
Girl interrupted eating from the UK

The whole group stayed at the Zetter Hotel in Farringdon, a typical London boutique hotel close to some interesting restaurants and pubs.

The first day was set up as a workshop, in the private dining room of the Larder restaurant, where we first got introduced to the “tools of the trade” and their use. I use a cellphone every day, and I’m the type of geeky person who actually reads through the manual, but I still learned some interesting things. The second part of the workshop started with a (rather Brit-centric) food quiz with freelance journalist Sudi Pigott. This was followed by an hour of interesting London gastro-gossip and tips by food writer Joe Warwick, whose articles have appeared in the TimeOut restaurant guide and many other publications.

An evening at the Northbank restaurant gave us a taste of the higher end of British cuisine.

The highlight for me was on the second day, a discovery tour of the famous Borough Market with Celia Brooks Brown whose gastrotours are well known, concluded with an all-British meal at the Roast Restaurant.

The following pictures show some impressions of the event. All the photos, incidentally, were taken with a mobile phone, under a variety of lighting conditions, and I think they look surprisingly decent. For this trip I deliberately didn’t take a bigger camera with me, wanting to give the mobile phone cameras a workout. (I do take many of the photos that appear on JustHungry by the way, especially outside of the ‘studio’.)

The one snag I ran into was that on the last day both of the two cell phones I had with me ran out of battery power right in the middle of a shooting session. So, if you are relying on a mobile as a dedicated shooting device on a trip, extra batteries might be a good idea.

On with the photo report.

Everyone is very active with their mobile devices.

Fish and Chips at the Larder.

Joe Warwick in full action.

The St. John Pub and Bakery is near to the hotel; it is in a former smokehouse.

The Zetter hotel in an early spring evening light.

Celia Brooks Brown shows a giant avocado at the Borough Market. (A more in-depth look at the Borough Market will follow in a separate report.)

How to spot a mobile food blogger!

A gigantic slice of celeriac at the Roast restaurant.

london

Borough Market, London: A Very Literary Food Paradise

JustHungry road trip report: Hello London, part 1