Where to eat in and around London's Borough Market

A visit to Borough Market is a must for any foodie when in London. Always busy, always buzzing, Borough Market is packed full of artisanal producers, restaurants, bars, and street food stalls, the kind of place you can lose hours tasting, talking, and people-watching.

So where are the best places to eat at Borough Market? I like to wander, snacking as I go, before perhaps sitting down for something more substantial, and actually, some of the best restaurants are to be found just outside Borough Market within short walking distance. The best advice is to just go with the flow and let the wind (and the crowd) carry you. Oh and come hungry.

This Taiwanese restaurant chain started out in another market—Netil—slinging soft, pillowy bao buns to East Londoners. The namesake buns are a must-try (the fried chicken and curry cheese baos are phenomenal) but there are plenty of other dishes to enjoy, including the Insta-famous 40-day aged beef with Taipei butter rice. You don’t have to dine-in: a bao or two from the takeaway hatch can be a great way to refuel as you explore Borough Market.

Looking for cooling gelato to refresh the palate after feasting all day at Borough Market? Head to this ever-popular gelateria on Park Street for rich, sticky gelato that will transport you to Italy. Take a seat on the kerb and enjoy the people watching as you desperately try to beat the clock of your melting gelato.

The Borough Market branch of this popular steakhouse chain is just as reliable as its sister restaurants. A temple of meat, Hawksmoor also has a fantastic cocktail program, favoring the kind of punchy drinks that used to power financial institutions the world over. Order a martini, a big bloody steak and pretend you’re greasing the wheels of a powerful global bank, somewhere in the city of London, circa 1986.

A short walk away on Bermondsey Street (fast becoming London’s most boujee street) is chef José Pizarro’s perfectly formed tapas bar. No reservations mean you may have to queue for a table but it’s worth it for the faultless tapas, like Spanish tortilla, bravas, and delicious jamon. Close your eyes and you could almost be in Spain, complete with Brits mispronouncing the names of dishes (now that’s really authentic).

Kolae is the second restaurant from the team behind much loved East London Thai restaurant, Som Saa. Expect punchy flavours and a thrilling heat inspired by Thailand’s Southern Provinces, with much of the food cooked over open flame. Standout dishes include grilled mussel skewers and a selection of dry and sour curries.

One of London’s best coffee shops, Monmouth is the place to re-energise mid-market crawl, with a vast selection of seasonal brews from around the world, all of which you can sample. They no longer do paper cups—you either have to drink in or buy/provide a reusable cup (customers can choose to return the reusable cup for their full deposit if they wish)—which is great for the environment, considering how many people they serve, with long queues at weekends.

Still the best fresh pasta slinger in London, Padella does a few things very, very well (the beef shin ragu being a case in point). It gets extremely busy and again is no reservations, but download the Dojo virtual queuing app and you can slink off to one of Borough Market’s many pubs (pubs per capita is very high in these parts) to work up an appetite and then be alerted when your table is ready.

Two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Story is widely regarded as one of London’s best restaurants and is just a short walk from Borough Market. There, chef Tom Sellers (Per Se, Noma) serves up elegant seasonal British food with European touches, with dishes including Dorset snail ‘Bolognese’ and cod with Champagne beurre blanc and melted leeks.

Husband-and-wife-team Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki, originally from South Korea, have serious culinary pedigree, with stints cooking at The Ledbury and Koffmann’s amongst others. The Korean-inspired, modern European dishes at Michelin-starred Sollip include tartlet of beef tartare with gochujang, and charcoaled squab breast with barbecued leg and parsley root. Minimalist plating reflects the restaurant’s interiors, whilst much of the ceramics come from artisanal Korean makers.

Fat Duck alumni Jonny Lake and Isa Bal’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant has a relaxed, Nordic sensibility to its dining room, but the food is big on flavor, ingredients, and technique. Everything feels indulgent here, with stand-out dishes including a luxury pici with Devon crab and a baked potato mille-feuille for dessert. It’s high-end without the pomp, and absolutely thrilling.

Wright Brothers is the spot for seafood in Borough Market, washed down with a pint of a certain dark stout or a glass of English fizz. As well as oysters (£1 a pop during oyster happy hour), try the fish pie, scallops or if you’ve never had them this way—a pint of prawns. At the bar or outside when it’s warm are the seats you should covet.