London Bridge & Borough
London Bridge & Borough
London Bridge is home to actual proper landmarks, like The Shard, London Bridge (not to be confused with the much more photogenic Tower Bridge) and Borough Market so it’s very recognisably London in a way that some of the city’s peripheral neighbourhoods are not. That coupled with a number of historical attractions in the area and the fact it’s right by the river means there are often a *lot* of tourists around.
Given that one of the world’s most famous food markets calls this neighbourhood home it’s not surprising that there are a lot of good places to go for a bite to eat. From street food inside Borough Market itself to a range of bars and restaurants lining the surrounding roads, you certainly won’t go hungry here.
With Taiwanese buns from BAO, natural wine and pizza from Elliot’s, tacos from El Pastor and Sri Lankan food from Rambutan making up just some of the food and drink on offer, you’re spoiled for choice too. And there are plenty of other gems further out from the market, stretching both deeper into Southwark and over towards Tower Bridge.
Borough Market is probably the most legendary food market in London. With some of the best fresh produce traders in town, and the likes of Brindisa serving up their famous chorizo and rocket rolls, Gourmet Goat cooking up stews and Scotchtails bringing you the fanciest scotch eggs in town, it’s defo not just a place to pick up some veggies and fancy cheese. The Borough Market Kitchen, the communal dining area inside Jubilee Place, also features 25 traders including Horn OK Please, La Tua Pasta, Tacos Padre and Mei Mei.
David Carter, of Smokestak and Manteca, has opened two new Greek restaurants in Borough Market. AGORA downstairs is loud and boisterous, with tables and stools packed in around an alluring open wood-fired rotisserie grill. Upstairs, is the slightly more genteel OMA, which offers a leisurely sit-down experience complete with reservations. If AGORA is inspired by the tavernas of Athens, then OMA is designed to give you that slower-paced feel of a holiday on a Greek island. With dishes like açma stuffed with wild garlic; scallop XO labneh; lobster bisque borek; spanakopita gratin; charred lamb belly, hummus, shallot and mint salata; and wild red prawn giouvetsi finished with red prawns and deep-fried prawn butter, and a bottle of the numerous Greek wines on the list, you’ll defo be transported. We’re big fans of OMA and love the look and vibe of AGORA too, so it looks like both Borough Market and David have another couple of hits on their hands.
Pyro, an expansive new restaurant and bar in Borough, might be inspired by Greece but you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled into an Ibiza beach bar when you arrive. The huge outdoor drinking area is an enviable summer drinking spot, dotted with olive trees, sleek wooden furniture, wicker lamp shades and a bar area shaded with a rough canopy of branches. And that’s just the garden bar. At the back is an indoor / outdoor dining room with an open kitchen, which is where you’ll be heading if you’ve booked into the restaurant proper. The kitchen is headed up by Greek chef Yiannis Mexis, and this isn’t the kind of place where you rock up for some hummus and moussaka – Pyro is an altogether more modern, elevated take on Greek cuisine. We’re talking potato pitas (round, almost like crumpets) cooked on the hearth; dainty spanakopita; celeriac souvlaki with radicchio, prunes and sour apple; asparagus with slithers of smoked eel and avgolemono; and whole flame-kissed lobster with a deep fried crispy claw, mussels, fennel and roasted tomato orzo. Cocktails are designed by Ana Reznik, previously of A Bar With Shapes for a Name, and there’s also some interesting Greek wines on offer too.
Seven years after Mark Dobbie and Andy Oliver duo opened som saa in Spitalfields, they’ve opened their newest spot, Kolae, in a three floor site (including a courtyard) in Borough Market. The focus is on grilled dishes and kolae (also known as Golae, Galae and Gaw Lae), a cooking technique found in the south of Thailand where ingredients are soaked in a curry-like coconut marinade before hitting the grill. Highlights from the menu include fried prawn heads with turmeric & garlic; kolae mussel skewer with calamansi lime; kolae chicken bamboo skewer; sour mango salad with dried shrimp & roasted coconut; southern gati curry of seasonal whole fish; and pandan sticky rice, young coconut sorbet & jackfruit. As for drinks, there’s concise menu of imaginative cocktails made using Thai ingredients – hello pickled green mango dirty martini – around 15-20 wines from Modal and a handful of beers and ciders.
Bao has been one of the biggest success stories of recent years, going from street food to permanent sites with ease and commanding regular huge queues around the block. The group now boasts three sites in Central London – Soho, Borough and King’s Cross – plus Bao Noodle Shop in Shoreditch and Bao Bar in Hackney. The food is absolutely knockout; it’s best to order one each of all the baos including the fail-safe classic pork and beef short rib plus our personal favourites from the Borough joint, the deep fried cheese bao topped with curry sauce, and the prawn shia song, a mini finger bun stuffed with prawn and a buttery sauce. The aged beef slices which come on a bed of Taipei butter rice at Bao Borough are a must-order, and if you see their Taiwanese fried chicken on the menu in one form or another, give that box a tick too.
The long awaited debut restaurant of Sri Lankan cookbook author Cynthia Shanmugalingam has opened in Borough Market – and it’s already proving a big hit. The site features a big open kitchen with a very impressive grill so be sure to grab a seat at the counter top and watch the show. The menu is all killer, no filler with a couple of snacks, selection of short eats, meat, fish and veg and just one dessert, a mango soft serve sorbet – which you’ll be lucky to squeeze in after working your way through the rest. Highlights include the chunky mutton rolls filled with curried lamb; the very delicious red pineapple curry (what might be one of the best veggie dishes on offer in London right now); tempered potatoes; and the black pork dry curry with some fresh roti. Don’t miss the snacks either, especially when washed down with banana negronis or calamansi iced tea.
Padella serves up hand rolled pasta dishes in Borough Market and Shoreditch. The casual spot has a small menu, but it definitely delivers – all the pastas, from pici cacio e pepe to ricotta raviola with butter & sage to THAT pappardelle with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu, are absolute dreams and a dinner here won’t break the bank either. All in all Padella is great value grub, made with love.
Bar Daskal, named after owners Sam and James Harts’ artist grandfather Vladimir Daskaloff and inspired by his home and studio in Estellencs, Mallorca (some of his work will even be exhibited in the space), is a wine bar with a focus on Spanish wine and sherry. The list features a mix of Barrafina faves and new by-the-glass options, alongside a short selection of cocktails, including the Agua de Valencia (with gin, blood orange & Cadiz fizz), and the Clara (Estrella, grapefruit & lemon sherbet). You’re also able to nibble on cold tapas like gildas, anchovies, air-dried tuna with olive oil & hazelnuts, chorizo Iberico, Manchego & La Retorta cheese, and pinxto de tortilla con aioli.
Calling all dumpling fans! A new Nepalese momo joint has landed in Borough Yards. Canteen and ‘momo factory’ Eat Momo, founded by sisters Trishna and Dipa Chamling, is bringing us authentic Nepalese steamed dumplings inspired by regional recipes from across the country. Fillings include pork, ginger and onion; chicken, garam masala and coriander; and paneer, seasonal greens and carrot with traditional accompaniments of spicy chilli pickle and tomato chutney. The dumplings are fresh and juicy, with well-spiced fillings, so they’ll defo satisfy your dumpling cravings. You can get them in half (5-piece) and full (10-piece), so they’re perfect for lunch alongside snacks like chickpea flour chips and spiced potato, carrot, cucumber, onion and sesame salad. There’s also a takeaway hatch so you can grab your momos to go too.
Monmouth has become a Borough Market staple which means it’s often busy, but if you brave the queues you’ll be rewarded with one of the best brews in London. They do a mean espresso but it’s the classic single cone filter coffee, roasted down the road in Bermondsey, that’s the winner here. Buy beans whilst you’re there so you can feed your Monmouth addiction at home.
Vinegar Yard is an eating, drinking, art space and shopping market located a stone’s throw away from London Bridge station. It’s the second site from the team behind Flat Iron Square and has both inside and outside space. Food traders include Nanny Bills, Baba G’s and Nik’s Kitchen and there are a handful of bars, including two on the mezzanine, serving local beers, wines and cocktails. The Yard is also home to a range of resident shops and the weekly Flea vintage market.
CAFE FRANÇOIS
Cafe François is the new spot from the Maison François team that has just opened down in Borough Yards. It’s got a plum position right in the middle of the new development with a great, very Parisian, courtyard out front and we reckon they’ve nailed the concept, offering affordable, crowd pleasing hits that are going to appeal to pretty much everyone. It’s a big menu with a fair few different sections – you’ve got breads, hors d’oeuvres, veg & salads, sandwiches, rotisserie, plats, bigger sharing dishes, and, best of all, a potato menu. The flatbreads are a must, as are the anchovies on thick rectangles of golden brioche and a dollop of Cafe de Paris sauce. The sandwiches section is frankly ridiculous. There’s a grilled cheese with French onion dip; a soft shell crab banh mi; a foie gras, bacon and egg muffin; and finally, a Royale with cheese, bacon and béarnaise sauce. The rotisserie chicken with fries is also great and it’s well worth getting a pot of béarnaise sauce for dipping too. Desserts are a big thing here, laid out in a nice display counter on the ground floor. There’s a lengthy line-up of eclairs, including the chocolate and salted caramel one we went for, plus tarte aux pommes and Paris-Brest. And if you’re too full, just get them to take home like we did.
To cut right to the chase, BaoziInn has some of the best dim sum in London. The all-day menu features a range of Cantonese-style dim sum but mixed with a few touches from Sichuan and Hunan. Across the board, the dumplings are well made, fresh, and delicious so you can’t really go wrong… but we do have some top tips. From the ‘steamed’ section get the Fragrant Chilli Pork Baozi in Beetroot Juice Dough, and the Ruby Prawn Dumplings in Beetroot Pastry. From the Cheng Fen rice rolls section there are only two options, but the Dan Dan ‘Chang Fen’ with Minced Pork and Sichuan Preserved Sprout was a winner, and you should definitely get a plate of the classic pork wontons. There’s also a whole other massive menu of noodles and street food dishes too.
Jay Patel (former Barrafina and Koya City GM) and chef Matt Beardmore (ex-Trullo) are the dynamic duo behind Legare in Shad Thames, which is all about seasonal produce, fresh pasta and low-intervention wine. It’s a simple understated space with white walls, an open kitchen and plain wooden furniture and benches. Keeping it simple is the order of the day in the kitchen too – think stracciatella with sobrasada, gnocco fritto, orecchiette with fennel sausage & cavolo nero ragu, and stracci with crab, chilli & pangrattato. All of this is complemented by a tight wine list of natural and low intervention bottles, mainly coming from Italy.
Located in Borough Market, Tacos Padre is the Mexican spot from hot Irish chef Nick Fitzgerald who earned his stripes at Pujol, Mexico City (on the World’s 50 Best don’t ya know). The stall serves some of the best tacos in London, including beef short rib suadero with morita salsa, cauliflower al pastor with salsa macha and lamb barbacoa with gauc, alongside homemade bottled sauces, local beers and mezcal margs. And the annual summer residency, where Nick sets up on the terrace by the stall, has a bangin’ dinner menu with dishes like oysters divorciados, crab tostada with guajillo & tamarind, gilt head bream with shiso ceviche, confit pork chop cochinita with charred x-ni-pec, smoked celeriac with orange habanero glaze & macadamia sikil pak, and bueñuelos with morita cajeta.
There’s a zero waste policy at this basement bar so when you’re knocking back the cocktails, you can rest assured that you’re doing your bit for the environment. What we can’t promise is that this will lessen the hangover but sip on the Tequila Don Julio Blanco, pistachio syrup, fresh watermelon and white balsamic Pink Flamingo and find out.
They’re all about the steak of course and if you’re looking to splash out on beef, there’s really no better place to do it. Alongside the steaks are all sorts of other goodies including beef dripping fries, lobster mac & cheese and THOSE ‘Rolos’ for dessert. Breakfast is naturally a meaty one, with a smoked bacon chop, sausages, black pudding, short-rib bubble & squeak, grilled bone marrow, trotter baked beans, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and HP gravy. It’s meant to be for two but everyone likes a challenge, right? As you’d expect from somewhere that dishes up some of the best steaks in the city, Hawksmoor knows a thing or two about knocking up one of the best Sunday roasts in London, yes it’s beef and only beef here on Sundays. Rumps of beef are started over charcoal before going in the oven to re-create that traditional spit-roasted flavour and you get a nice, fat slice along with duck fat roasties, carrots, greens, roasted shallots and garlic, a big ol’ Yorkshire pudding and plenty of bone marrow and onion gravy to drown it in, and you will want to drown it because that sauce is something else.
Shuk; (which means street market in Hebrew) is serving up a taste of Tel Aviv in the recently opened Borough Market Kitchen. It’s all about Israeli street food, which you can get in fresh baked pita or as part of a salad box, made using produce from the Middle East as well as the market itself. The pitas include sabich with roast aubergine & eggs, spiced lamb meatballs with chilli yoghurt (which is our fave) and beef brisket with cheese and pickled onions – think cheeseburger vibes. If you wanna skip the bread, you can go for a salad box by choosing from the likes of roasted squash with cous cous or broccoli & carrot with labneh and you can add the pita fillings on if you want something a bit bigger. All the pitas are properly filling too, not to mention way more exciting than a bog standard sarnie.
Akara is the new, more casual sister restaurants to Akoko, the West African fine dining spot in Fitzrovia which we were very impressed by when we visited back in 2021. For Akara, owner Aji Akokomi has taken the same modern approach to West African cuisine that made Akoko so popular and distilled into a more everyday, approachable package with a short a la carte menu of snacks and larger plates rather than an intricate tasting menu set up. Though it’s more casual in its look and menu, Akara is still aiming for a certain level of refined experience – call it causal plus. You have to start with the eponymous akaras, crispy black-eye bean fritters that are almost like little doughnuts, cut down the middle and stuffed with fish, meat or vegetables but the rice pancakes served with a black eye bean hummus, spicy BBQ maitake mushroom, grilled fillet of pollock with yassa caramelised onion and lemon sauce, efik rice with slithers of BBQ mackerel, and tamarind date cake dressed in a boozy rum and pineapple sauce and a dollop of tonka bean cream are not to be missed either. With a prime location in Borough Market, punchy flavour-packed dishes, and that lovely minimalist dining room, this is becoming one of our go-to Borough spots.
The family behind Churchill’s opened Bar Douro, first in London Bridge and then a bigger site in the City, dedicated to Portuguese tapas, wines, and port. It’s a great place to pop in for a glass of wine and a few small bites such as crisp golden salt cod cakes; milk fed lamb rolls; soft octopus with sweet potato; and hake belly with tomato risotto. And if you swing by around lunchtime make sure you pick up the daytime-special roast pork sandwich topped with oozing Serra cheese.
A trip to a Neal’s Yard shop is heaven for fromage-ophiles – and yes, that is the technical term. Neal’s Yard is mainly all about British cheese, but you’ll find the odd French or Italian variety on offer, too. The company kicked things off in Covent Garden – in Neal’s Yard, natch – but went on to set up two more shops, one in Bermondsey and one in Borough Market, so all your cheese needs will be catered for. And it’s all about the experience: go in to buy one cheese but allow yourself time to linger as the cheesemongers – all dressed in wellies, white coats and hairnets – can talk you through your decision, cutting you little slivers to nibble as you go. That’s lunch sorted, then.
Crouch End based fitness studio 3Tribes has expanded south of the river, opening its third location on Borough High Street. The site offers the same hot classes as Studio 1 in Crouch End, including hot yoga and hot pilates, as well as the signature barre class you can do in Studio 2. What sets the Borough branch apart from the North London studios is the fact that it’s also home to flotation tanks. Floating is great way to relax and reset both mentally and physically; as well as providing time and space to meditate, floating has been proven to improve sleep quality and speed up recovery from injury. Now you can sweat, stretch and zen out all under one roof.
Flat Iron Square is an indoor/outdoor venue and street food market that’s home to a rotating line-up of traders, so you can expect to see the likes of Flock, Dough and OPA, serving up fried chicken, pizza and souvlaki. There’s also a craft beer brewery and taproom on site to keep you well-watered and sheltered should the weather take a turn.
After exploring his passion for pizza during the pandemic, and selling them in lockdown with his wife Tessa, Michelin-starred chef Tom Kemble (ex-The Pass at South Lodge, Bonhams and Hedone), has opened his very own pizzeria in Borough. Located in one of the arches next to Omeara and Four Quarters, Spring Street Pizza, with its modern retro interior and outdoor seating, serves 18-inch pizzas made with Italian-style biga dough (fermented for 48 – 72 hours to create a crispy but airy crust) and high quality toppings. The NY-inspired pizzas on offer include Classic Marinara (San Marzano tomato, garlic, wild oregano, confit garlic oil and basil), New Yorker (San Marzano tomato, Rebel Charcuterie pepperoni, Parmigiano Reggiano, hot honey and basil), Anchovy, Burrata & Rocket (San Marzano tomato, garlic, wild oregano, Parmigiano Reggiano, anchovies, burrata, lemon and rocket) and N’duja & Burrata (San Marzano tomato, fior di latte mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, burrata and guindilla peppers).
Set up by Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett, Omeara sits between Borough Market and London Bridge in Flat Iron Square, the development where music, food and culture come together in 7 railway arches. The 320 capacity venue hosts gigs and one-off club nights with headline shows from rising stars and intimate gigs from big names.
El Pastor is the mini-Mexican group from the Hart Brothers (the pair behind Barrafina and Quo Vadis), who are not only top restaurateurs but Sam Hart actually lived in Mexico City for many years, operating a cult nightclub El Colmillo, so he certainly knows a thing or two about tacos. The original El Pastor is under the railway tracks in Borough Market, a long thin room with high tables and a bar at the front, and a small dining room and kitchen at the back. Whilst you should start with some guac with chicharron and the tuna tostadas, tacos are the main focus on the menu and you don’t want to miss the namesake al pastor, the baja and the epic sharing short rib served on the bone and with a bowl of fresh tacos to roll up your own. Can’t get into the Borough restaurant? Fear not, there are El Pastor locations in Soho and Battersea, and a Casa Pastor in King’s Cross.
Forget a cheeky Nando’s, there’s a new piri-piri joint in town. Casa do Frango, which bills itself as London’s first Algarvian restaurant, cooks up proper piri-piri chicken grilled over wood. Alongside those spicy birds you can chow down on bacalhau fritters, garlic prawns, African rice and fries with pasteis de nata for pud (obvs), and there’s be a Portuguese wine list (a mix of well-known and natural varieties) to wash it all down with.
Given that this pub has a prime spot on the edge of Borough Market, it’s no surprise that it’s almost always heaving with drinkers often spilling out into the street. There are twelve rotating ales on at the bar alongside draught and bottled beer and a short wine list. It’s a traditional old boozer and a good place for a pint, especially when you can get a seat.
Run by husband and wife team Edson and Natalie Diaz-Fuentes, Santo Remedio is one of the best Mexican restaurants in town. They’re famous for their grasshopper-topped guacamole but everything on the menu is legit great, especially the soft shell crab tacos, the beef short rib with mole negro and the churros. They shake up a great marg here too and if you want to get your weekend off to a flying start, their bottomless brunch featuring free-flowing said margs, is the way to do it.
Elliot’s is one of those restaurants that does the simple things really bloody well. Being on the edge of Borough Market means the kitchen has access to some of the best seasonal produce, with much of it cooked using their wood-fired grill and oven. Must-orders include anchovy toast, Isle of Mull cheese puffs and potato flatbread with Irish trout roe and sour cream chive butter. Fresh bread and pizzas, made from flour from UK mills, come out of said wood oven and with toppings like taleggio, sage and brown butter; pepperoni, n’duja, and gorgonzola dolce; mortadella, olive, and pistachio it’s no surprise that these are epic too. Wash all that with bottle of natural wine and you’ll leave very happy indeed.
WatchHouse have set the standards for modern coffee, making it one of our fave places to enjoy a brew in town. Born in Bermondsey (inside a former shelter, or watch house, for men guarding the graveyard of St Mary Magdalen’s Church) the biz has now several houses across London, plus a roastery on Maltby Street, all serving the speciality stuff. Many of them do food too, including baked goods, eggs, pancakes and other brunch dishes.