The best Borough Market restaurants
Borough Market has been serving Londoners the finest fruit and veggies for over 1,000 years. So it's no wonder that to this day, the riverside market is awash with brilliant food options beyond the hundreds of chef-favoured produce stalls and historic pubs.
You can't really go wrong dining here – just don't make the mistake of coming on a Monday expecting the market to be open. Saying that, it's also easy to get overwhelmed by choice (and the throngs of tourists navigating around cheese stalls and giant paella pans on a weekend). When it comes to the best restaurants in Borough, and you want a sit-down situation over a grab-and-go from the stalls, there's everything from farm-to-table fine dining like Turnips to new and exciting southern Thai Kolae and time-tested classics like Elliot's.
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The best Borough Market restaurants
1/11OMA
Cuisine: Greek with a modern twist
Price: ££
Go for: Creative Mediterranean flavours, wood-oven flatbreads, mind-bending dips and possibly the best terrace in Borough
Address: 3 Bedale St, London SE1 9ALAfter launching two successful Shoreditch restaurants Manteca and Smokestak, Barbadian restaurateur David Carter is back with a double whammy in Borough Market. Overlooking the market itself, the two-story space that was once Hotel Chocolat's restaurant Rabot is now two different restaurants - and both are quickly proving to be hot ticket tables. Downstairs is the more casual Agora, inspired by the streets and markets of Athens. Things are buzzing down here. Tables are walk-in only and the heart of the restaurant is the wood-fired oven and charcoal rotisserie firing out flatbreads, ‘souvla’ and skewers.
Follow your nose upstairs, and you'll reach the tranquil Oma (the Greek word for “raw”). Inspired by the Greek isles and general flavours of the levant, things are a little more upscale but with a huge dollop of heart and vibe. We started the evening with all three options in the ‘bread etc’ section and would highly recommend doing the same on your visit. The grilled, warm and soft Laffa bread and bagel-like Açma Verde went beautifully with the silky hummus with zhoug and the salt cod xo labneh. A punchy Yellowfin tuna ceviche swimming in clementine ponzu gave us energy for the next course after the carbs we just imbibed: a gloriously indulgent spanakopita gratin malawach – a must must order. And then came the clay pot with oxtail giouvetsi, bone marrow and beef fat pangrattato – a classic risotto-like Greek dish served in a rustic clay pot and topped with bread crumbs. Dessert was shared after the savoury indulgence, a soft olive oil gelato topped with fennel pollen and more olive oil for good measure (reminiscent of Missy Robbin's Italian Job at Lilia in New York, but creamier). And we didn't even touch on the encyclopaedic wine list, a 450-long ‘wine bin’ with a focus on Greek producers and the sea. Oma is pure indulgence in the most heavenly way.
– Tal Dekel-Daks
Ben Broomfield2/11Kolae
Cuisine: Southern Thai
Price: ££
Go for: Flame-grilled, spicy dishes and inventive cocktails
Address: 6 Park Street, London SE1 9ABPhuket or southeast London? Hidden just around the corner from quintessentially British pub The Market Porter, in a former coach house, Kolae feels like you're immediately transported to warmer climes. It's the latest venture from Som Saa founders Mark Dobbie and Andy Oliver. While Som Saa focused on northern Thai cuisine, their second venture Kolae is an homage to a Southern Thai cooking technique. Cooking ‘Kolae style’ is when ingredients are generously coated in a curry-like coconut marinade before being grilled over open flames to create a rich and aromatic smokiness.
On the evening we came for dinner, Kolae style meant fried prawn heads, chicken bamboo skewers, punchy sour mango salad with roasted coconut and a delightful southern gati curry of minced prawns. London has come a long way when it comes to Thai food and similarly, this is not your typical British Thai restaurant. Each dish is inventive in both its flavours and cooking and presentation.
Split across three floors, the interiors are also a lot larger than you'd imagine. We opted to sit on the ground floor, where you'll find counter dining beside the open kitchen as well as tables dotted around the room and some al-fresco dining out front. The first floor takes is a little more intimate and then on the second floor, find a private dining space for 12-16 guests, where many of the original beams and historical features have been celebrated to create a dining room that’s steeped in character. – Tal Dekel-Daks
3/11Rambutan
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Price: ££
Go for: Homely Sri Lankan cooking paired with unique drinks like Banana Negroni
Address: 10 Stoney Street, London SE1 9ADRambutan is on fire – both literally and figuratively. Not only is it one of the area's most hyped new restaurant openings in recent years, but the open-plan kitchen embraces traditional fire aduppu stoves found in the village kitchens of the Sri Lankan countryside and chef-owner Cynthia Shanmugalingam’s cooking has been making waves in the restaurant world. The food is guaranteed to get the heart pumping. It’s a good excuse to bring friends, divide and conquer and try a bit of everything on the menu. Highlights include the succulent grilled chicken saffron Pongal rice, fiery pineapple and mustard seed curry, and the oh-so airy and buttery roti. Snag the best seat in the house at the bar, right in front of the action and coals.
rambutanlondon.com
4/11Bao Borough
Cuisine: Taiwanese
Price: ££
Go for: Delicious bao buns and beer with karaoke downstairs
Address: 13 Stoney Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9ADCult Taiwanese restaurant Bao has taken over London. Erchen Chang, Shing Tat Chung, and Wai Ting Chung's empire has expanded from Soho to Marylebone, Shoreditch, Battersea, King's Cross – and Borough – which is one of my favourites. Styled as an interpretation of the late-night Taiwanese grill houses, come here for moreish crispy noodle chips, grilled ox skewers and of course an array of brilliantly fluffy bao buns (including a Horlicks ice cream fried bao). But it's the downstairs karaoke-disco room which is the biggest draw where you and a few friends can belt out tunes and order sharing platters of buns, chilli chicken wings and more as well as beer buckets to accompany the evening's entertainment.
baolondon.com
5/11Mei Mei
Cuisine: Singaporean street food
Price: £
Go for: Hainanese chicken rice
Address: Unit 52 Rochester Walk, London SE1 9AFMei Mei is the brainchild of Elizabeth Haigh, the Singaporean-born chef who gained a Michelin star at Pidgin. At a corner site in the market, she and her team transport diners to another world. Borough Market attracts more tourists than locals these days so as you sip your sugary teh tarik – tea with condensed milk – and wait for your Singaporean street food, you truly feel you could be on holiday, cold British weather aside. Served on pink plastic plates with tins of cutlery and chopsticks placed on the communal bar, Mei Mei’s specialities are Hainanese chicken rice, kaya toast and carrot cake, though the latter is not quite what the name suggests. - Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes
6/11Turnips
Cuisine: Farm-to-table fine dining
Price: £££
Go for: Interesting ways to eat vegetables like Provence tomatoes and Swedish girolles
Address: 43 Borough Market, London, SE1 9AHTurnips, a fruit and vegetable stall by day, now also boasts what is effectively two restaurants. There is a more casual small plates restaurant with high tables and a contagious buzz, nestled where the produce sits during the day; while in the larger space opposite a five-course tasting menu is served up by Tomas Lidakevicius, ex-executive chef of Jason Atherton’s Michelin-starred City Social. On our visit, my companion and I opted for the tasting menu; as a chronically indecisive orderer, it is something of a relief to have choice taken away from me and just eat what appears on the table.
7/11Padella, Borough Market
Cuisine: Italian
Price: ££
Go for: Hand-rolled pasta made in front of you at the kitchen counter
Address: 6 Southwark St, SE1 1TQThis award-winning Borough Market pasta bar could be credited as the first of its kind in London. From the owners of Islington’s famous Italian restaurant Trullo, their dream was to serve fresh, hand-rolled pasta inspired by regular trips to Italy, in an informal bar setting. The service is quick, the vibe is busy and fun. Solo diners can sit at the marble bar looking out over Borough High Street or if you’re more than one, there’s table seating with room for burrata or radicchio salad and other antipasti sharing plates. A short, seasonal menu shows strong regional Italian influences and their most famous Cacio e Pepe is definitely worth the journey, as is the succulent 8-hour Dexter beef ragu. A slice of lemon tart or a scoop of ice cream and an espresso keeps the pudding list authentic, the meal fast and with most dishes around £6, it’s a pretty economical lunch.
8/11Trivet
Cuisine: Inventive British fine-dining
Price: ££££
Go for: Two Michelin starred-dining
Address: 36 Snowsfields, London, SE1 3SUSince it opened in 2019, Trivet has quietly been growing a loyal fanbase for its refined, inventive cooking and unparalleled wine list making it one of our 50 best restaurants in London. On the night I visited, it had just (very deservedly) been awarded its first Michelin star and Isa Bal–the sommelier and one of the two founders alongside chef Jonny Lake–had been awarded the title of the best sommelier in the world. It's one of the most peaceful and relaxing rooms in which to enjoy this calibre of service, with plaster walls and wooden accents, an open kitchen that is the epitome and calm and controlled and menus that come in the form of very stylish tomes for your table. There's nothing to fault and it's well worth a trip to London Bridge to try the incredible dishes and wines on offer. – Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes
9/11Brother Marcus, Borough Yards
Cuisine: Modern eastern Mediterranean
Price: ££
Go for: Brunch with a group
Address: 1 Dirty Lane, London SE1 9PABrother Marcus, in Borough's shiny new development Borough Yards (where you'll also find Barrafina, Butchies and Vinoteca) is everything great about quintessential brunch food. The menu hits all the classics but goes the extra mile: there's smoky shakshuka which comes with labneh, zhoug, feta & a side of toasted fluffy pita, the cinnamon-dusted waffle come with pink peppercorn meringues, pistachio pasteli and glazed apples and a giant tower of sweet potato fritters that isn't to be missed.
10/11Elliot's
Cuisine: French & Italian
Price: ££
Go for: Wood-fired pizzas and biodynamic wines using Borough's best ingredients
Address: 12 Stoney St, London SE1 9ADOpen since 2011, Elliot's creates an ever-evolving menu based on the best produce found from Borough Market suppliers that day – served in a cosy exposed-brick space off the market. In terms of dishes on the sharing-style menu, you'll find wood-oven pizzas, flavoursome cheeseburgers, wood-grilled main dishes like ChalkStream trout, saffron & golden tomatoes and some top-notch snacks including the unmissable Isle of Mull cheese puffs and Cantabrian anchovy toast.
11/11Bar Daskal
Cuisine: Spanish wine and cocktails
Price: ££
Go for: Sherry and tapas date night
Address: 16 Park St, London, SE1 9ABThe folks behind Barrafina and Quo Vadis opened this small artsy Spanish wine and cocktail bar in Borough Yards which makes an ideal date night and pre-dinner destination. Come here for the sherry (both by the glass, in bottles, and in inventive cocktails) and stay for the tapas selection which includes snacks like Gilda pintxos, chorizo ibérico, smoked almonds and tortilla with allioli.
