Last weekend, on glorious sunny Saturday, I had a day off work and decided to head down to Borough Market with Mother and our empty stomachs. It’s a very short walk from London Bridge station so you can head there to start your day as we did, pop down for lunch if you work near by, or take a detour on a west end shopping day!
First stop: get cash. Almost all of the stalls and vendors will only take cash, and you don’t want to be that awkward person waving a card around in confusion holding up the queue. Next, have a quick browse on Instagram under #boroughmarket to see what delights the early birds have had, and if there are any specials on offer from the vendors themselves. 
I entered with something very particular in mind; a Bread Ahead doughnut! They have been all over my Instagram feed for months and it seems no one is able to visit the market and resist them. I found the Bread Ahead stall in no time, also stumbling across their Borough Market main bakery and baking school.
Bread Ahead had the cremé-de-la-cremé of a doughnut and artisan bread display. I spotted my doughnuts and joined the queue on one side of the stall, and Mother joined the queue on the other side for a piece of roasted tomato and fresh pesto focaccia. Don’t mind me…
The lemon curd doughnut tickled my tastebuds, but I followed the Instagram crowd and got the
crème caramel and salted honeycomb doughnut. I put it in my bag to enjoy later, and enjoy it I sure did. We arrived at the market around midday and the doughnuts were disappearing fast, so get there early to avoid disappointment! 
There are a number of artisan breads and baked goods stalls around the market if you miss out on Bread Ahead.
That crumb structure. Paul Hollywood eat your heart out.
As ever, I can not resist Calamari, especially when being battered and fried right in front of me (or being sold to me by someone so charming – if you call me beautiful I will buy your food).
Mother and I thoroughly enjoyed! Very fresh squid and full of flavour.
Sweet goodies everywhere! We had a hard time holding out for some real lunch with displays like this around.
We let our sweet tooth get the better of us and indulged in an ice Earl Grey tea. I’m not typically a fan of Earl Grey but I liked it. Perfect in the sunny weather.
If you squint, it’s a cocktail I swear.
As you walk around the market you’ll be offered free samples left, right and centre. One of which, the venison steak, was being waved around in front of us to which Mother succumbed and surprisingly liked. So much so that she had a whole Venison burger for her lunch. She asked if she could hang around for a little while to get a burger that was well cooked through, which they were happy to do.
The corner stall were Mother had her vension burger is also the back of the stall where we enjoyed the calamari, so look out for the Furness Food Hut.
I also fancied a burger, one I had spied on Instagram that morning, from Boston Sausage.
We had a good look around all of the stalls first, just in case I saw something else that I preferred. There really is something for everyone, no matter what your preference or dietary requirements. There are also a few unique meat vendors around including kangaroo burgers and pulled kid.
There was a bit of a queue, but the staff were clearly working hard and getting through the orders as quickly as they could. One thing I really noticed about their arrangement as I queued was that each team member had a specific role. I liked that there was a separate team member on the till, hence handling money and not food, and separate sides for the cooked food and the delicious looking burgers and sausages you can buy raw to take home. Bonus points for hygiene!
I ordered the Seasonal Burger. The combinations they have here reminded me of The Duck Confit options at Camden Market. Absolutely delicious! I generally don’t eat beef besides the odd burger here and there so actually much preferred the pork burger. I think the taste of pork is much nicer and the flavour combinations you can create are endless. The Boston Sausage burger was herby, delicious and perfectly cooked. They get another bonus point for food safety as their burger and sausage chef had a temperature probe in every burger before he passed them in to assembly to ensure they were cooked through. Cleanliness is next to Godliness!
Thanks for a great afternoon Borough Market and everyone who fed me along the way. I saw so many other stalls (mainly full of sweet and calorie laden goodies) that I’ll be returning for. The market is on every day except Sunday but vendors may vary day to day. The website is great at telling you what’s on so have a look before you visit.
