A market with roughly a thousand years of history, squeezed under the railway arches at London Bridge with Southwark Cathedral's tower above: cheese, oysters, Spanish ham, Ethiopian stews and the best toasties in town, eaten standing up.
There has been a market near the southern end of London Bridge since the Middle Ages. The current iron-and-glass halls date from the 1850s.
Today it is London's best food market, with traders selling British cheese, fish, meat and vegetables alongside stalls cooking food from around the world. Look for raclette scraped onto potatoes, oysters, Spanish ham, Ethiopian stews, the toasties at Kappacasein, coffee at Monmouth and cheese at Neal's Yard Dairy.
Weekday mornings are calm; Saturday is a crush; Monday is a reduced day with fewer stalls. Eat standing up, then on a weekend walk the railway arches east to Maltby Street, a smaller, more local market.
Southwark Cathedral, rising over the market, is worth a quiet ten minutes between bites.
Arrive hungry around 10am and share everything.
Begin with a coffee at Monmouth on the corner of the market.
Taste British cheeses from the counter.
Queue for melted cheese and a Kappacasein toastie.
Step into the cathedral beside the market.
Walk the arches to Maltby Street for a smaller market.
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London Bridge tube and rail; a short walk from Tower Bridge or the South Bank.
Weekday mornings for calm; Saturday for atmosphere and queues.
Restaurants and pubs around the market are covered in the food section of the guide.
London practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
