food markets in London

http://boroughmarket.org.uk/faqs?category=3
Closed on Sundays.

Saturday’s Portobello Road and Goldborne Road have great food stalls. I like the mushroom vendor.,

I prefer the somewhat newer and smaller Maltby Street Market over Borough. To me the latter has lost its allure since it’s become such a tourist haven. I miss the grittiness!

Worth the travel time is the Queen’s Market in East London.

We really enjoyed the Borough Market, so much to see and taste. For the best pasta ever wait in line here https://www.padella.co/#menu.

We had an apartment for three weeks near Borough Street Market.. It was too crowded on Saturdays to enjoy. Maltby Street Market,, although small, offered great food options.

Borough Market has been uncomfortably busy the last twice I have visited.

Berwick Street is only a few stalls, mostly selling fresh vegetables. There is a baker and a fresh fish stall.

Camden Market has a great selection of food offerings. Best not visiting at the weekend when it’s much busier.

Were you looking for markets selling meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, etc, or were you looking for markets with stalls selling prepared foods? Old Spitalfields Market has a large variety of the latter, but I don't think it has any of the former. It is a hopping scene and is a great way to see a modern slice of London, away from the cliches of "ye olde London." Here's their website, so you can see if it interests you: https://oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/

Another option for prepared food is Leather Lane. It is food trucks, not a market, but the food is good and plentiful. It is very popular with the surrounding buildings. It is by the Chancery Lane tube station.

Borough Market has the bonus don't-miss attractions of the Neal's Yard cheese shop next door on one side & Southwark Cathedral on the other.

I liked the Duke of York Square market, which runs from 10-4 on Saturdays. It’s small, and I am not recommending you travel across town for it, but if you are near Sloane Square / Chelsea on a Saturday you might enjoy it. The dumplings at Dumpling Van were worth queuing for.

For Borough Market, I’d recommend Friday in the morning. That’s what we did last March. The place was thronged by noon, could hardly move, but the morning crowd was tolerable.

Enjoy your visit!

Edited to add: from your other thread, did you get your Westminster Abbey tickets? Their booking site has February available now.

If you can get to Borough Market when it opens it is still charming. I went on a rather chilly morning in March and saw the seller setting up stalls and opening their shops and enjoyed it. I also went later in the afternoon and it was crowded and uncomfortable.

If you go to the Duke of York Square you can also pop into the Partridges shop next to it. Partridges is a very proper and fairly posh food shop. I wouldn't call it a supermarket but it does have a few aisles. Seriously excellent and extremely tasty nosh. They have a couple of tables too at which you can consume the goodies. Friendly staff and always willing to hunt for something for you or stock it if they don't, if you make it worth their while.

Always has a pretty useful American food section, too. My annual source for Pepperidge Farm stuffing.

Oh, and for what you get the prices are reasonable.

You will be just yards from Sloane Square, too. Plenty to see in the environment. Chelsea Pensioners live nearby too.

Go to Borough Market on a Thursday or a Friday. Too crowded on Saturday.
The last time we were there on a Saturday, it was elbow-to-elbow, bodies all crushed up against one another, and we held hands tightly so we would not be separated. Couldn't wait to get out.

If you are going with friends, have a plan as to where you will meet up should you get separated by the crush of the crowd.
It's a wonderland of great food, though. Pastries, barbeque or chicken sandwiches, fresh fruits and vegetables, wine shop; it just goes on and on.

I had a lot to say on this as i visit food markets in London every week... but everyones advice already covered it. I didn’t see any mention of Brick Lane and Spittalfields Market... a good weekend choice. Yes busy, but as much larger, still not too bad.