London: Borough Market

Following frm my last entry on my visit to London in May 2013, I'm gonna be blogging abt Borough market today!

 

Borough Market

8 Southwark St

Nearest tube station: London Bridge

 

Opening hrs:
Thurs -- 11am to 5pm
Fri -- 12pm to 6pm
Sat -- 9am to 4pm

 

My mom and I spent so much money here. I always tend to overspend when I visit a market cos everything looks so yummy! Must have spent at least 30pounds there.

The first thing we bought was the seafood paella! It was yummy but I wouldn't say it's a must try. Tastes just like any average paella you get off the streets of Barcelona or in any authentic Spanish restaurants. But it definitely tastes better than the paella I had in Serenity/ Don Quijote in Spore which is super pricey and really bad. I'd suggest that you share a portion with someone so you can save your stomach space for other food.


Seafood paella!

My mom insisted on getting a juice at the smoothie bar. There was a long queue and we were really thirsty. I can't rmb which juice we ordered but they were expensive enough -- 4pounds (SGD$8) for a small cup. Nothing impressive, just tastes like normal kinda juice you get out of a blender.

 

Next up, I couldn't resist the urge to try the scallops!!!! I hardly get to eat any proper seafood when I'm in Dublin (except for prawns) So I knew I had to get the scallops even though it was pretty ex and looked rather oily. But in all honesty, the scallops were really worth the price! It was huge and very very delicious!!!! The lady grills it front of you, so you will have to brave the smokey BBQ smell and wait for a bit before your order gets served.

 

Grilling scallops in progress...

Yummy scallops

And finally, my mom and I decided to find the legendary toasted cheese sandwich and raclette frm Kappacasein. We actually walked arnd the whole market at least 3 times trying to locate this stall. Finally decided to stop our blind search and ask one of the stall owners lol.

The queue at the stall was insane! We waited for at least 20min before getting our food! Ordered the 2 things this stall is famous for -- their toasted cheese sandwich and raclette.
 

Kappacasein

 

 

Raclette with potatoes and gherkins

The cheese sandwich consists of shredded Montgomery cheddar, diced onions and leek. They toast it on the spot for you and the result is a gooey mess between 2 slices of sourdough bread. At 5pounds (SGD$10), it was definitely pricey enough. I was expecting some sort of heavenly taste but sad to say, I was utterly disappointed. The toasted sandwich tasted pretty bland to me? I actually couldn't bring myself to finish the sandwich cos it really wasn't that nice and I was pretty full by then.

 

As for the raclette..... It was my first time trying raclette! Raclette is a type of cheese which is heated in front of a fire or special machine and the melted part is then scraped onto a plate. It was served with potatoes and gherkins (which are pickles lol) Once again, I had high expectations for this dish after seeing the man scrape warm gooey melted cheese onto plates after plates of potatoes.
And of cos, expectations only lead to disappointments. The raclette was fascinating but it wasn't tasty enough for me. It's the kinda food you'd eat once and be like, "Oh so this is what it tastes like..." and you'll nvr ever crave for it again.
I mean the raclette just tastes like normal cheese to me, somewhat like cheddar? Sorry but I'm not a cheese expert but yeah basically it's similar to the kinda gooey cheese you get on your pizza. Anyhowz, my mom and I couldn't bring ourselves to finish the plate of potatoes and gherkins with raclette piled on top of it.

Having said that, maybe it's just me and my taste buds becos this stall's definitely one of the more crowded ones in Borough market. And everyone else seems to love the toasted sandwiches/ raclette. I guess you could always try but don't say I didn't warn you!!!
Once again, you might consider sharing with someone since it isn't cheap and it's really filling!!!

 

 

 

 

Saw loads of cakes and pastries on sale too. Heard that the duck confit sandwich and beef burger are really good too but didn't get to try them! Partly cos I don't like burgers haha.

Apart frm food, Borough Market also has stalls selling homewares and decorations and some florists. It is definitely a nice place to check out when you're in London esp if you're into weekend markets and stuff.

Gonna end off with a pic of me taken the min I arrived in London!

 

Till the nxt time, bye! X