London’s Borough Market—pronounced “burrah” as a point of interest—is a mostly open-air enclave of food stalls located at the foot of the London Bridge on the south bank of the River Thames. With nearly 1000 years of geographic history as a center of trade, the last 20 years has seen it evolve into a food lovers’ paradise: “a beacon of sustainable food production, short supply chains, and social connection,” boasts its website.
To offer a cheese lover’s guide to Borough Market is almost redundant. From one cheese lover to another, the most concise guidance I can give is simply, “go to Borough Market.” It is a one-stop shop not only for the world’s finest cheeses—often presented in staggering large format display—but also for all imaginable cheese-adjacent accoutrements. Stalls are grouped together by type, so if by coincidence, (or if by decent navigational skills, if you’re not me,) you happen to get off the Underground in just the right spot, your first turn into Borough Market might have you smack in the middle of an alley of entirely cheese vendors. On a sleepy Monday in September I expected to have to do a little digging to come up with a worthy list for a cheese lover’s guide, instead I immediately found myself thinking, “how am I ever going to summarize all of this?”
Honestly, you cannot go wrong no matter how you spend your time and money among the vendor stalls, food trucks, and brick-and-mortar outfits of Borough Market. However, having done the hard yards, (she says with extreme sarcasm,) I offer suggestions on what not to miss among Borough Market’s various types of vendors.
Cheese Stall: Drunk Cheeses L’Ubriaco
Cheeses finished in alcohol are basically available everywhere cheese is made, from Oregon’s pear brandy-washed Rogue River Blue to France’s legendary Époisses. In Italian, this process is called “ubriacatura,” literally, the drunkening of the cheese. Drunk Cheeses owners Pam Melotti and Max Secci combined their passion for both cheese and wine by creating an operation based solely on collecting some of Italy’s best alcohol-treated cheeses and making them available in one place.
That sort of swagger creates a stall that stands out even among the many exemplary cheese vendors of Borough Market. The name Drunk Cheeses itself is inviting enough for the intrepid cheese shopper, but the cheeses are a revelation. Ubriaco classico is a well-recognized hard, cow’s milk cheese finished with red wine, but other standouts include bufala al glera, (semi-hard buffalo milk finished with prosecco and glera grapes,) robiola alla birra, (cow’s milk washed with an Italian smoked porter,) and Gugu Blu, (cow’s milk blue refined with Sicilian dessert wine Zibibbo and coated with figs and walnuts.)
Brick-and-Mortar Vendor: Neals Yard Dairy
Named for a cozy courtyard near Covent Garden where it first began, Neals Yard Dairy is the granddaddy of the English cheese retail market, offering several shops around London as well as a maturing operation for small cheesemakers. Its largest store is located on a side street flanking Borough Market, and as a lover of cheese, it’s a necessary pilgrimage. (Neals Yard primarily sells UK and Irish cheeses, but this American was nonetheless proud to see that Rogue River Blue would be on the roster once seasonally available.)
The austere ambiance of the Neal’s Yard store in Borough Market is almost laboratory in feel, but this is befitting the seriousness and reverence the staff has for the products. On my visit the knowledgeable salesperson treated me to insight about a particular cheese—a young goat’s milk cheese called Ticklemore—that she found was tasting especially well in the Borough Market location versus down the road where it is aged. Site-specific tasting notes? This is the standard to which I will hold all cheese retailers henceforth.
Prepared Food Stall: The Bath Dairy
Borough Market is a bit of a rabbit warren, and it’s possible to wind in and out of its alleys, feeling like maybe you’ve finally seen everything when suddenly you find yourself in the middle of a food truck rally where a weary shopper might find a proper lunch. If you’re up for something more substantial than sample portions of cheese, you’ve found the right place.
You’ve especially found the right place if you happen upon a steaming cauldron of melted cheese, potatoes, lardons, and chives. This is Bath Dairy’s Tartiflette, an all-in-one fondue native to the French Alps that is often served as an après-ski meal. (Après-ski, après-cheese shopping; who’s keeping score?)
(Honorable mention goes to The Black Pig, whose menu isn’t cheese-centric enough to have taken the official spot, but who nonetheless deserves credit for setting about to make the world’s best sandwich, and rightfully involving a blizzard of freshly grated, aged Parmigiano-Reggiano in the effort.)
Specialty Goods: Brindisa Spanish Foods
If you’re in a hurry, any one of the many regionally-specific specialty food stalls in Borough Market would work for getting everything you’d want for the most tricked-out cheese spread imaginable. (If you’re not in a hurry, there’s much joy to be had in Borough Market from acquiring cheese accoutrements all from different vendors.)
Brindisa Spanish Foods gets my vote for the one-stop option, however, for one particularly alluring detail: a counter displaying several aged ham legs, posed as if mannequins, with a curious sign and QVC code proclaiming “Ham School.”
Brindisa is heavy on savory offerings such as charcuterie, pâté, olives, and anchovies, but there are also lovely sweet products to be found such as aged vinegars, sweet-and-sour fig preserves, and membrillo.
Bedales of Borough photo courtesy of Bedales of Borough
Full Service Restaurant: Bedales of Borough
Bedales of Borough is a wine and tapas bar housed in a space adjacent to Borough Market that was formerly a potato storehouse. Appropriately then, the atmosphere and menu can best be described as “rustic chic.” When you’re ready for a post-shopping sit down, you can enjoy a glass from their well-curated wine list and a plate from the cheese-forward menu. Shared selections include burrata, fried camembert, and tossed samphire with feta.
If all that cheese shopping has you in the mood for a good, old-fashioned cheese plate, Bedales offers two sizes, with selections sourced directly from the Borough Market vendors within striking distance.
Check out our travel category for more travel-inspired cheese guides, such as A Cheese Lover’s Guide to Minnesota, 6 Best Places that Specialize in Cheese in Chicago, and Southern Oregon for Cheese Lovers.