Street food in London: where to eat during the day
London food markets: where to find the best food outdoors during the day
Street food in London: where to eat during the day
London food markets by day
Shopping outdoors in summer is perhaps London's sheerest pleasure, when the pursuit of local, seasonal fruit and veg becomes lifted from an arduous task to something more graceful.
We can't rely on the weather, but we can keep these markets on out list for days when the sun shines this summer.
Here's where to to find street food during the day in London.
The Lunchtime One: Whitecross Street Market
Best for: lunch, if you work in Hoxton or Clerkenwell.
What to eat: Popular with nearby workers, there's a wide range of takeaway options, but sadly no tables to stick around and eat at. There's huge lunchtime queues for the burritos and brisket baps, so try Turkish pizzas, vegetarian curries and cheaper salad boxes that also add to the mix.
Open: Saturday: 9am-4pm, Sunday: 11am-4pm, Whitecross Street, EC1Y
More information: Whitecross Street Market
The Historic One: Broadway Market
Best for: Both ends of the spectrum, from luxury chocolate treats to your basic white bloomer. Broadway Market is one of the oldest food routes in London, and The Cat & Mutton pub at the top of the market dates back to the days of using boats called 'cats' on the Thames to transport sheep.
What to eat: Grazing is the rule at Broadway Market, where producers and street food cooks are vying for your attention. Why not play a game of naughty and nice: for every scotch egg you try, for every slab of luxury chocolate, buy a sprig of wild garlic, or fresh basil?
Open: 9am-5pm on Saturdays
Website: Broadway Market
The Second Hand One: Leather Lane Market
Best for: All manner of things, from batteries to vintage clothes and - more recently - street food. Leather lane market was reserved for selling second hand goods until recently, but now a whole flurry of pop-up kitchens are on board and have diversified the market.
What to eat: Pieminister British pies, Grill my Cheese toasties with an almost maddeningly exciting lineup of weekly cheeses, and the (somewhat) more healthy Yum Bowl Vietnamese.
Open: Weekdays, 10am-3pm
Website: Leather Lane Market
The Hipster One: Brick Lane
Best for: Clothes and second-hand furniture are really the order of the play at Brick Lane Market, but on Sundays there's also a host of street food names, and cuisine-wise, there's a largely international feel. Best to go on Sundays to soak up the full market, and veer off into Brick Lane's other shops and bars.
What to eat: KOI Ramen, Pigling Street Hog Roasts, Black Cab Coffee and frico by Sorry Not Sorry UK.
Open: Sundays, all day
Website: Brick Lane Market
The Southbank One: Southbank Centre Market
Best for: Independent flair on the riverside, away from the chain restaurants. Southbank Centre Market is open weekends, and until 8pm on Sunday evenings.
What to eat: Crepes from Creperie Nicolas, vegan curries from Horn Please, vegan food from Ethiopia too and shrimp burgers from Shrimpy Markets.
Open: Friday & Weekends noon-8pm, Saturdays late until 8pm
Website: Southbank Centre Market
The Vegan and Veggie One: Brockley Market, Lewisham
Saturday market 10am - 2pm. Cash only
More edible plates: Mike + Ollie's fish, meat and vegetarian flatbreads at the market
Best for: Leafy, quieter grazing, with an emphasis on vegan and vegetarian-friendly food.
What to eat: You'll find queues less of a thing here, so you'll be able to graze more freely. Out here, supporting local producers - rather then hip street food names - is the done thing, so you'll find more traditional fare sold with a dose of British nostalgia. Brunches are also big.
Open: Saturdays, 10am - 2pm. Cash only, Lewisham College Carpark, Lewisham Way, Brockley, SE4 1UT
Website: Brockley Market
The Alternative One: Maltby Street Market and Druid Street Market
Sri Lankan Hoppers from Druid Street Market (Instagram)
Best for: Weirder, unexpected dishes you wouldn't find at the bigger markets. (Calamari and scallops with pork shoulder in a sub, anyone?)
What to eat: This south-east London spot has become famous for its experimental dishes. Sub Cult famously served their 'Submarine' here, the recent entry to the British Street Food awards which daringly mixed blackened calamari and scallops with pork shoulder. The intimate new Druid Street market is near, under the railway arches of Bermondsey. It punches above its weight in the street food stakes for vegan curry and Sri Lankan fare.
Open: Saturday 9 - 4, Sunday 11 - 4 (Maltby Street) Saturday 10 - 4 (Druid Street)126 Druid Street, SE1 2HH, 41 Maltby Street, Ropewalk, Southwark, SE1 3PA
Website: Maltby Street Market | Druid Street Market
The Iconic One: Borough Market
Best for: the authentic buzz of a working produce market, combined with luxury street food.
What to eat: Famous for selling fresh ingredients to the restaurants that surround it, Borough market is a hive of activity under the green wrought-iron framework of the market. Gourmet food is the real deal here, and there are some places to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, although it can be pricier and more geared toward tourists.
Open: Daily until 5, although less traders work on Sundays, 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL
Website: Borough Market
The 'Until Late' One: Brixton Market
Best for: A dizzying mix of cultures, in one of the nosiest and most authentic London settings for food.
What to eat: The food served here is as multicultural as Brixton itself, so challenge yourself with plates from corners of the world you'd usually resigned to the map, not the plate.
Open: 8am-11.30pm daily, except Mondays until 6pm, Electric Avenue, Brixton, SW9 8JX
Website: Brixton Market
The Leafy One: Greenwich Market
Best for: A local's lens unto touristy Greenwich. The market is in a courtyard in the centre of the village.
What to eat: The traditional food served here from British traders is high quality, but comes at a price. Greenwich Market has little time for trends. Although you shouldn't expect only British food: traders herald from Brazil, India, and Ethiopia.
Open: 10am-5.30pm, daily, 5b Greenwich Market, SE10 9HZ
Website: Greenwich Market
The Trendy One: Kerb King's Cross & Camden
Best for: A reason to revisit Camden market, and explore the burgeoning King's Cross food hub
What to eat: Hip and diverse, try pasta mixed in a large wheel of cheese for a sauce, Crabbieshack, Oh My Dog! hotdogs and Sorbitum ice creams for summer.
Open: Mon-Fri: Noon-5pm, Sat & Sun: 11am-6pm and Noon-2pm Wed-Fri at King's Cross, 32 Camden Lock Place, NW1 8AL
Website: Kerb
Shopping outdoors in summer is perhaps London's sheerest pleasure, when the pursuit of local, seasonal fruit and veg becomes lifted from an arduous task to something more graceful.
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We can't rely on the weather, but we can keep these markets on out list for days when the sun shines this summer.
Here's where to to find street food during the day in London.
The Lunchtime One: Whitecross Street Market
Best for: lunch, if you work in Hoxton or Clerkenwell.
What to eat: Popular with nearby workers, there's a wide range of takeaway options, but sadly no tables to stick around and eat at. There's huge lunchtime queues for the burritos and brisket baps, so try Turkish pizzas, vegetarian curries and cheaper salad boxes that also add to the mix.
Open: Saturday: 9am-4pm, Sunday: 11am-4pm, Whitecross Street, EC1Y
More information: Whitecross Street Market
The Historic One: Broadway Market
Best for: Both ends of the spectrum, from luxury chocolate treats to your basic white bloomer. Broadway Market is one of the oldest food routes in London, and The Cat & Mutton pub at the top of the market dates back to the days of using boats called 'cats' on the Thames to transport sheep.
What to eat: Grazing is the rule at Broadway Market, where producers and street food cooks are vying for your attention. Why not play a game of naughty and nice: for every scotch egg you try, for every slab of luxury chocolate, buy a sprig of wild garlic, or fresh basil?
Open: 9am-5pm on Saturdays
Website: Broadway Market
The Second Hand One: Leather Lane Market
Best for: All manner of things, from batteries to vintage clothes and - more recently - street food. Leather lane market was reserved for selling second hand goods until recently, but now a whole flurry of pop-up kitchens are on board and have diversified the market.
What to eat: Pieminister British pies, Grill my Cheese toasties with an almost maddeningly exciting lineup of weekly cheeses, and the (somewhat) more healthy Yum Bowl Vietnamese.
Open: Weekdays, 10am-3pm
Website: Leather Lane Market
The Hipster One: Brick Lane
Best for: Clothes and second-hand furniture are really the order of the play at Brick Lane Market, but on Sundays there's also a host of street food names, and cuisine-wise, there's a largely international feel. Best to go on Sundays to soak up the full market, and veer off into Brick Lane's other shops and bars.
What to eat: KOI Ramen, Pigling Street Hog Roasts, Black Cab Coffee and frico by Sorry Not Sorry UK.
Open: Sundays, all day
Website: Brick Lane Market
The Southbank One: Southbank Centre Market
Best for: Independent flair on the riverside, away from the chain restaurants. Southbank Centre Market is open weekends, and until 8pm on Sunday evenings.
What to eat: Crepes from Creperie Nicolas, vegan curries from Horn Please, vegan food from Ethiopia too and shrimp burgers from Shrimpy Markets.
Open: Friday & Weekends noon-8pm, Saturdays late until 8pm
Website: Southbank Centre Market
The Vegan and Veggie One: Brockley Market, Lewisham
Saturday market 10am - 2pm. Cash only
More edible plates: Mike + Ollie's fish, meat and vegetarian flatbreads at the market
Best for: Leafy, quieter grazing, with an emphasis on vegan and vegetarian-friendly food.
What to eat: You'll find queues less of a thing here, so you'll be able to graze more freely. Out here, supporting local producers - rather then hip street food names - is the done thing, so you'll find more traditional fare sold with a dose of British nostalgia. Brunches are also big.
Open: Saturdays, 10am - 2pm. Cash only, Lewisham College Carpark, Lewisham Way, Brockley, SE4 1UT
Website: Brockley Market
The Alternative One: Maltby Street Market and Druid Street Market
Sri Lankan Hoppers from Druid Street Market (Instagram)
Best for: Weirder, unexpected dishes you wouldn't find at the bigger markets. (Calamari and scallops with pork shoulder in a sub, anyone?)
What to eat: This south-east London spot has become famous for its experimental dishes. Sub Cult famously served their 'Submarine' here, the recent entry to the British Street Food awards which daringly mixed blackened calamari and scallops with pork shoulder. The intimate new Druid Street market is near, under the railway arches of Bermondsey. It punches above its weight in the street food stakes for vegan curry and Sri Lankan fare.
Open: Saturday 9 - 4, Sunday 11 - 4 (Maltby Street) Saturday 10 - 4 (Druid Street)126 Druid Street, SE1 2HH, 41 Maltby Street, Ropewalk, Southwark, SE1 3PA
Website: Maltby Street Market | Druid Street Market
The Iconic One: Borough Market
Best for: the authentic buzz of a working produce market, combined with luxury street food.
What to eat: Famous for selling fresh ingredients to the restaurants that surround it, Borough market is a hive of activity under the green wrought-iron framework of the market. Gourmet food is the real deal here, and there are some places to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, although it can be pricier and more geared toward tourists.
Open: Daily until 5, although less traders work on Sundays, 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL
Website: Borough Market
The 'Until Late' One: Brixton Market
Best for: A dizzying mix of cultures, in one of the nosiest and most authentic London settings for food.
What to eat: The food served here is as multicultural as Brixton itself, so challenge yourself with plates from corners of the world you'd usually resigned to the map, not the plate.
Open: 8am-11.30pm daily, except Mondays until 6pm, Electric Avenue, Brixton, SW9 8JX
Website: Brixton Market
The Leafy One: Greenwich Market
Best for: A local's lens unto touristy Greenwich. The market is in a courtyard in the centre of the village.
What to eat: The traditional food served here from British traders is high quality, but comes at a price. Greenwich Market has little time for trends. Although you shouldn't expect only British food: traders herald from Brazil, India, and Ethiopia.
Open: 10am-5.30pm, daily, 5b Greenwich Market, SE10 9HZ
Website: Greenwich Market
The Trendy One: Kerb King's Cross & Camden
Best for: A reason to revisit Camden market, and explore the burgeoning King's Cross food hub
What to eat: Hip and diverse, try pasta mixed in a large wheel of cheese for a sauce, Crabbieshack, Oh My Dog! hotdogs and Sorbitum ice creams for summer.
Open: Mon-Fri: Noon-5pm, Sat & Sun: 11am-6pm and Noon-2pm Wed-Fri at King's Cross, 32 Camden Lock Place, NW1 8AL
Website: Kerb
