It was foodie time at Borough Market on Tuesday (our last full day in London), and it was foodie…read moreheaven for me and my family. We enjoyed walking around and seeing a wide variety of food options! The whole market area was clean and organized when we got there at 9am. No lines yet. Long lines did start forming around 9:45am when the hot foods were ready but moved pretty quickly. We tried: * The Ginger Pig - Traditional Sausage Roll * Wild Mushroom Risotto - Spelt Risotto with Truffle Shavings * Turnips Greengrocer - Chocolate Covered Strawberries * The Black Pig - The Best One With Crackling * Turkish Deli - Turkish Delight & Turkish Coffee * Bread Ahead - Crème Brûlée Donut

Borough Market is a food lover's paradise with an incredible variety of vendors. You'll find…read moreeverything from cooked and fresh seafood, fresh fruit, juices and smoothies, artisan cheeses, sauces, and cuisines from all over the world, including Chinese, Thai, Italian, Indian, Korean, American, and so much more. With so many tempting options, it's honestly hard to decide what to eat. One thing I really appreciated was that many vendors offered samples, so you could try before you buy. During our visit, we sampled the famous chocolate covered strawberries, paella, and wild mushroom risotto. I also bought the Black Pig Honey Truffle Parm sandwich. The chocolate covered strawberries were exactly what you'd expect, fresh strawberries coated in chocolate. If you enjoy that classic combination, you'll probably love them, but they weren't anything particularly special to me. The paella had great flavor, but the rice was a little undercooked for my taste, so I wasn't a fan of the texture. The wild mushroom risotto was the standout. It was rich, creamy, packed with earthy mushroom flavor, and had an excellent texture. It was easily one of my favorite bites of the day. I also tried the Black Pig Honey Truffle Parm sandwich. The bread was fantastic, crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, and the fennel apple slaw added a refreshing crunch. Unfortunately, the pulled pork was very dry. I think it would have been much better if the pork had been kept warm in its own juices instead of continuing to cook on the griddle. That would have kept it moist and tender. As it was... the pulled pork was dry as hell. :) One thing every vendor had in common was friendly and welcoming customer service. Despite how busy and crowded the market gets, the atmosphere is lively, energetic, and full of people enjoying great food. It's definitely a must-visit for anyone who loves trying a variety of foods in one place.

Supercozy gourmet food (Italian) shop in Finsbury park…read more They offer a wide selection of cheese, charcuterie and other typical Italian products, sourced carefully from the best producers. Prices are okay though. In the evening they offer the possibility to have a very nice "aperitivo", with a selection of the products. The staff is really friendly and nice If it wasn't so far from my office and home I would be there every day!

Visit to the Italian deli Italian Farmers made my weekday. Numerous ham & cheese samples, friendly…read moreservice, a lovely cosy interior (with a little garden bit on street too) and a really good espresso to warm me up. A little bit of Italy in North London is always welcome by me. Salami and some Parma ham from Italian Farmers. I couldn't resist getting. Really good produce here. Defo one to check out on a lovely stretch of road that has a few other hidden gems. My fav of Cremasco cheese and some hams are certainly the highlight that I will alway be getting. There's also an amazing chocolate and a Pistachio pastry that is light crispy and sweet. And a £1 each it's so worth getting, esp the latter. Always good to support local independent places too and I certainly will with this one.

Open the second Sunday of each month from 9-2 (they advertise opening at 8, but nothing is really…read moreopen until at least 9) Great selection of locally produced food and produce! You can find everything from brilliant pies (Raven's Den in particular), awesome cheese (Lincolnshire Poacher and others), fresh veggies (Earthworks and others), fresh fish and meats... not to mention cupcakes and other sweet treats! We usually start by getting a coffee for the husband from the vendor with the mobile coffee bar (the machine is in the back of his van), and then wander the markets and end at the Merchant for a cup of tea for me. As long as there is a rainbow biscuit on the way even our toddler is happy.

We visited this market recently and really loved the energy of it. There are the traditional tents…read morefilled with fresh fruits and veggies; but there are also tents with beautiful clothing, luggage, handmade items, etc. I'm traveling the world with just a small backpack, so I'm not doing much shopping these days, but the food items I bought were fresh and delicious. I loved that everything was put in paper bags, not plastic. I read that the market has been around since the 9th century, which I loved knowing. A short walk down the hill brings you to beautiful neighborhoods with cobblestone roads and the huge cathedral. It's a lovely area overall.

You'd either prance into Stoke Newington Farmers' Market as the mecca of your fresh, organic,…read morelocally grown pilgrimage, or you'd stumble on it by mistake. It was the latter for me, and I couldn't feel luckier to have found such a gem. Since that day I've learned that all that fruit and veg and cheese and meat and yummmmmm that I was drooling over all comes from within 100 miles and is sold (and transported) by the growers themselves. How legit is that? Oh, and it's the first farmers' market in the UK to offer only organic and biodynamic produce? I love you. (Oh Portland, you crunchy little city, you -- you're just borrowing ideas from everyone now aren't you?)

This is a Farmers Market in every sense of the word. There are about twenty stalls give and take,…read moreand every one is organic or healthy in some way. The punters were very savvy as to what they wanted too, so talking to them about the villainy of supermarkets was great. With more organic fruit & veg than you can shake a stick at, vegan ice-cream, Indian food, organic fresh breads, not to mention a fantastic butcher, Stoke Newington Farmers Market is a great find.

the farm shop is just a short distance from halstead by car,…read more in the farm shop is very good and with very helpful staff, their is a delicatessen also a licened cafe, plus fruit and vegetables plus wines and beers they even have a post office to hand and it local produce the shop is a very well convert barn to a very high standader it all way clean and nice looking, and very reason price so it def worth a vist one week end, andy

What an excellent place. It has a pleasant shop stocked with all sorts of gifts as well as a…read moreselection of food, from the unusual and special to local bread and vegetables. The service is excellent and they will order things for you if you want something they dont stock. There is a post office, without the usual queues in post offices nowadays. The cafe is excellent value for money, good service, local home baked foods, yummy cakes and desserts, cooked foods or a simple sandwich, (freshly made, with salad and crisps on the side). The cafe is very popular but not noisy. I am disabled and this shop is a godsend as I cant walk around big shops and supermarkets but I can get most things here.

Unless you're local, there's really no point in making the effort to go to Walthamstow Market. I'm…read moreall for supporting local and small businesses, but there's never anything decent to get from this market. There are stalls selling fruit and veg, luggage, clothes, kitchen stuff, knock-off perfume and make up etc, but it's all cheap, which is fine if you're on a budget or if that's your thing, but it's not exactly fancy. I'm usually disappointed whenever I pass through, and to be honest with Westfield Stratford City only a short bus ride away, you'd probably rather check that out instead.

I think somebody told me that this is the longest street market in the UK, at around one mile in…read morelength. Regardless, it is incredible- there are roughly 500 stalls selling goods from fruit and vegetables, clothing, fabric and household goods. Nearby is the local town hall- an impressive neo-classical building- and the William Morris Gallery, which houses a large collection of Pre-Raphaelite works. Unfortunately, the Walthamstow dog track closed down last summer, which apart from the market, was my other main reason for visiting the area.

My local market is small but plentiful with food stalls from all over the world…read more As well as street food, there are also flower stores, cheese stores, specialist artesian food stores, meat stores, a dog treat store, and even a hemp store! They only accept cash so bring plenty or face a ~£2 surcharge at the only near by cash machine in Londis. After eating be sure to wonder around the vast gardens of Alexandra palace and grab a cake at the garden centre nearby. This is my favourite nearby place to bring my dog for walks.

This is a lovely little farmer's market, and ridiculously convenient for me since I moved to the…read morearea. There's probably only about 15 stalls, but you could do a decent food shop here consisting of fruit & veg, milk, eggs, bread, fish, olives, every type of sausage you can imagine (I settled on pork leek and chilli), amazing cuts of pork and even pre-prepared goodies like pies, chutneys and cakes. And if you get hungry while browsing you can grab a little pie to eat there and then - I enjoyed my butternut squash & spinach, and my hubby devoured his chilli beef & cheddar before I could even snaffle some. If pie isn't your thing, there was also curries, toasted sarnies and all other sorts of goodies. There was also a stall selling hot drinks which even on this sunny Sunday had a sizeable queue. ...when can I go back?

Wow! Now this is what I call a market…read more.. Straight up, really cheap fruit and veg. Like, I paid £1 for two big avocadoes in Whitechapel market yesterday, and you can get 6 for £1 at a stall in Dalston market. Them plus loads of other wacky and wonderful items and get ups. The further into this market you get, the further away you're getting from your cosy little white English middle class idyll. So, butchers selling bits of animals you just won't find in a 'British' restaurant. Nigerian food stalls selling dried catfish and strange ground up fish. Stalls selling beautiful waxed African fabrics. And just strangeness and rarities. There's a lot of stalls. And a lot of culture, real culture. So, it's just nice to take a stroll down. I didn't buy anything, but there was a lot I could have bought. And in the 'countdown to Christmas', you can probably find something for all the family along the length of the market. Loose yourself in Dalston, and find yourself somewhere in the stalls of Dalston market.

Its difficult to fully describe the riot of colour and noise that is Ridley Road market for anyone…read morewho hasn't been there. Places it reminds me of are the medina in Marrakesh, Electric Avenue in Brixton, and the old Moore Street market in Dublin - not sure if thats any use. Its basically a market where you can get your hands on mostly anything, with the likelihood being you'll pay significantly less for it than in a regular shop. The central 'avenue' of stalls are mostly fruit and veg at the top but then turn into other types as the market thins out towards Dalston Lane. These other types include homeware, a chap selling Nollywoods (Nigerian movies), a hot dog stand, a smelly incense stall, a plethora of dodgy jewellry stands (£5 any box), lots of vests, cheap t-shirts, and knock-off football tops. In the real shops behind the stalls, there is an even wider variety of goods on offer. These include: hairdressers, Indian food, a 24 hour bagel shop (a reminder of the street's Jewish history), the grimiest greasy spoon caff I've ever witnessed, lots of Halal butchers and fishmongers with boiler chickens hanging by the neck and bowls of spotty Tilapia for £5, fabric rolls, electrical kitchenware, and heaps of west African suppliers, including crates of live giant land snails. I generally do more staring than shopping here. But when I do buy things I go for the fresh herbs, the egg stall, the £1 bowls of cherry tomatoes or sweet peppers and the avocado and mango stall at the very top. I also shop for fresh bread in the Turkish supermarket TFC down towards the east end. The 'singers' compete with each other to get your attention. Cries of 'pound a bowl', and '50p-have-a-look' ring out against reggae from the rastafarian suppliers in the middle. They say Dalston is coming up in the world. I really hope Ridley Road doesn't fall victim to gentrification as developers and yuppies move in.

During Christmas time, Convent Garden's Food Market is decorated beautifully and such a sight to…read moresee! The cute decor attracts tourists for a picture inside or outside of the market or at one of the red telephone booths located nearby! The market area is mostly covered by tall ceiling structures, giving a small reprieve if it's raining, but it has an open air feel. What's funny about this market is that you can find local options or favorites from back home. There's a shake shack right in the center of the market, but you can find smaller craft eateries spread around. There are also different places to get a cup of hot mulled wine or hot chocolate and you'll find the long lines for Ben's cookies nearby! If you are coming to Covent Garden via the tube, know that this tube station is a wreck! It's incredibly busy and unless you want to walk up an endless flight of stairs, you'll need to wait and pack in like sardines into the elevator.

We stopped by the market for a quick Sunday visit while weaving our way through the neighborhood…read more The market was lively with street performers, stalls selling trinkets, beautiful bars and restaurants alongside more permanent shops selling Belgian chocolates and more. It's a fun spot to peruse if you find yourself in the neighborhood.

Maybe I'm down on Roman Road, because I remember what it used to be like. At that is, much better…read morethan this. While there still is some of the fashion that made this market famous, and one or two of the old timers stalls, most of the market is shoddy stuff, second rate and tawdry. Chatting to some of the stall holders, it seems that most of the people who could have packed up and moved out to Essex. The pie and mash shop is still there. Maybe I'd feel different about it if I was younger and looking for clothes, but these days I avoid it.

Roman Road Market is my favourite market of all time!…read more It may only be small but there is always such a variety of stalls it is difficult to walk around it and not buy anything. Nearly all my clothes, bags, make up and even some of my household items have come from Roman Road market. Due to them being so cheap but such good quality. My favourite stalls are the make up stall which stocks brand name make up at low prices. The designer clothes stall which stocks all designer clothes that are left over stock at heavily reduced prices, and the argos returns stall which can get hold of pretty much anything you want from the argos catalogue. Open 3 days a week, the only reason you would need to go anywhere other than Roman Road market is to do your food shopping but dont forget to buy your fresh fruit and veg whilst you are there!