Beela Bakes: Guide to Borough Market, London

Continuing on from my London Food Diary series, I knew I had to dedicate a post of its own to wondrous Borough Market. In all my twenty-three years living in the city, plus frequent trips back and forth since moving to Dubai, I had never visited the market before, and it ended up proving to be the most memorable food experience on this particular visit. Be prepared to queue and eat to your hearts content, but if there is at least one place you visit for food in London, I implore you to make it this.

Having done my research, I visited with my best friend on a Saturday afternoon which was deemed the best day to go, as although the market was pretty crowded we found stalls and stalls of food, with everything you can imagine to eat and such great choice. Whether you're looking to have lunch or dessert, Egyptian or Thai, or even artisanal products to take home, you'll be more than spoilt, and whats great is that the majority of stalls happily give out samples to try.

Our first stop was Koshari Street. I was first introduced to koshari, the popular Egyptian street dish through ones of Antony Bourdain's shows and had subsequently heard lots about the London eatery opened by Middle Eastern cookery writer Anissa Helou, so I was super eager to try it. And WOW. What an absolute must try! Completely vegetarian, it consists of a mix of lentils, rice, pasta and vermicelli, topped with a spicy tomato sauce, chickpeas and caramelised onions. As random as it sounds it was totally out of this world. If you can't visit them at the market, Koshari Street has their main branch in Covent Garden.

Fresh, hot, batter-fried calamari served with chopped red chilies and sweet chili sauce on the side was a definite highlight. My mind escapes me as to whether this was from a Spanish or Thai food stall (I'm thinking the latter) but nevertheless it was seriously good and still has me dreaming about my next trip to the market.

I dare you to leave Borough Market without trying a sugary treat from at least one of the numerous confectionary and bakery stands. As brownie addicts, my friend bought a brownie from Comptoir Gourmand whilst I tried one from Artisan Foods. In the end we both decided the former had the best one. In addition we bought artisanal doughnuts from Bread Ahead Bakery. If you are sweet-toothed I highly encourage you to try these, but much more on doughnuts in a follow-up post!

Hydration was found in the form of a smoothie from the Natural Smoothie Co. My forest green High Kick was a super blend of kiwi, pineapple, strawberry, banana, spirulina, linseed, apple and orange juice, and although I am weary of too many combinations in one smoothie, this one was faultless. 

To take back home with me I bought granola from Mini Magoo which does 100% organic cereal and granola mixes. Having tried some samples to taste, I settled on a pack each of their Funstuff! Ginger Seeds and Nuts mix, which was gluten, oat and wheat free, and their lovely Christmas granola with white chocolate pieces, cranberries orange peel and dates. They've been a great addition to my morning yogurt parfaits!

If you missed it, see my London Food Diary part 1 and part 2 for more on where to eat and dine when in the capital.