Borough Market has long been associated with food in London. Market activity on the site can be traced back to the 12 century — bread, eels, pottage, ale? — and today it’s as relevant as ever.
More broadly, London Bridge has always been a hive of activity: a transport hub; a famed pathway connecting north with south; a home to Bridget Jones, who enjoyed watching white-collared fights unfold outside Greek tavernas (Bedales wine bar and yes, still there).
Here is a non-exhaustive list of ten restaurants worth visiting in the area. All offer something different; together they encapsulate a changing London.
Agora (and Oma)
The Greeks do mysterious things with yoghurt. Anyone who’s been to the 100-year-old Stani bar in Athens will attest. Agora, a light riff on an old-time Athenian pleasure palace, puts garlic yoghurt on its lamb and spiced tomato flatbreads to impeccable effect. Everything else on the menu is exemplary, whether the slow cooked cannellini beans (softly inspired by Diporto), the hummus, the feta and roasted peppers, or the grilled meats and fish that come charred and distracting. Don’t miss the spanikopita and the spiced sausage either, or the fact there’s Oma upstairs which has a Michelin star and also happens to be excellent.
4 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL agora.london
Rambutan
Chef-owner Cynthia Shanmugalingam has built a personal and likeable tribute to the food she grew up with, having been born to Sri Lankan parents in Coventry. Everything about the restaurant is personal – here is a place of pink and green hues, tropical plants and rattan chairs; of warm, welcoming staff and a lively atmosphere. The food is rooted in Tamil cuisine, hot and spicy and forthcoming. Snacks include dosas, fried sardines with sambal and grilled king prawns in spiced butter. Then there are claypot curries to explore, from red pineapple and mustard seed to meaty alternatives, after which there must be a considerable order of lemongrass and lime ice cream.
10 Stoney Street, SE1 9AD rambutanlondon.com
Akara
Some of Borough Market is paint-by-numbers these days. It can be a little too devilled egg and anchovies on toast with olive oil. Enjoyable, but quite boring. Akara is the antithesis. Here is a more casual West African restaurant from the team behind Akoko that specialises in black-eyed bean fritters, the dish from which it takes its name. They come split and stuffed with barbecued prawns, crab, or tomatoes, are are moreish and handsomely priced. Later on there might be short-rib suya, cod served with cabbage, or Lagos chicken. Ask for everything to come punchy as it might be that chefs worry about tame British palates. Ten years ago, few from outside the West African community in London would have been able to name a restaurant serving the region’s cuisine. Much has changed.
Arch 208, 18 Stoney Street, SE1 9AD akaralondon.co.uk
Padella
Remember Padella? That pasta restaurant that ignited queues longer than a Coldplay concert way back in 2016. Padella is still popular and busy and the pasta remains affordable. Take the pici cacio e pepe, the flagship. Few had heard of at the beginning and it is now canonical – and often ruined – in London’s frenetic dining scene. Otherwise, the pappardelle with beef shin ragu has been a favourite for years; if you see crab and chilli linguine, get that. Perfect for the warm weather and it also happens to require serious skill. Nothing to hide under, or indeed behind.
6 Southwark Street, SE1 1TQ padella.co
Elliot’s
As much a wine bar as a restaurant, Elliot’s makes for good living if space can be found on one of the high tables at the front. The comings and goings of Borough, you see, are best viewed from a comfortable seat with an oyster or two and some cheese gougeres. Don’t pretend you know about wine, let the team guide you through whatever natural numbers they might have in stock that day, and then have steak frites, or a burger, or a steaming bowl of mussels with bacon and tarragon, and leave it at that.
12 Stoney Street, SE1 9AD elliots.london
Lupins
Given Lupins opened in 2017, it’s almost old guard now. Or at least it’s been there long enough to show that it made its name before doing so required a visit from Topjaw and a mention in dispatches. What a place it is: simple, accessible, where food is charming and refined without being all that much at all. It’s a place simply to have lunch. Or dinner. But it’s best at lunch. The restaurant was founded by chefs Lucy Peddler and Natasha Cooke, once of Medlar in Chelsea, and so came modern British small plates and a small collection of larger dishes to share. A visit last year brought potato salad with smoked eel, bacon and an egg; clams with bottarga; and roast beef, served cold, with horseradish. St John vibes? Correct. Much cheaper, though.
66 Union Street, E1 1TD lupinslondon.com
Camille
Fuss was made over Camille when it opened in 2024. Everybody clamoured for a table at the bistro where the food was French but fun and which – separating itself slightly from what was becoming tedious – employed the services of chefs who had to guile to place a sliver of lovely smoked eel on the egg mayonnaise. Fast-forward to today and the eggs have gone but the candles haven’t. Nor has the enjoyableness of it all. Dishes such as crab pissaladiere are almost as charming, while tomato tatin is a savvy way to use lesser tomatoes. Camille is as much about the vibes as the food. Go if you have a hot date or if someone else is paying. Or, ideally, those two things at the same time.
2-3 Stoney Street, SE1 9AA camillerestaurant.co.uk
Wright Brothers
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Wright Brothers serves oysters for £1 each. That should be allure enough, but those who require more should know that there are few names in London better equipped to serve great oysters, the Wright brothers having started out 20 years ago as a wholesale business before branching out into restaurants. There are older names in town, more historic settings, but here is a restaurant deserving of its place among the big hitters. Elsewhere on the menu, the fish soup, with rouille, Comte and croutons, is a solid dish; the fish pie isn’t half bad either.
Stoney Street, SE1 9AD thewrightbrothers.co.uk
Bar Daskal
Even unseasoned travellers are likely to have visited Spain at some point. They will have strolled into an old-time tapas bar to sip sherry and nibble croquetas. After French and Italian, Spanish food is the oldest Continental cuisine to have established a mainstream foothold in London and Bar Daskal is a doting homage to the country’s wines and drinking food. The work of Sam and James Hart, best known for Barrafina and for owning Quo Vadis, Bar Daskal serves Spanish wines, sherries, and lively drinks alongside fine gildas, plates of jamon Iberico, tortilla and escalivada.
16 Park Street, SE1 9AB bardaskal.co.uk
Kolae
Given Som Saa remains closed due to a fire, Kolae is the group’s only Thai restaurant open today. Where Som Saa spanned Thai cooking, techniques and flavours, Kolae focuses on the south of the country, a region reliant on fish and seafood, bold spices and ingredients like coconut, lemongrass and lime juice. There are some dishes that must be ordered: mussel skewers; prawn heads with nahm jim; Phuket-style pork belly; and, if it’s on, the salad made with dried anchovies, chilli, cashews and green strawberries.
6 Park St, London SE1 9AB kolae.com
