Maltby Street Market

The lowdown

Maltby Street started as the overspill of traders priced out of Borough Market, and it has become a beloved weekend food destination in its own right. It runs down a narrow alley called the Ropewalk, squeezed between Victorian railway arches in Bermondsey, and wandering in is free.

It is small, scruffy and brilliant, with a tightly packed line of independent food stalls and arch-front kitchens, gin and cheese and waffles and proper coffee, plus a few permanent traders and a wine bar built into the arches. Trains rumble overhead while you eat.

The whole thing has a rougher, more local feel than the polished sprawl of Borough a few minutes away, which is exactly why people who know prefer it. Browsing costs nothing, the smell does most of the selling.