Our second day in London was a Saturday. We had grand plans to get up early and meet up with Jayna at Borough Market. But at 10am, when she called and we were already supposed to meet her, we still hadn't gotten out of bed. You might think that a 5 hour time difference isn't much, but it really is. So we got ready in 15 minutes and headed to the other side of London, arriving at the market at 11am.
So Borough Market is just like a really great farmer's market- except that some parts of it are indoors and some are permanent stores. It reminds me a lot of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. The first shop we went to was Jayna's favorite cheese store in London. I don't recall the name right now, but it was stocked to the ceiling with cheese, with lots of cheese on aging racks inside, and even more cheese to sample.
There were all types of vendors, and lots of local ones, so we sampled and walked along checking them out. Here's someone selling olives:
Fresh berries:
Sandwiches and breads:
Potted plants:
And fresh seafood:
There were also vendors where you could get food made. Tom and Jayna wanted to get chorizo sandwiches, so as they waited in line (Londoners are incredibly good at queueing), I went off to get myself some scallops.
These scallops had been freshly caught, so they were sweet, briny, smokey and delicious. The only problem was the bacon that they decided to put under it. Ah well, I let Tom eat it. Meanwhile, here are the chorizo sandwiches:
Tom and Jayna thought these were delicious. Unfortunately, I had to make Tom scarf his down because we were having lunch with my cousin in 5 minutes.
So my cousin chose a restaurant called Roast. It actually sits above Borough market, in a beautiful second floor space that overlooks the entire market floor. It's almost worth it just for the view. Plus it's got huge glass windows, so there's a ton of light pouring in. However, I had looked up the menu while still in the U.S. and knew that this place would be pricey. So after filling up downstairs at the market, both Tom and I ordered light appetizers. I didn't take any pics, but I had a warm chicken liver salad, which was very good. The chicken livers were overcooked by like 30 seconds, but were still tender. Tom ordered a beet soup with goat cheese, which would've been better served cold. He ended up eating only half of it.
After lunch, we took a quick walk over to the Tate Modern where we spent the afternoon. During this trip, we had grand plans to go to lots of museums, but the Tate ended up being the only one we visited. Afterwards, we met up with Jayna again for an early dinner. Ever since we'd decided to go to London, Tom kept saying that he wanted to have fish and chips. But I'd had heard from people that it's not the easiest thing to find. So I did some research and found a highly recommeded place called Master's Super Fish. If you happen to be seeing a show at the Old Vic, this place is right around the corner.
The restaurant opens at 4:30, and we weren't the first ones there (we were the second ones). We were seated quickly. The surroundings aren't luxurious. Actually, they're pretty plain and kinda grubby, but sometimes those type of restaurants have the best food. 
You could order different types of fried fish. Tom got the cod and Jayna and I both ordered the plaice (a type of flatfish). After we ordered, we were given little amuse bouche- 3 little shrimp on a plate. Ok, this was actually one of my favorite parts of the meal, because the shrimp actually tasted like shrimp. I think we've gotten accustomed to eating farmed shrimp that really have no flavor, but these were sweet and very shrimpy.
Then we got our enormous orders of fish and chips. 
I gotta say, the fish was really good. It was well fried, moist and was a huge portion. I ate it with lots and lots of tartar sauce. Luckily, they give you your own bowl of it. 
Strangely enough, they also offer you gherkins and pickled onions with your fish. (I passed on those). Overall, our meal was really great. Everyone enjoyed it. At around 15 pounds each, it definitely wasn't the cheapest meal we'd have, but it was very good. Also, it seemed to be a place with lots of regulars and local- not many tourists in site. After dinner, we walked around Westminster and Buckingham Palace, finishing with an ice cream from Mark's and Spencer. Overall, a great day, though tiring and long.
Fresh berries:
Sandwiches and breads:
Potted plants:
And fresh seafood:
There were also vendors where you could get food made. Tom and Jayna wanted to get chorizo sandwiches, so as they waited in line (Londoners are incredibly good at queueing), I went off to get myself some scallops.
These scallops had been freshly caught, so they were sweet, briny, smokey and delicious. The only problem was the bacon that they decided to put under it. Ah well, I let Tom eat it. Meanwhile, here are the chorizo sandwiches:
Tom and Jayna thought these were delicious. Unfortunately, I had to make Tom scarf his down because we were having lunch with my cousin in 5 minutes.So my cousin chose a restaurant called Roast. It actually sits above Borough market, in a beautiful second floor space that overlooks the entire market floor. It's almost worth it just for the view. Plus it's got huge glass windows, so there's a ton of light pouring in. However, I had looked up the menu while still in the U.S. and knew that this place would be pricey. So after filling up downstairs at the market, both Tom and I ordered light appetizers. I didn't take any pics, but I had a warm chicken liver salad, which was very good. The chicken livers were overcooked by like 30 seconds, but were still tender. Tom ordered a beet soup with goat cheese, which would've been better served cold. He ended up eating only half of it.
After lunch, we took a quick walk over to the Tate Modern where we spent the afternoon. During this trip, we had grand plans to go to lots of museums, but the Tate ended up being the only one we visited. Afterwards, we met up with Jayna again for an early dinner. Ever since we'd decided to go to London, Tom kept saying that he wanted to have fish and chips. But I'd had heard from people that it's not the easiest thing to find. So I did some research and found a highly recommeded place called Master's Super Fish. If you happen to be seeing a show at the Old Vic, this place is right around the corner.
The restaurant opens at 4:30, and we weren't the first ones there (we were the second ones). We were seated quickly. The surroundings aren't luxurious. Actually, they're pretty plain and kinda grubby, but sometimes those type of restaurants have the best food. 
You could order different types of fried fish. Tom got the cod and Jayna and I both ordered the plaice (a type of flatfish). After we ordered, we were given little amuse bouche- 3 little shrimp on a plate. Ok, this was actually one of my favorite parts of the meal, because the shrimp actually tasted like shrimp. I think we've gotten accustomed to eating farmed shrimp that really have no flavor, but these were sweet and very shrimpy.
Then we got our enormous orders of fish and chips. 
I gotta say, the fish was really good. It was well fried, moist and was a huge portion. I ate it with lots and lots of tartar sauce. Luckily, they give you your own bowl of it. 
Strangely enough, they also offer you gherkins and pickled onions with your fish. (I passed on those). Overall, our meal was really great. Everyone enjoyed it. At around 15 pounds each, it definitely wasn't the cheapest meal we'd have, but it was very good. Also, it seemed to be a place with lots of regulars and local- not many tourists in site. After dinner, we walked around Westminster and Buckingham Palace, finishing with an ice cream from Mark's and Spencer. Overall, a great day, though tiring and long.
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