Borough Market and Beyond: A London Local Guide through French taste

Paris has its marchés, London has Borough Market. And while this famous market draws food lovers from every corner of the globe, look a little closer and you’ll find a quietly thriving slice of France nestled among the railway arches and cobblestones. From niche fromageries to family bakeries, this neighbourhood offers a genuine taste of France — no Eurostar required. 

The French Comté 

Coming from a long line of farmers and producers, Fabien Joly and Florent Gacon are behind London’s go-to address for the cheeses and charcuterie of eastern France, sourced directly in Franche-Comté.  

Expect an exceptional selection of Comté PDO aged to various stages of complexity, alongside treasures like Mont d’Or, silky Morbier, rich Raclette, and rarer finds such as cancoillotte. 

The charcuterie is equally compelling: hand-made mountain saucissons, slow-smoked saucisse de Morteau PGI and cured hams. Round things off with a bottle from their unique selection of Franche-Comté wines like the oxidative Vin Jaune, or other gems like Alsace Riesling. They also supply quality restaurants and hotels across the UK, and travel to markets all over the place from Wimbledon to Victoria Park, Surrey to Kent. 

📍 The French Comté 
Unit 16B Borough Market 
Stoney Street, London SE1 9AH 

thefrenchcomte.co.uk 

Café François 

From the team behind the much-loved Maison François, Café François brings the convivial energy of a Parisian grand café to the heart of Borough Market. Chef Matt Ryle’s all-day brasserie is a love letter to French cooking, served with a distinctly London twist. 

The menu reads like a greatest hits of French bistro cooking: French onion soup, steak tartare, Toulouse sausage with braised lentils and moutarde, jambon persillé with celeriac rémoulade, and an entrecôte with beurre noisette. The Comté PDO gougères are dangerously good with a glass of wine. For the undecided, the £15 rotisserie chicken and frites might be the best value lunch around. 

By afternoon, an elegant French-inspired afternoon tea takes over. Come evening, the bar fills with conversation, glass of Kir and Bayonne ham PGI to nibble on. The unlimited chocolate mousse for £5 after any main course is slowly becoming an institution 

📍 Café François 

35 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AD 

cafefrancois.london 

Le Marché du Quartier 

There are few more satisfying lunches on the go than a duck confit wrap eaten in the shadow of Borough Market’s Victorian roof. Le Marché du Quartier has been serving exactly that to market-goers for years, and it remains one of the most flavourful stops on the cobbles. 

Their signature confit de canard (duck legs slow-cooked in their own fat until deeply tender, then crisped) arrives in a salad, a sandwich or a wrap piled with cabbage, beetroot, carrots and onion chutney. Pure southwest France, right here in SE1. 

But the stall is more than a one-dish wonder. Rooted in the south-west as you would have guessed, Le Marché du Quartier sources fine food and wine from small-scale French producers. Look out for goose fat, cassoulet, poulet de Bresse PDO, and an excellent cheese selection. In season, they also stock fresh Périgord black truffles. 

📍 Le Marché du Quartier 

14-16 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AD 

boroughmarket.org.uk/traders/le-marche-du-quartier 

Pique-Nique 

A short stroll along Bermondsey Street leads you to what might be the best-kept secret of London’s French food scene. Pique-Nique and its sibling Casse-Croûte sit very high on the list of the city’s finest French addresses, beloved by chefs, food writers, and in-the-know locals. 

Chef Sylvain Soulard’s cooking is generous, seasonal, and rooted in classical French technique — the kind you want to linger over on a sun-drenched weekend afternoon. Start with a pâté en croûte, all golden pastry and pink perfection. Then move to the main event: a whole bar en croûte with Noilly Prat sauce, a pheasant and foie gras chou farci, or, for the full commitment, a châteaubriand to share. End it all with profiteroles and absolutely no regrets. 

Pique-Nique is the rôtisserie offshoot of Casse-Croûte legendary neighbourhood bistro. Both share the same French soul: honest, joyful, deeply delicious. This is French feasting at its best. 

📍 Pique-Nique 
Tanner Street, London SE1 3LD 

pique-nique.co.uk 

Comptoir Bakery 

Every great neighbourhood has a great bakery. For Borough Market and the streets around it, that is Comptoir. Founded by Sébastien Wind, with his son Quentin now very much part of the story, Comptoir began as a humble market stall and has grown into one of London’s most celebrated French boulangeries-pâtisseries.  

Every pastry is handcrafted daily, blending traditional French technique with the finest handpicked French and British ingredients. Grab a flaky croissant or a famous pistachio brionut hybrid at their Borough Market stall, or make the short walk up to their Maltby Street bakery for a more leisurely breakfast. 

What sets Comptoir apart is also what happens behind the scenes. Sébastien runs hands-on bakery classes and workshops from the Maltby Street space. Now is time to learn how to bake from scratch éclairs and choux, baguettes and fougasses, and finally master the tourage technique for pain au chocolat. And if you’re keen to practise at home, they also sell their signature tourage butter made in Brittany, 82% fat, the real thing. 

📍 Comptoir Bakery 
Green Market, Borough Market, London SE1 1TL 
comptoirbakery.co.uk