A London Lunch: Bourekas at Balkan Bites

Today's lunch was a good one - a warming, satisfying plate that reminds me of sunnier climes.

I had a Spinach and Feta Boureka from Balkan Bites's outpost at Borough Market. Whilst I'm more familiar with the Greek version (Spanakopita), this is an equally delicious pie filled with unctuous feta and good-for-you spinach. What's more for only a fiver, this was served on a pillow of mouth-watering and freshly made hummus, with some cooked chickpeas and topped with salt and fresh chilli sauce.

Balkan Bites has a shop in Crouch End but can be found at Borough Market Monday-Wednesday's 10am-5pm, Friday's 10am-6pm and Saturday's 8am-5pm.

For £5.00 my boureka was a real treat - slightly naughty, but very, very nice.

A London Lunch: Wild Boar Tortelloni with Mushroom Sauce from La Tua

For a few weeks I have been freelancing at London Bridge and after all my #30daysfit hard work Borough Market has a lot to answer for. Offering up all manner of deliciousness on a daily basis at its’ many vendors – I have my favourites from previous jaunts here, but this time around I have found a new favourite – La Tua.

This gorgeous fresh pasta stalwart has been going since 2006 and I’m so, so glad I stumbled across their permanent shop at the side of Borough Market a few weeks back.

I’ve tried their gnocchi and ravioli for lunchtime filling but my absolute favourite has been the Wild Boar Tortelloni with Mushroom Sauce. Aside from the fact the pasta is freshly made the day before serving, so is absolutely perfect and delicious – the filling is meaty, earthy and unctuous and seasoned beautifully and what brings it together and makes it utterly moreish is the beautiful mushroom sauce. It’s slightly creamy but woody, and has an almost meaty taste and texture to it – I’ve found it addictive and am hoping they eventually jar and sell this sauce!

On that note, La Tua also offers fresh pasta to purchase that you can take home and again, I have and it is delicious – the Spinach Taglionni has been my favourite to date.

A lunchtime portion is generous and priced between £5-8 which given the quality is fair. It’s a delight for pasta lovers. 

A London Lunch No.8: Rare Str'eat Burgito, Borough Market

For the past eight months I’ve been working within skipping distance of Borough Market and have enjoyed a flurry of fantastic lunchtime eats.

A new favourite is the fantastic Burgito, from Rare Str-eat, a new company that describes itself as ‘gourmet food on the go’. If the burgito is anything to go by, they have achieved just that.

With an approach championing high quality ingredients, combined with a fun take on British food, the burgito is as it sounds, a combination of a burger and a burrito – two wonderful things.  

Piled onto a tortilla wrap sits three delicious burger patties made with rare-breed Galloway beef, a little green leaf salad, a homemade, tangy and warm tomato relish, various pickled gherkin and the ingenious addition of Comte cheese (surely one of the finest things in life). Fried, sweet caramelised onions and a slathering of sweet mustard complete this concoction before it is rolled up to make the ‘ito’ part of this dish.

To say it is good would be an understatement. Not only is this a clever take on two food items that London seems to be obsessive about at the moment, but it is delivered so well, and with such friendly service. I predict Rare Str’eat will be around for some time.

Located in the ‘Green Market’ area of Borough Market, you can pick up a Rare Str’eat burgito for a mere £5.00.

A London Lunch No. 3: Roast Hobbs Meat, Borough Market

Another day, another London lunch spot to rave about – this time at lovely Borough Market. I could talk about a different stall or outlet there every day, as there are literally so many delicious things on offer throughout the week and on a Thursday through to Saturday it is literally buzzing with people and is a great lunch spot for either a lazy Saturday morning or afternoon of browsing, or a happy countdown to the weekend lunch, as is often the case.

One place that I can thoroughly recommend a lunchtime saviour is Roast Hobbs Meat in the Bedale Street archway of the market. They serve a multitude of mouth watering meats, all served in either a baguette or a bread roll, and this makes for a seriously good Thursday or Friday lunch.

My particular recommendation is their BBQ Pulled Pork served with coleslaw – it is just divine. Slowly cooked, pork, flavoured and nicely coated in seriously smoky BBQ sauce and with a homemade, crunchy and fresh coleslaw all compressed together in a fresh piece of bread of your choice – what is not to like.

Oh and once again, this lunchtime lovely will only set you back a mere £4, will taste a damn sight better and will be far more satisfying than a bog-standard Pret or Eat sandwich.

Enjoy!