Pop up: Borough Market

Now that London is sweltering in the heat and I happened to be in the Southwark area after an interview, I thought it would be a crying shame not to check out the market for a lunchtime burger and something to cool down with. If I was going to find either of these things, a sunny day bringing out all the tourists in this, the largest and most popular of London's food markets.

While not technically a popup, as this place has a main fixture, I can't seem to find these guys on the Borough Market website. Nonetheless, this grill stand is prominently located in the middle road area of the market, in close proximity to vendors selling similar offerings, and in addition to huge vats of chicken curry, they offer premium venison burgers with meat sourced from the Highlands of Scotland and accompanied by a slice of gouda cheese, a dollup of bacon jam and red onion relish, all contained in a rather solid kind of brioche.

At £7 a pop, this is certainly not a cheap prospect, but in comparison to the stand not a few paces across the way who were selling their smaller take on a venison burger with a token piece of lettuce for one pound less, the addition of other premium ingredients make this a more complete option to go for. Judging by the interest from other market visitors that outnumbered the opposition by about 4:1, this was not only the popular vote but in hindsight the better one.

The venison is cooked medium rare and with plenty of it to enjoy, I feel you do get what you pay for. This is augmented nicely by the generous amount of slightly vinegary onion relish and salty sweet bacon jam respectively, which compliments the meat well. Finally, there's plenty of soft brioche bun to keep things intact. Worth checking out if you are in the area!

7/10