Berwick Street Market

Trading on this strip dates back to the 1770s, but the costermongers who once introduced Londoners to grapefruit and tomatoes have largely made room for a high-density corridor of hot food stalls. Located in the heart of Soho, Berwick Street Market operates today as an open-air canteen where the pace is dictated entirely by the lunch hour. The setup is straightforward: a single line of vendors runs down the center of the asphalt, leaving just enough room on the pavement for the midday crush. From late morning, the air fills with smoke from charcoal grills and the noise of orders being shouted over the crowd. The options are heavy on international staples, with queues forming early for Jerusalem falafel, Afghan curries, and schnitzel baps. It is a functional, high-energy space where you grab your food and eat standing up, often dodging pedestrians trying to navigate the bottleneck between the vendors and the storefronts. The backdrop to this daily scramble reflects the street’s other identities. The stalls are flanked by fabric shops – a remnant of the local textile trade – and independent record stores like Sister Ray and Reckless Records, survivors of the era when this was known as the "Golden Mile of Vinyl." Despite the heavy shift toward prepared meals, a handful of traditional fruit, vegetable, and flower traders still operate here, maintaining a quiet link to the market’s 19th-century origins.