Camden Market food: the stalls worth the queue

There are well over a hundred food traders on the Camden Market food list, and most of them are fine. A handful are worth a queue. Here they are, where to find them and what to order, plus the trick most people miss: the stalls close around 18:00, but the Hawley Wharf food halls serve until 23:00.

The short version

• Best queue in the Stables: Asador, for the steak sandwich.
• Best plate in Hawley Wharf: Three Uncles, for char siu.
• Best sit-down: Pick & Cheese in North Yard.
• Best show: The Cheese Wheel in West Yard.

Asador, the Stables and West Yard

The queue you will see first, and the one to join. Asador is an Argentine grill with stalls at Unit 704 in Stables Yard and in West Yard: steak sandwiches and burgers go on the charcoal, get buried in melted cheese, and come with chips and chimichurri. The Infatuation found queues curving around the igloo tables and said the steak is worth the wait. Staff may quote you an hour; it is usually half that. Open 10:00 to 18:00.

Funky Chips, the Stables

Right next door at Units 705 to 706. Fresh-cut chips, fried to order and loaded with sauces, spices, cheese, chillies, pickles and crunchy onions. The Infatuation rates the masala fries; so do we. Share a portion while you wait for Asador and you have solved lunch.

Three Uncles, Hawley Wharf

If you only eat one thing, make it this. In a food hall with around 30 counters, Time Out names Three Uncles its favourite. It was set up by three childhood friends as an ode to the roast meat cafes of 1970s Hong Kong, started as a stall in the City and now has a counter at Unit 199 on the second floor of Waterside Halls, with the meat hanging over the counter. Roast duck, crispy pork belly and char siu are chopped to order; swap rice for lo meen egg noodles if you like. The market’s own tip is the one to follow: char siu and Hainan chicken on rice, with the Hainan chilli vinegar sauce.

Holy Sheep

Time Out’s other Camden Market pick. Holy Sheep sells itself on Hong Kong rice noodles, but the bowls are Yunnan: choose a broth, a main and toppings from lobster balls to fish tofu and dried beancurd roll, then add a grilled skewer of cumin pork belly on the side. On a cold day, this is the bowl.

West Yard: The Cheese Wheel, Baba G’s and Bill or Beak

West Yard is the cobbled yard on the canal at the Lock, and it is where the street food traders set up. Three to know:

• The Cheese Wheel. Fresh tagliatelle, hand-rolled daily, in white wine cream, mushroom cream or tomato sauce, then spun in a giant wheel of Grana Padano in front of you. It is a show, and the pasta is real. 12:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, 11:00 to 18:00 at weekends.
• Baba G’s. Bhangra burgers and tandoor grill from a crew that has been on the London street food scene for more than a decade. The spiced lamb jalfrezi patty in a fennel and onion seed bap is the one, with onion bhajis on the side.
• Bill or Beak. On the scene since 2014, with two burgers: honey butter fried chicken with jalapeño mayo, and a smashed patty cheeseburger. The market calls the chicken the people’s champion, and the people are right.

Yorkshire Burrito is here too, wrapping a roast dinner in a Yorkshire pudding, and it is also at Boxpark Camden on Buck Street. Fun once; for proper roast meat, head to Three Uncles at Hawley Wharf.

Pick & Cheese, North Yard

When you want a chair and a glass of wine. Pick & Cheese, which used to be The Cheese Bar, runs British cheese and charcuterie round an 18-metre conveyor belt at 93 to 94 North Yard in the Stables. There are more than 25 plates, with pairings like Cropwell Bishop Stilton with kimchi and Cornish Yarg with pea and mint pesto, and wines from small producers. On Wednesdays the market lists bottomless cheese at £29.50 a head; check before you go. Open from 12:00, to 21:30 Thursday to Saturday.

Something sweet

Humble Crumble at Unit 739 in the Stables does fruit crumbles with custard and seasonal specials. In North Yard, Hans & Gretel has gelato and hot chimney cakes. One to cross off your list: Chin Chin Labs, the liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour on Camden Lock Place, is listed by The Infatuation as permanently closed.

How to eat Camden Market

• Eat early. The big queues build from midday. Be at Asador before 12:00.
• Eat late at Hawley Wharf. The Waterside Halls food courts run 11:30 to 23:00 every day, long after the stalls have shut.
• Check the stall. Traders are independent and their hours vary. If you are crossing town for one dish, look it up first.
• Bring a friend. Two people, two queues, one table.

Need a sit-down table near the stalls? West Yard is canal-side, and the Stables has its igloo tables. For a pint afterwards, the Lock Tavern is across Chalk Farm Road.