The Stables Market, Camden: what to see, buy and eat

The Stables is the part of Camden Market on the far side of Chalk Farm Road, open daily from 10:00 to 19:00, and it is the best bit. Come in off Chalk Farm Road or through the Horse Hospital entrance, give yourself two hours, and eat before you shop, because the queues only get longer after midday. Entry is free; the steak sandwich is not.

Why it looks like this

The Stables was built for horses. This was the Pickfords stables, a network of saddlers’ workshops, tack rooms, stabling and a horse hospital for the animals that pulled the firm’s carts, and the yards are listed. That is why the floors are cobbled, why there are ramps and tunnels where you would expect stairs, and why the old railway arches at the back are full of shops. A redevelopment opened up more of those arches and added new buildings behind, but the bones are Victorian. Camden Market itself calls it “a labyrinth of cultures and subcultures, overground and underground”, which is fair: you will get lost, and that is the point.

A practical note on those cobbles. Much of the Stables is step-free, but the historic floors are uneven. If you need smooth ground and lifts, Hawley Wharf across the canal is the easier quarter.

The shops

Two names do the heavy lifting. Cyberdog has been dressing clubbers in neon dancewear and futuristic fashion for decades, from a three-floor shop at 45 Gin House in Stables Yard with two giant robot statues flanking the door. You will hear it before you see it. The Infatuation reckons spending more than five minutes inside is a mistake; we reckon it is the most Camden five minutes you will have all day. The market lists it at 11:00 to 19:30 Monday to Thursday and 10:00 to 20:00 Friday to Sunday.

Dr. Martens is the other, back in what the market calls its “original stomping ground” with a two-storey shop at 25 to 27 Stables, open 10:00 to 19:00 daily. Alongside the classics there are exclusives, limited editions and a display on the history of the boot. Camden was mod and punk country before it was anything else, so this is the right address for it.

Beyond those two, the Stables has always been where the market keeps its furniture, homeware and 20th-century antiques, with clothes stalls for goths and everyone else in between. Stalls change, so wander rather than hunt.

What to eat

The Stables food strip is short and busy. The Infatuation describes queues curving around the igloo tables for two stalls in particular, and they are the two we would queue for too.

• Asador. An Argentine grill at Unit 704, Stables Yard, with a second stall in West Yard. Steak sandwiches and burgers go on the charcoal grill with a pile of melted cheese, then come with chips and chimichurri. Open 10:00 to 18:00. If they tell you the wait is an hour, it is usually half that.
• Funky Chips. Units 705 to 706. Fresh-cut chips fried to order and loaded with sauces, spices, cheese, chillies, pickles and crunchy onions. The masala fries are the order.
• Humble Crumble. Unit 739, for afters. Fruit crumbles with custard, from a straight apple crumble to seasonal specials.

North Yard: when you want a chair

North Yard is the cobbled yard of sit-down restaurants inside the Stables, in Grade II listed buildings, and it stays open in the evening after the stalls close. The pick is Pick & Cheese at 93 to 94 North Yard: British cheese and charcuterie on a conveyor belt, which Time Out puts at 18 metres long, with plates like Cropwell Bishop Stilton with kimchi. Coming in from Chalk Farm Road, turn right and it is just past the Peaky Blinders wagon. It is open from 12:00 most days, to 21:30 Thursday to Saturday.

Also in North Yard: Pasta Evangelists for fresh pasta and pasta-making classes, Igra Rama for Levantine shashlik cooked over fire, Epicurus for shawarma pancakes and baklava ice cream, and Meat the Vegans for fully plant-based comfort food. For a drink, Ester pours cocktails, natural wine and small-batch beer brewed in the market by 3 Locks. Sweet tooth: Hans & Gretel does gelato and hot chimney cakes.

How to do the Stables

• Pick your tube. The market puts Camden Town five minutes’ walk away and Chalk Farm ten. Come in at one end, leave by the other, and you have walked the whole market.
• Eat at 11:00 or after 15:00. The lunchtime queue at Asador is the longest in the building.
• Weekdays win. At the weekend the Stables is mobbed. On a weekday morning you can actually look at things.
• Finish with a pint. The Lock Tavern is across Chalk Farm Road with a beer garden and a roof terrace, and the Hawley Arms is round the corner on Castlehaven Road.