Supreme Croissant from Philippe Conticini
We’ll start this list with what is probably the most popular food item in the world right now… the Supreme Croissant! This is quite possibly the best thing you can have in this market right now. The legendary French baker, Philippe Conticini, brings his delicate touch and delicious treats to the capital of England, all the way from France. They do many wonderful treats and goodies much like any French bakery, so you’ll be spoilt for choice here. But what they’ve recently become famous for (on social media anyway) is their take on the supreme croissant. They currently have four flavours; we got the one stuffed with vanilla pastry cream, salted butter caramel, topped with crushed pecan. It was insanely good. Like really really good. So much so that even a price tag of £5.90 didn’t put us off from wanting to go back for more.
Chimney Cake from Hans & Gretel
The chimney cake is a unique dessert that is from Hungary. A cuisine that hasn’t travelled too far, but this is something taking over the foodie world in countries far and beyond. There are a couple of places you can try this treat here in Camden Market. We opted for Hans & Gretel. Hans & Gretel is a dessert lover’s dream. As you enter the shop, it feels like you’re walking into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! They do a number of different desserts, but this is definitely their most popular item. In all honesty, we weren’t too impressed with this as it was quite difficult to eat and the taste wasn’t really worth the effort.
Dutch Pancakes
These are one of the mainstay desserts of the market. You’ll find numerous spots around the market doing this. They’re small bitesize pancakes smothered with toppings of your choice. They’re commonly consumed as a street food in the Netherlands and I can see why! It is literally made for you to enjoy these as you walk. So, you can continue strolling through the market without having to stop and enjoy these on the go.
Churros
The second mainstay dessert of the market is the famous chunky filled churros. Who doesn’t love churros? But these are just elevated to the next level: bigger in size and filled with a delicious filling! You choose between chocolate and caramel. Winner! Another ideal market dessert as you can eat and walk with this too!
Bubble tea and Cheese tea from The Alley
Bubble tea is a drink that was born in Taiwan and it is essentially a cold milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls (there are different varieties, but this is the original). Making it a unique drinking and eating experience in one. It has recently become the talk of town here in England over the past few years, but it has been a staple drink in Taiwan and China since the 1980s! The Alley are arguably the best in London and even though I have my own personal favourite, many London foodies will put this place as their number one. So, do try it here!
While you’re at The Alley, grab yourself this drink too! Cheese tea is a drink (tea or fruit flavoured) with slightly salty cream cheese on the top. It doesn’t sound like the most appetising drink, but it is absolutely amazing! Very refreshing. Strangely, it’s like drinking cheesecake (in a good way). Cheese tea is all the craze in China and Taiwan as bubble tea is such an old and common drink (you can even get it at Mcdonald’s). I’ve had cheese tea in Beijing and I can confirm the popularity: people were queuing up before the place even opened and hour long queues are not unheard of. Again, it may not be for everyone, but we love it! This has to be drunk a certain way where you get a bit of the cream cheese along with the strawberry tea. This is crucial for the experience as you can easily have a bad experience if you drink it in a way where all you get is the cream cheese. I wouldn’t say this is the best version of the drink I’ve had, but it is definitely worth trying here.
Fried Ice Cream from T’s Fried Scoop
Yes, you read that right. Fried. Ice. Cream. T’s Fried Scoop are pioneers in the game as they’ve truly brought this unique innovative concept to Londoners and boy we’re not complaining. What is the unique concept? They combine ice cream with a hot crispy batter coating, resulting in a wonderful dessert concoction. You can choose from a variety of ice cream flavours from strawberry and coconut to ube and black coconut. This is then topped off with toppings and sauces of your choice. With Biscoff, Oreo and salted caramel to choose from. What did we think? I mean it was certainly an interesting concept and something worth trying, but am I rushing back to try it again? Probably not. It didn’t blow me away.
Shiratama Dango from Tsujiri
If you’re a Japanese dessert lover, then you have to check out Tsujiri. They’ve got an awesome menu of Japanese dessert classics. Also, if you’re a matcha fan, you’ll be spoilt for choice here. We’re not big matcha fans, so we opted for the most interesting non-matcha item on the menu! Shiratama Dango! Sounds like a character out of Dragon Ball Z to be honest. Shiratama Dango is a type of mochi where glutinous rice flour is used. Not only is the difference the main ingredient used but there is also a difference in taste. It is unsweetened, plain and dare I say, bland? What gives it the flavour is the toppings and sides (and yes this type of mochi has toppings and sides as opposed to a filling like a normal mochi). Often it is served with red bean paste, kinako powder, or ice cream. Tsujiri serve this plain unsweetened rice mochi with 3 toppings: kinako, sesame and red bean. This is what we got, but in all honesty because it is unsweetened, it didn’t wow us as a standard mochi usually does. It was a bit like biting into a sponge full of nothingness. So, I’d probably stick to the standard mochi the next time I visit.
Sticky Toffee Pudding Sundae from Chin Chin Labs
Chin Chin Labs are absolute London legends. You cannot be a London foodie and not have at least heard of them. They came from humble beginnings but have now absolutely taken the London foodie scene by storm. The imagination and creativity has totally captured all our hearts, minds and stomachs too! Essentially, the concept is ice cream made with liquid nitrogen. Using that very ice cream they do a number of different and interesting desserts ranging from twists on classics to ingenious creations. Think Burnt Butter Caramel ice cream in a Banoffee ice cream pie with Bee Pollen Honeycomb and Marshmallow fluff as toppings. Yeah. Mad. Genius. And this is just one possible concoction of a potential MANY! We opted for the sticky toffee pudding sundae here and were not disappointed.
Bubble waffle from Bubble Mania
A bubble waffle is a super trendy street snack, which originated in Hong Kong in the 1950s. The typical waffle taste but with different textures. Crispy edges on the outside, fluffy, light and airy on the inside (bubble like). I love this and probably prefer it to the normal waffles. Once served, the waffles are filled with many different combinations of flavours, toppings, fruits and chocolate. These guys here at Bubble Mania do an amazing bubble waffle. We had this at the end of our day after binging on a lot of food and yet we managed to finish this with ease. I usually find waffles a heavyish dessert; this, due to the airy nature, was perfectly light and made for a perfect end to the day of eating. We opted for the Kinder Bueno one and it came with a purple colour candy floss thing at the top. Delicious delicious delicious! I will definitely go back and this will definitely be a regular stop when in Camden Market.
Turkish desserts from Laz Camden
Turkish desserts are the most underrated and under appreciated part of the cuisine. When you think of the cuisine, you think of kebabs and their mixed grills. But for me I think their desserts are the best part of the cuisine. During my time in Istanbul, this was my greatest discovery. Laz Camden is a restaurant which is about a 5 minute walk from the market itself and is definitely worth the trek. Make sure you try their unique take on the Turkish milk cake.
Getting there:
Parking:
– Weekends free – King Henry’s road / Primrose Hill road (and surrounding roads). Evenings free.
– Saturday after 1:30 & Sunday – Adelaide Road (next to Chalk Farm station). Evenings free.
Nearest Mosque: Baitul Aman Mosque
Nearest station: Chalk Farm or Camden Town
