Camden Market is a trendy place in London that has some unique shops to buy gifts and clothes etc, but most importantly a wide range of street food options. Fortunately, for the halal explorers, there are numerous halal options too. With the rise of TikTok this place has become extremely popular and so expect some crazy long queues. Expect good food, a lot of people and generally good summer vibes.
I’ve ranked some of the places we have visited in our various trips in the order that we enjoyed them. Please note with food stall continuously changing, some of these may not exist at your time of visiting.
1. Camden Pizza
Still craving this. It’s the one that does large New York style slices. And there’s only two topping options. Don’t be confused with the other one (Camden Pizza Co). I’ve ranked this as number one despite not being a pizza fan, so that says a lot!
2. El Pollote
How does spicy guava glazed wings sound? This latino fried chicken spot is not to be missed. It isn’t one of the frequented busy spots, but that is a good thing. You don’t have to queue for ages and you can get your chicken wings in no time.
3. Bubble Mania
The bubble waffles were delicious, quite possibly the best dessert in Camden Market. Just need to show little more affection to their customers.
4. Baba G’s
Wanted to try this because of their unique additions – onion bhaji and naga sauce. The naga Delhi burger has some mixed reviews out there. And even though they kinda burnt the onion bhaji, it was still delicious. Naga flavour was extremely feint and not spicy at all. Would’ve liked that to be a little stronger, but then again that will probably not suit most people (I’m used to the naga heat). It was definitely an interesting burger that I would happily go back for again!
5. Ink Fish and Chips
Can’t go wrong with a good fish and chips can you. It is a small portion and it is pricey for what you can get from a proper chippy, but nonetheless still very delicous. The pink sauce you see is tartare sauce with beetroot powder in it to make it pink
6. Asian food stalls
You cannot miss these as you wander the Camden Market alleys. You will see a lot of them doing food from Malaysian to Chinese to Korean. Look around and ask and you’ll be pleasantly surprised as to how many of them are actually halal. Most things from these spots usually make for a good cheap meal that is both delicious and friendly on the wallet.
7. Dutch pancakes
Can’t go wrong really. Poffertjes: these are mini Dutch pancakes. Delicious and fluffy one-biters! They are very popular in the Netherlands especially as street food during the summer.
8. Chunky Filled Churros
Another OG Camden Market dessert is the churros. Made fresh and filled generously. Not to be missed.
9. Chin Chin Labs
According to many, the best ice cream parlour in England. They have a couple of branches around London including this one here in Camden. Their ice cream flavours and ice cream based desserts are revolutionary and I absolutely love their creativity and ideas. A must stop when in the area!
10. Cheese wheel pasta
The rest of the group felt this was a little too cheesy, but I actually liked it. Strange because I’m the one who doesn’t like cheesy pasta. The mistake we might’ve made here was to add extra parmesan cheese on top. The quality of the dish and ingredients can definitely be tasted though.
Important FYI: some Islamic schools of thoughts deem cheese from non-Halal animals to be impermissible (haram), but it seems the strongest stance is that it is allowed because the companions would have it, but do do your own research and ask someone reliable. However, the worrying issue here is with the integrity of the organisation itself. If you contact their social media team, they will inform you that their dish is not halal, but when Muslims (that are clearly Muslim) go to order, they are not informed of its status and what’s worse is that when some have asked them in person and they have informed them that they can ‘make it halal’. Which is a blatant lie as the social media team deny this. It is a cheese wheel pasta dish and the ‘haram’ element is the cheese wheel pasta itself. When I approached the social media team themselves, they were very defensive and started claiming they aren’t aware what “you halal people” can and can’t eat. Very rude and ignorant response. Since then, they have said they will explicitly state on their stall that they are not halal – I have not verified this. Unfortunately, these guys are also owners of the famous Mac and Cheese place and the Birria tacos place. So, I will probably be steering far away from them in the future.
11. Yorkshire Burrito
I wanted this to be higher up the list as I like the concept. It’s something different. Imagine a yorkshire pudding and a burrito got married. This is their kid. The more bites we took the more delicious it became, but I feel it was underwhelming overall. Unfortunately, there were quite a few chaotic things happening at this time and I think that had an impact on our experience. I’d like to revisit and try them out again.
12. Meat Head birria tacos
We’ve had one that is a better version of this dish. Probably just need a few tweaks though.
13. Wok Boy
Fried chicken on chow mein. Looked good. Unfortunately, there was no taste to the noodles nor the chicken. Bland. I assume wasn’t seasoned. Strange because they definitely took a while cooking it. I think this would’ve been better with just a little bit of seasoning. Wife’s thoughts on this may not be internet friendly.
Overall, we loved our time there. There’s good vibes, a lot of people and a lot of food choices. The quality of food is better in other places in London. So, from that angle maybe overrated and overhyped. Still a good day out and will gladly go back.
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
