Turnips

Amidst the chaos and crowds of Borough Market, it’s very easy to miss Turnips, situated as it is at the back of a greengrocer's stall that goes by the same name. It strikes us that thousands must walk past it weekly with no knowledge of its existence - a shame, because there’s a fantastic restaurant here that deserves more recognition.

Turnips fulfils so much of what we want from a market restaurant experience. It’s far enough from the crowds to feel quite peaceful, but you still feel the background buzz of Borough Market as you sip on a crisp white. Granted, we’re situated underneath a railway arch so the London Bridge train rattles overhead a few times an hour, but for the most part Turnips is very pleasant, quaint, like a little oasis of calm in the middle of Borough Market mayhem.

Head chef Tomas Lidakevicius has spent time in some fantastic restaurants and he brings a fine dining lightness of touch and precision to food that is largely concerned with seasonality and flavour. Turnips could just turn out easy-going food that relies on the footfall of Borough Market, but there’s something altogether more creative and exciting going on here. A signature onion dish is a perfect example of that - the onion is gently cooked but retains a bit of texture, and combined with an umami-laden Parmesan broth it conjures all the comforts of a French onion soup in a neat package. It comes with a beautiful glazed brioche for mopping, so nothing goes to waste. Turnips is mostly plant-led, but a chicken dish shows off more of Tomas’ rigorous technique, with chicken broken down into a neat ballotine with chicken mousseline, koji-glazed chicken thigh and glazed maitake mushrooms. The accompanying sauce is a sticky, glossy pool of pure chicken umami. It ticks all the boxes: recognisable, comforting, classy, aesthetically pleasing.

Dessert too is excellent, leaning into the surprising sweetness of Jerusalem artichoke and pairing with two reliable delicious dessert partners in hazelnut and chocolate. This is not a pull-up-a-chair market restaurant - it’s much more deliberate, with prices to match. But Turnips deserves to be full of market lunchers and destination diners alike.

In London, diners are used to coming across restaurants with obscure names or venues that have been titled in a foreign tongue (don’t even get us started on how to pronounce Clos Maggiore), but Borough based restaurant Turnips though should roll easily off the tongue for most, and the name is also a pretty heavy-handed hint as to what you can expect from the restaurant - namely vegetables, and lots of them.

Found under the historic arches of Borough Market, Turnips with Tomas Lidakevicius (the restaurant’s full name) pitches itself as a fine dining restaurant which celebrates quality, fastidiously-sourced produce. Previously the executive chef of Jason Atherton’s popular Square Mile haunt City Social, Lidakevicius knows a thing or two about high-end dining and at Turnips, he offers an ever evolving five-course tasting menu, which champions the finest of fruits and vegetables, sourced from the restaurant’s very own stall at Borough Market.

Although the menu changes often, diners can expect to come across exciting combinations, in which meat and fish are often the support act to the starring role of the vegetables. While dining here, you may well tuck into the likes of gnocchi with mushroom and truffle, Brittany leeks served alongside halibut and XO sauce, or leafy celeriac with venison sourced from Dorset. Guests are also able to take advantage of a carefully curated cocktail pairing and a wine flight for a supplement.

Meanwhile, the dining area soaks up all the atmosphere of the nearby market, whilst still being far enough away that you aren't overwhelmed by the busy crowds.