The best places in London to eat cheese

From The Nudge

Cheese.

It quite literally makes everyone smile.

And so, with that in mind, we’ve pulled together a list of only the best cheesemongers, pop-ups, restaurants, and masterclasses this city has to offer. So let’s cut to the cheese.

Here are the best places in London to eat cheese…

CHEESEMONGERS:

Kappacasein Dairy

With the help of a traditional 600L copper vat bought over from France these guys have been hand crafting cheese (Bermondsey Hard Pressed, Bermondsey Frier, and Ricotta) since 2008. They’ve got two spaces; one in Bermondsey where every Saturday morning you can head down, have a natter with the traders, nibble on some tasters, and potentially take something home for tea, and one in Borough Market where five days a week you’ll find them serving up both toasties & raclettes so good they make you go weak at the cheese.

Details: 1 Voyager Industrial Estate, SE16 4RP

Buchanans Cheesemonger

best places in London to eat cheese

Sweet dreams are made of cheese, or so Rhuaridh – the brains behind Buchanan – discovered when he passed up the opportunity to work with legendary triple Michelin-Star wining chef Thomas Keller in New York in order to train as an affineur (cheese guru) at world-class cheesemongers Paxton and Whitfield. Which also speaks for the passion and with that the quality of the cheeses you’ll find at his Paddington-based shop, whether you’re choosing something to take away or eating-in from from their daily-changing menu alongside a beer or glass of wine.

Details: 5A Porchester Place, W2 2BS

La Fromagerie

France, Italy, Britain, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Holland, and Germany are just a few of the countries suppling cheese to La Fromagerie. From the point it arrives on their doorstep it’s quickly whisked away to be tended to by little yellow elves in hats (their in-house cheese connoisseurs) until it’s reached its peak deliciousness. Then it’s upstairs to be ogled by you in their mighty cheese room, sold in slabs for home, or alternatively to be eaten in the form of a fresh tomato & mozzarella salad, cheese boards, or melted cheese toasties in their cafe.

Details: 2-6 Moxon Street, Marylebone, W1U 4EW; 30 Highbury Park, Islington, N5 2AA

Paxton and Whitfield

Hard cheese, soft cheese, blue cheese, they’ve got it all. Or so thought Queen Victoria when she appointed them her official cheesemonger in 1850 (yes, they’ve been going that long). You can buy it online or alternatively head to one of their two London-based shops. And if the royals consider it one of the best places in London to eat cheese… it must be the wheel deal.

Details: 93 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6JE ; 22 Cale Street, SW3 3QU

Neal’s Yard Dairy

best places in London to eat cheese

As well as the famed Covent Garden and Borough Market shops, you can thankfully now buy Neal’s Yard cheeses on the tinternet, or – for a mere £47 a month – set yourself up with cheese subscription where you’ll be delivered approximately 1.2kg of the most seasonal cheese every month for a year. They also do classes, but we’ll talk more of that later.

Details: 17 Shorts Gardens, WC2H 9AT; 6 Park St, London SE1 9AB

Rippon Cheese

This quaint Pimlico curd-haven have lined their shelves with 500 different types of cheese from across Europe – that’s a different cheese every day for one year and 135 days, to be exact.

Details: 26 Upper Tachbrook St, Pimlico, SW1V 1SW

Wildes Cheese, Tottenham

Philip Wilton had a day job once until he took redundancy by the horns, and set up his own cheese making company on an industrial estate in Tottenham. His cheeses change with the season (poetic we know) and can be bought either online or from a variety of market stalls around London. Alternatively you can even ask Phillip to make you your very own bespoke cheese.

Details: The Micro Dairy, Units 9 and 10 Frontier Works, 33 Queen Street London. N17 8JA

Cheese at Leadenhall

Tucked away in Leadenhall Market is this cheesemonger stroke restaurant stroke bar. It’s all headed up by a particularly knowledgable woman named Sue Cloke who, prior to 12 years running her own business, carved a career in the smelly stuff at both Harvey Nichols and Paxton & Whitfield. They also have a number of cheese or cheese and wine tastings on offer. You can sip on a welcome glass of Champagne whilst learning a little about their various cheeses. Next you get the chance to pick five cheeses of your choice before being greeted by one of their friendly bar staff who will introduce you to two red wines, two white wine, and a port to sip alongside.

Details: 4-5 Leadenhall Market, City of London, EC3V 1LR

CHEESE POP UPS:

Grill My Cheese

best places in London to eat cheese

Fittingly located in Leather Lane Market, they serve up gourmet cheese sandwiches by the name of Baby Got Back (mac and cheese, BBQ sauce, and pulled pork), Hey Pesto! (mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto, and crispy bacon), and Slumdog Grillionaire (signature cheese blend, Indian spiced potato, red onion, and coriander and apple chutney). It’s grilliant.

Details: Leather Lane Market, EC1N

Mac to the Future

They’ve been to the future and apparently it’s grate. So great, in fact, that they’ve bought a little back with them – which was a wise move, seeing as they’re now lauded as one of the definitively best places in London to eat cheese, thanks to their jazzed up mac & cheese. They’ve got mac & cheese with marmite; caramelised onions; mushroom and truffle oil; or smokey harissa and fresh chilli. And if that’s somehow not exciting enough they’ve also got a selection sides like their signature Giga Watts, which are mac n cheese rolled into balls and deep fried.

Details: Location varies, more info online.

Melt Room

best places in London to eat cheese

Satisfying all the grilled cheese needs of Soho, MR are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week. There are breakfast melts (The Full Works with scrambled eggs, old spot patty, keens cheddar, smoked bacon and HP relish; or the Benedict Melt of York ham, scrambled egg, vintage cheddar, and hollandaise sauce); savoury melts (Fish And Chips; Salted Beef; Portobello Mushroom; and Pulled Pork Shoulder); and there are even sweet melts (Peanut Butter and Jelly; Banoffee Melt; and Nutella and Marscapone).

Details: 26 Noel street, London, W1F 8GY

The Cheese Wheel

Freshly rolled pasta. Dunked in a wheel of cheese.

Details: Kerb Food Ltd, Unit 62, The Loft, Camden Lock Market, NW1 8AF

CHEESE RESTAURANTS:

Morty and Bobs

best places in London to eat cheese

Starting out as a street food stall specialising in grilled cheese sandwiches, Morty & Bobs upgraded to something a little more permanent – the second floor of East London’s famed Netil House – in 2015. Slumped low in a Scandinavian styled sofa, immersed in a jungle of potted plants you can feast on their famed melts (regular, mushroom and truffle or ‘Nduja salami), as well as a few additional dishes like wild mushrooms and ricotta on sourdough or chickpea and chorizo salad.

Details: Netil House, 1 Westgate Street, E8 3RL

Champagne and Fromage

Shop cum restaurant, it does exactly what it says on the tin: great Champagne and over fifty different types of French cheese. You can drop in and take away or alternatively make an evening of it with the likes of bespoke cheese boards curated to your taste, baked camembert with figs and thyme or basil and sun-dried tomatoes; or, if it’s meat your after, boards of charcuterie or duck confit.

Details: 22 Wellington Street, WC2E 7DD; Unit 10-11, Brixton Village, SW9 8PR; 34 Greenwich, Church Street, SE10 9BL; 42 Newington Causway, SE1 6DR

The Cheese Bar

best places in London to eat cheese

The starters are cheese, the mains are cheese, the desserts are cheese. A lot of it’s melted, all of it’s delicious, and there are plenty of equally as enjoyable drinks – both soft and alcoholic – to wash it all down.

Details: Camden Market, North London, NW1 8AH

Androuet

It’s a restaurant inside a cheese shop, a quaint little place where every Tuesday to Sunday, lunch and dinner you can sit surrounded by shelves packed full of cheese (plus the occasional happy shopper) and feast on a menu of toasted sandwiches, pasta, raclette and fondue.

Details: 107B Commercial Street, E1 6BG

CHEESE MASTERCLASSES:

Wildes Cheese

You know that moment when you cut into a wheel of Rogue River Blue, try a little and think, I could do better than that…well now you can. At Wildes all you need is a day and you’ll come home well-versed in the art of cheese making from the comfort of your own abode. You’ll also return with a semi-hard white cheese, a semi-hard blue cheese, a lovely soft curd cheese, and a small camembert-style cheese to show off to your friends.

Neal’s Yard Dairy

Hosted by their in-house cheesemongers as well as the cheese-makers themselves, NY run classes teaching you everything from the tradition of British farmhouse cheese-making, to cheese pairings, and crafting the best cheese board. But the best part? Sometimes they let you try on the outfit.

Details: 17 Shorts Gardens, WC2H 9AT; 6 Park St, London SE1 9AB

Buchanans

As well as monthly cheese and wine pairing masterclasses and the occasional supper club, Buchanans also run Meet the Maker evenings (the humans, not the cows, unfortunately) where surrounded by professionals you can dip into the world of cheese, ask questions, taste a bit, a generally have a jolly good time.

Details: 5A Porchester Place, W2 2BS

For more on this story go to: https://thenudge.com/features/best-places-london-eat-cheese/