Pleased by Cheese

Near the top of my Top 5 Favorite Things to Do in London is a morning at Borough Market. Sure, the bloom has gone off of it a bit - it is now INSANELY and deeply unpleasantly crowded - but is still foodie heaven. Pictures seen below are of my new favorite stand, Raclette Man. I dont think that's actually the name, and both times it was actually a woman behind the raclette thingamabob, but super mmmm.

The stand is owned/run by an affineur (cheese ripener) from Neal's Yard Dairy. They make 2 things: raclette (from the French "to scrape") made from a British version of the Swiss original cheese.
The cheese is wedged under a individual heater and broiled until bubbly. It is then scraped onto a pile of baked new potatoes and mini spicy pickles. You only get a glimpse of the woman behind the machine in this pic, but she was so f-ing cute you felt a little less guilty about eating a giant cheese bomb.

The stand also makes a toasted cheese sandwich of Montgomery cheddar and a smidge of red onions and leeks on Poilane sourdough bread. After a little research, I found the Ruth Reichl of Gourmet magazine had recently tried said sarnie and declared it close to "the Platonic ideal of a grilled cheese sandwich". So, um yeah. It was mindbending.

My other highlights: Indian chicken and mushroom saute in coriander pancakes, "devils on horseback" (prunes wrapped in bacon), and twice-baked banana almond cake. I thought briefly about braving the queue for the chorizo and piquillo pepper sandwiches at Brindisa, a famous Spanish food stand, but it looked almost as daunting as the immigration line at Heathrow.

Next installment: I drink!