A wet September morning gave Borough Market a different atmosphere. Umbrellas crowded the pavements, rain darkened the stone around Southwark Cathedral, and the covered market offered a welcome escape from the weather. The destination in this Roberts London film was Monmouth Coffee, already one of the best-known names in London’s specialist coffee scene.

A rainy walk through Borough Market

Filmed in September 2018, the journey begins beside Southwark Cathedral and continues towards the market through steady rain. The weather does little to reduce the crowds. Visitors move beneath umbrellas while traders work under the iron-and-glass roofs, creating the kind of busy London scene that makes the market feel both historic and entirely contemporary.

Borough Market’s location is part of its character. London Bridge station, the cathedral and the Thames are all close by, while the railway arches and Victorian market buildings frame the food stalls. For a visitor arriving from the station, Monmouth Coffee sits naturally on the route into this compact part of Southwark.

Monmouth Coffee and London’s specialist coffee culture

Monmouth Coffee began roasting and retailing coffee in Covent Garden in 1978. Its later presence at Borough Market placed it among the specialist food businesses that helped shape the market’s modern identity. By the time of this 2018 visit, the Borough Market shop was an established destination rather than a passing trend.

The film approaches the shop from the market side. Its simple frontage and corner position are immediately recognisable, as is the queue. Waiting outside has long been part of the experience here, and on this morning customers stand beneath umbrellas before moving into the compact interior.

The queue also shows how London coffee culture had changed. Specialist beans, careful sourcing and attention to preparation were no longer niche interests by 2018. They had become familiar parts of a trip to Borough Market, alongside bread, cheese, produce and cooked food from independent traders.

Inside the Borough Market shop

Before going inside, the film pauses on the surrounding architecture. Decorative ironwork, covered passages and food displays give the market a strong sense of place. The setting matters because Monmouth Coffee does not feel separated from Borough Market; it is woven into the movement and character of the streets around it.

Inside, the shop is lively and tightly arranged. Customers gather around a large shared table while staff prepare drinks behind the counter. The communal layout makes the space feel sociable, but the number of visitors means that a takeaway cup can be the practical choice on a busy morning.

The display of roasted beans reinforces that this is a coffee retailer as well as a café. Different coffees are labelled for customers, bringing the roasting and selling sides of the business together in one small space. It gives the visit a sense of purpose beyond simply ordering a drink.

A straightforward cup of black coffee

The order in the film is deliberately simple: black coffee, served to take away. There is no elaborate tasting ceremony. The cup is carried back outside into the market, where the rain and passing crowds supply the setting for the review.

The coffee is described as strong, smooth and full of flavour. More importantly, the film records the whole experience around it: the walk from Southwark Cathedral, the umbrellas at the market entrance, the outside queue, the busy shared table and the rows of roasted beans. Together, those details explain why this shop became such a recognisable London destination.

Borough Market in the Roberts London archive

Seen now, the film is also a small record of Borough Market in 2018. The market was already internationally known, yet the visit remains grounded in ordinary London life: difficult weather, a short queue and a warming cup of coffee. That balance between destination and everyday routine is what gives the footage its value.

Monmouth Coffee at Borough Market is presented here without claiming a definitive ranking. Taste is personal, and London has many excellent independent cafés and roasters. What the film captures is a particular place at a particular moment: one of the city’s established coffee names, busy on a rainy Saturday, serving a straightforward drink in the heart of Southwark.