Neal’s Yard Dairy

Always a favorite stop in London. The prices are right, the cheese mongers are knowledgable, and the products are delicious. The cheeses are all locally made and taste better than any I’ve had before.
Go for the Stichelton– a less than strong bleu.

Cheese, cheese, this place is all about cheese and they know their stuff. I was really looking for some quality Camembert and this place seemed like a heaven to me then. The lady that helped me with my purchase was really friendly and welcoming. She really left a good impression on me and I will only buy cheese from here in the future since their prices aren’t that high. Beware that they have lots of cheese so if you feel a bit lost it’s best you call one of the friendly staff members for help.

Wonderful find in London. Our recent tour guide in France told us about it. A perfect cheese shop.

This place is awesome — definitely worth the trip for cheese lovers. So much cheese and they let you try lots of samples. Excellent variety.

Around the corner from Borough Market, a fantastic selection of fresh sourdough breads (raisin, rye, brown) that are half-​price on Wednesday.
For £2.50 (half price), I can get a round loaf the size of a dinner platter (I have to cut it in half to get it to fit in a ziplock freezer bag!).
Also get deli style odds and ends such as local jams, olives, olive oil, picalilli (sp?), and of course more cheese than you would ever know what to do with. If you ever want to know what £75 worth of stilton looks like, just check out their shelves and shelves of wheels on display.

CHEESE! If you love cheese, you NEED to go to Neals. There are walls of cheese, cheese samples and knowledgeable cheese people. Cheese is all you need to know about this place. Did I say cheese?

If I was stuck on a desert island with only one cheese shop to keep me company, it would be this one. I love their cheeses, their knowledgeable employees and their classes, as well. A few years back we did a beer and cheese pairing class that was lots of fun, though their website didn’t make it easy to order with my American address/​credit card. I persevered, though.
On our most recent trip to London we stopped by and put together a delicious assortment of cheeses and bread from Neals Yard and a few other things (meat pie, berries) from Borough Market vendors. We were the envy of the train, I’ll tell you that right now. I have to stop now; this is making me hungry.

They get you right at the door with samples chipped from giant wheels of amazing cheesey goodness. Don’t be daunted by the line – it goes quickly and when you get your turn, you’ll see why. The cheesemongers are excellent at understanding what you want and letting you sample as they try their best to get you exactly what you’re craving.

I reviewed and raved about the Soho branch but London Bridge Neals Yard Dairy is just as wonderful, friendly, offers excellent cheese selection and tasting experience as with the branch in Soho. Although I think this branch seems more spacious and bigger than the other branch. Either way, both are our favorite cheese store.

After arriving a bit early for the borough market I wandered around some of the nearby shops. When I saw the immense wheels of cheese in their window, I had to enter. Homer had his sirens. My temptress is cheese.
This place is for cheese lovers what the Willy Wonka Factory * is for candy lovers. Shelves stacked tall with all manner of fromage. And though I’ve been to other emporiums with a much larger selection, this place is more refined. Curated. For example, you’ll browse their selection of goats milk cheeses and think there’s nothing missing. Since I hadn’t even checked in to my hotel at this point, I wasn’t in a buying mode. But I did ask permission to take some pics and the nice staff not only obliged, but started slipping me samples.
I like blues and they offered tastes of several, and I was blown away by a particular selection called Stichelton. It’s similar to Stilton, but made from raw, unpasteurised milk and thus is much more dynamic. At this point I’m already half naked so I ask for their most stinkiest selection. What did they procure?
A cheese actually called Stinking Bishop, similar in texture to a Brie but much more pungent. I’ve had stinkier cheese, but those are usually too runny to deal with when you have no fridge. For a mere 8 pounds I got enough cheese to pair with bread which will cover a couple of meals in my budget wary stay in London… and I’m already guessing they’ll be some of the best bites of the trip.
* By the way, I did ask if there was a river of cheese I could dive into, but apparently there isn’t. Or they are just keeping it to themselves.

Quite literally, a temple to cheese.
Almost like a religious experience, with cheese lining the walls tucked high and low, almost an untouchable altar of gigantic and mouth-​watering offerings. Once in the shop, and you’ve waited your turn, the gods will smile on you as a Neal’s Yard apron wearing and knife wheedling cheesemonger starts the process of asking questions about what you are looking for, what you like, and by process of elimination trying to help you narrow your search. (Did I mention that this is is by far the best part, because now you are off and running, sampling and tasting freely on your search for the perfect choice?)
The cheese is sublime. And should there be any doubt that you’ve possibly died and gone to heaven, the foodie beloved Borough Market is right around the corner.

Neal’s Yard Dairy is to London what The Cheese Board Collective is to Berkeley, California — an outpost of cheesevana. The difference here, and something that I find particularly appealing, is that Neal’s Yard Dairy focuses almost entirely upon cheeses from the UK and Ireland, which is significant in that high quality fromage that is NOT FROM FRANCE is being showcased. Literally every cheesemaking region from the Isles is represented, and artisanal, small-​producers are emphasized.
It is an immensely satisfying experience simply to walk into either location, inhale a big whiff, and see the large wheels of cheese stacked upon the walls. Everyone who works here is helpful, intent on helping you find the right cheese, and very knowledgeable on the product.
As an added bonus, the breads available here are top-​notch. I got the best boule of white sourdough I’ve had since I left San Francisco — not as strong as the stuff back home, mind you, but of the perfect crunchy/​chewy/​airy consistency that few bakers seem to favor in the UK.
I need one of these in Glasgow. I.J. Mellis and George Mewes are very good, but they are not THIS.

Neal makes a pretty good deal, with his Yard — it is hard… to beat in terms of finding a better cheesey eat.
Neal, your Yard made my Christmas this year.
And it probably will continue to do so, every consecutive year I happen to be within reasonable travelling distance from one of your diary outlets…
Nothing less then several hunks of Britain’s finest cloth-​fermentations, after of course generous sampling activities guided by the ever helpful (and did I say handsome?) staff.
It is hard to leave without a sizeable wedge of the one and only cheddar of all cheddars, that being Montgomery. Though this visit, I was introduced to a new delight, one which is tempting me away from my faithful fromage into a dangerous affair… licentious Lancaster, how could you?! Well… I’m not saying it wasn’t worth it. And a stilton never goes down badly — whether in the form of a pungent cheese toastie, crumbled onto a pear and walnut salad, slapped onto an oat cracker or as a melting slab on top of my bacon-​and-​beef-​burger, one just can’t lose with the blues you won’t regret its purchase.
And don’t leave without a pound in quince to accompany the many wax paper wrapped blocks.
Though I am left pondering — is it acceptable to spend more on the cheese than the meat for such a festive occasion, as Christmas dinner? (- and I promise it was free range poultry too…)

It’s pretty much an obligatory stop for me on early Saturday mornings before picking up coffee at Monmouth and wading into the masses of Borough Market. We load up on some goats curd (amazing on sauteed and grilled veggies) from the large tub in the cooler, perhaps a goats cheese or three, and a vanilla cream-​filled doughnut. The third bit is the obligatory part. I can’t imagine there being a better artery-​clogging morning treat in London than this doughnut. And it’s hands down the best fried piece of dough in this fine metropolis – why are there so few doughnut establishments in London anyway?
As always, it pays to get there early. They generally run out by 11.

All hail the King of Cheese– HRH of all things washed, cured, smoked & fermented. They’ll give free samples till your taste buds find the «one». Just save your receipt if you find a keeper.
Also try their line of shower gels. The best smelling is the Rosemary and Elderflower, a kind of perfect combo for the guy in your life.

I really like this place. I’ve been here a few times, stopping by whenever I go to the Borough Market. The selection is vast, the staff is friendly and generous, and the prices are fair. The workers will give you samples without you even needing to ask. One guy yelled out to me from literally 15 feet away, asking (telling?) me to come try some of the cheese he was sampling out to customers. Top notch.

Neals Yard makes cheese porn. Yes, you heard me, wheels of ripe cheese cover most every surface of this shoppe. The staff are gratuitously cutting samples of every type of cheese and snacking themselves.
With such drool inducing cheeses as Stinking Bishop, why would you go anywhere else?

You brits have it lucky with a shop like this at your disposal. I had the pleasure of stopping here for some cheeses to accompany our lunch that was scrounged from the borough market.
Being from the states, I can tell you it’s appalling how much of a lack of knowledge american’s have for good cheese.
The shop was fantastic, the best I’ve ever been to, it makes me sad that it’s now a nine hour trip away from me.

Some singer once belted out «If there’s a rock and roll heaven, well you know they’ve got a hell of a band.» That’s downright true. And, if there’s a heaven for cheese, it must be disguising itself as Neal’s Yard Dairy.
I was lured into this place one gray and typically chilly London day by the seductive wave of a piece of Stichelton cheese held out on the end of a cheese-​cutting utensil. «Try it!» encouraged the worker. I reached out tentatively, gingerly, carefully and let the morsel of angelic food fall into my palm and from my palm into my mouth. Oh, the delight. The potent, creamy, absolutely stunning flavor burst forth like a fireworks finale.
From there I wandered into the store, passed the section with fresh breads and headed straight for the cheese counter. I’d passed the gates of heaven and found myself thrown into some sort of paradise. Cheese left and right, up and down, round and square, firm and soft. And there, to tend to my every curiosity, jovial salespeople. If I so much as looked at a cheese or mumbled its exotic name, the staff sliced off a small chunk for me to sample. Now if there’s one thing I like better than free samples, it’s true love. True love and samples that you don’t feel guilty taking. No one stared at me maliciously as I noshed bite after glorious bite of cheese. I settled upon a cheese so creamy, it melted like hot butter in your mouth. So tasty, it sang songs of praise to my olfactory senses.
I ate so many free samples that I blew up to the size of a giant round balloon, just like in Willy Wonka. The Oompa Loompas rolled me out as I cried with tears of joy clutching my cheese purchase to my size V inflated chest.
This place is a cheese lover’s paradise. Some of the cheeses are more expensive than buying a Picasso painting, but darn my socks if they aren’t deliciously worth it. Next time you’re feeling like some mighty fine dairy, head over to Neal’s and eat your heart of Camembert out.

Being in a Neals Yard cheese shop is an immersive experience. The smells are deep and rich. Friendly staff encourage tasting. Somehow they manage to make good old cheddar cheese sound exciting. NY specialises in British cheese only so Parmesan fans need to look elsewhere. Staff will generally offer a similar alternative.
On the dairy side, try the hard to find clotted cream butter. It’s delicious. Bit disappointing on the yoghurts but only because I prefer a thicker consistency.
The cheeses are pricey but when you find yourself eating a plastic tasting commercially produced supermarket cheese, you’ll understand why. It is possible to order Neals Yard cheese online and have it delivered but where’s the fun in that.