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Top ten places for food shopping in London

December 23, 2013 26 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

The entire country is out there, frantically packed into supermarkets, jamming up the car parks, tossing food and drink into their shopping trolleys, for the winter feast that is Christmas. In this post, I want to suggest a few alternatives. As a Londoner, I can only speak for London shops, but I’d love readers to suggest other fantastic shops, in London and elsewhere in the UK in the comments. These are my picks, not just for Christmas but any time of the year.
My advice when visiting these shops is to make a day of it. Have lunch there or nearby. Take big shopping bags and fill them with new exciting bottles and jars, exotic cookware, strange fruits. Generally they are so cheap that if you don’t like it, it’s no big deal. Talk to the shop keepers, ask questions, hell, I chat to the other customers, especially housewives who look like they have experience of cooking dinner for a large family for several decades. 

Italian:

Lina stores in Soho. Beautiful shop with pale green tiles, friendly knowledgeable service.
Clerkenwell used to be the Little Italy in London. Between 1880 and the First World War, hundreds of thousands of Italians moved here, including my great grandparents. My great grandfather worked for Carlo Gatti’s icecream makers. (My parents still live in Clerkenwell.) The clown Grimaldi also lived in Clerkenwell and has a blue plaque. There is an annual Italian festival in the area, centred around the Italian church, with swaying processions and statues of the Virgin Mary. More Little Italy history here.
In Clerkenwell, I recommend the Italian shop Gazzano’s,  known for Puglia bread.The shelves are a treasure trove of Italian foods. My parents shop there every week.
Also the vintage Continental Stores down the road in Kings Cross. Run by an elderly couple, they don’t have a great deal of stock by modern day standards, but it’s worth visiting just for the shop front. Unfortunately this is now closed. 🙁
Online Italian shopping:
Try this new company. Delicatezza, they sell fresh UK made burrata, bottarga and unusual stripey tortellini.

Food Halls:

Fortnum and Mason. Piccadilly.
It’s 300 years old, started by a royal footman from a spare room in his house, it eventually expanded into the most beautiful food shop, possibly in the world. It is not as expensive as you’d think. I once bought some heritage potatoes at Borough market, then discovered they were cheaper at Fortnums. It’s a pleasure to enter this old-fashioned food hall, with exquisitely packaged products, many of which are ‘own brand’, and frock-coated shop assistants. There is nowhere else like it. Interestingly, they employ an archivist on site and have bee hives on the roof in their company colours.
Selfridges, Oxford st:
It has become more adventurous, food-wise, over the last decade, bringing in people like Bompas and Parr to do food and drink installations on the roof, commissioning stunning foodie window displays and housing boutique restaurants. And of course, a fantastic spread of some of the most interesting food products from all over the world plus an essential selection of American foods.

Markets:

Broadway market, Saturdays, London Fields
I feel very envious of those living in Hackney having access to this now trendy but authentic street market. It’s actually quite recent, in the last five years, that it’s become a place to go. When I was squatting in London Fields pool in 2002-5, there wasn’t much happening yet. Cheaper than Borough and less corporate, it is the testing ground of many a famed street food producer including banhmi sandwiches, artisanally smoked salmon, Violet cakes to name but a few.
Borough Market, London Bridge
This was the first revival of the artisanal food markets,  but a victim of its success, and far too touristy on Fridays and Saturdays. Best go on a Thursday. Still got Neal’s Yard Dairy though, the best place for British cheeses, selling also Irish tea and Maggie Beer’s verjuice. Go early to Neal’s Yard, the queues at this time of year are horrendous.
Portobello Road Market, Ladbroke grove tube.
Mixed among the tourists and the Notting Hill set, this market remains a true working class street market, with hard as nails women (fake tans, plucked eyebrows, backcombed hair, glamour under their quilted jackets, these ladies are impervious to all weathers) shouting out bargains in authentic cockney. A wonderful mushroom man at the end, good fresh produce, some cheap deals to be had on cheese and chocolates.
Ridley Road Market: Dalston junction.
Turkish, Jewish and Caribbean foods, very cheap, a good bagel shop and a large branch of PartyParty.
Brixton Market:
Not just the market but also the arcades of hip Brixton village, a jumble of inexpensive exotic foreign produce, ‘jungle’ meat, fresh produce and tiny (in size and menu) restaurants on their first stepping stone from supper club or street food stall to high street domination. It’s the other end of London for me, so I rarely go but well worth a visit.

Asian food:

Wing Yip, Cricklewood.
This family run emporium started in Manchester and has a large branch in Cricklewood, near Staples Corner. Hence it’s only, realistically, reachable by car but they do also have online shopping. On Sundays this place is buzzing, with food tastings and a crowded restaurant. The prices are fantastically cheap and the staff are helpful. They even pack your bags for you. There is a wholesale section at the back, useful for buying in bulk. They also sell some Chinese cookware and tableware. The whole place smells faintly of Durian fruit, but sweetly not in a stinky-feet way. I love coming here, it’s an interesting trip in itself as you’ll discover new foods.
Chinatown:
There is a whole street of Chinese supermarkets. You find some weird stuff there. I wish they had food demonstrations and more English language explanations of some of the stranger products like the little black nuts (?) that look like vampires.
Mare Street:
After visiting Broadway market, you could graze around the Vietnamese supermarkets such as the Le Mi Supermarket and Video Store on Mare St.
Japan Centre, Shaftesbury Avenue:
Bloody expensive but intriguing with great quality sushi which you can eat in or takeaway. Try the soft texture tofu which is like cream, flown over from Japan. Excellent vegetable peelers for sale and loose leaf Japanese tea.
Natural Natural, Finchley Rd and Ealing Common
I go to this Japanese shop as it’s near me. The staff are very sweet and helpful, they have a cartoony notice saying ‘How do you eat these things? We are always happy to help you, from the natural natural staff’. On the fruit and veg stall outside, you can buy fresh burdock and lotus root plus everything is very carefully wrapped as if it were precious, even single carrots. In the chiller there is a large selection of fresh tofu in different textures from super silky to extra firm.

Middle Eastern food:

Persepolis, Peckham 
You will most likely be served by a flame haired woman, a cookbook author named Sally Butcher. I spent a day there helping out, which was great fun. Sally will happily talk about the food they sell and  can speak fluent Persian. People travel from all over the UK and Europe to buy their authentic imported Iranian foods, especially the flown-in pastries. A little counter, selling some of Sally’s food, is in the back.
Edgware road:
Plenty of fascinating food shops, all very good value, in this area which has become London’s Little Arabia. Green Valley supermarket is one good name that is bandied about. Afterwards you can dip into one of the cafés, have a mint tea or strong silty coffee and smoke a fruit tobacco hookah.

Indian:

V and B supermarket (Wembley and Southall)
I can spend hours here, photographing and taking notes: the sugar loaves, the open vats of pickle, the fresh spices. This whole area is worth a half day of your time: enamel bowls, bargain large saucepans for bulk cooking, chaat stalls, fresh ‘tinda’ (Indian pumpkins), dirt cheap buckets of creamy yoghurt, green curry leaves, thin wooden chapati rolling pins. You feel like you have travelled to India. Heaven.
Bangladeshi food shopping: find clay pots of date syrup, terracotta dishes of sweet yellow yoghurt, Bengladeshi lemons, big knobbly fragrant green things, large half crescents of green black beans, saffron hued betel nuts are to be found in the stalls and supermarkets just outside of Whitechapel tube.

Eastern European/Kurdish:

Where2save 352-354 Kilburn High Rd and Harlesden.
We used to have Food World in Kilburn, a treasure trove of unusual foods from around the world, crammed into one shabby supermarket. The landlord wanted to triple the rent so this local resource disappeared. Never mind! We now have Where2save a few doors up. Run by Kurds, this small shop is expanding every year. The range of their products, compared to a conventional supermarket, is impressive. How do you compete with the supermarkets? I asked the owner. By making sure that we stock different products to the big four, he replied. Their fruit and veg stall outside has fresh, good quality produce that puts supermarkets to shame. Every time I visit, I try a new Eastern European dairy product, or Brazilian tempera or one of the huge selection of inexpensive nuts. If I want a chowchow, some Georgian-style green plums, Turkish ‘sultana’ grapes, chervil, some tiny Indian limes for pickling, sour cherry fruit leather, this is where I go.
Speaking of Kilburn, a reader on Twitter has mentioned that Bestco supermarket is good. This is true, I’ve often found unusual foodstuffs there, including uncured olives. It has a wide selection of Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Brazilian and African foods. It’s open 24/7.

Grocers:

Newington Green, Newington Green, Islington.
Not only do they have super fresh, unusual fruit and veg, they use any spoiled or leftover fruit to make their own jams, chutneys and pickles (see comment below however). Extremely helpful staff who will carry to your car. An emotional paean to this shop is written by my fellow blogger Rocket & Squash.
Clifton Greens, owned by the same people but in Maida Vale. I bought some great food there, such as preserved mandarins in jars and fresh jalapeño peppers.
Andreas Veg in Chelsea,  probably the best quality fruit and vegetables in London. This is where the stars shop.

Caribbean food:

Blue Mountain Peak, Harlesden:
My Caribbean friends make the journey to this shop in murder mile in Harlesden to get authentic products. They’ve just gone online too, so everyone can order from them.
Hackney, Dalston and Brixton are also good areas for Caribbean food.

Mexican:

Casa Mexico is a beautiful shop in the East End run by a friendly older couple who live half the time in Mexico. I spent a small fortune there for my New Year’s Eve supper club. Here you can buy packs of corn husks for tamales, pinatas, imported tequila, large packets of dried pasilla chillies, mole, blue masa and giant black stone molcajetes for grinding your corn like a Mexican grandmother. 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mamacook

    December 23, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    Fantastic! Thank you. I have a friend who works near Southall, I've sent this on!!!

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      December 23, 2013 at 3:53 pm

      Southall is briliant too, but VB & Sons is in Wembley. Very similar to Southall. Lots of women in saris and winter coats.

      Reply
  2. Emma Julia

    December 23, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    For sheer surprise, for me it had to be Old Spitalfields Market, and Broadway Markets in Hackney on a Saturday. Delicious!

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      December 24, 2013 at 11:26 am

      Yes Old Spitalfields is good, but not so much for food? Broadway market is mentioned above, it's great.

      Reply
  3. Vanessa Kimbell

    December 24, 2013 at 3:59 am

    Shiva Shakti Foods is an amazing Asian Supermarket stocking lots of Gujarati food. Have the budget lunch at Bobbies then pop over the Road the the Jeram Music centre who stock a brilliant array of cookware.

    4-6 Macdonald Road
    Leicester
    Leicestershire
    LE4 5HD
    Fax: 0116 268 1622
    0116 268 1622 Add Review

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      December 24, 2013 at 11:25 am

      Thanks Vanessa, really useful!

      Reply
  4. Avni Kensington Hotel

    December 24, 2013 at 4:46 am

    Thanks for sharing a useful places for food shopping blog. London is one of the best city for shopping, visiting and foods.
    Click Here

    Reply
  5. Miri

    December 30, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    Thanks for this – I have just moved to Kilburn & already in love with Wing Yip and Bestco – will need to investigate where2save now! My all-time favourite grocers is All Seasons opposite Preston Road, excellent selection and very friendly (and attractive) staff.

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      January 13, 2014 at 12:15 am

      Best co is pretty good too, they were rubbish but have improved. You can now get fresh uncured olives there and good fresh veg.

      Reply
  6. Anonymous

    January 5, 2014 at 6:57 pm

    Inspired me to look again at Where2Save – and to tell them they feature. Jamal was thrilled about it and didn't know. Michael

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      January 6, 2014 at 10:11 am

      Hi Michael,
      I did let the owner, is it Jamal? know. I told him to get a proper website!

      Reply
  7. Kavey

    January 12, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    Yes, completely agree, living in London we have so many more options than just the same old supermarkets… good to see such a comprehensive list.

    Re Broadway and Borough, I think if you'd asked me even 6 months ago, I'd have said same about Broadway feeling more authentic and Borough being victim of its own success but now I'd have to say it seems to have gone the other way. When I went to Broadway yesterday, there were so very many stalls selling food to eat there and then that there was much less room for stalls selling actual produce, the kind one might want to buy at a food market. Still enjoyable, but just felt packed packed packed, harder to approach stalls there than at Borough!
    Whereas the extensions / refurbs at Borough mean there's more space there now and seem to be so many stalls that really are all about the produce. Sure, the prices are higher than a basic market, but the quality and choice is just phenomenal. I genuinely think Borough is on the rise again, as a genuine foodie destination, not just a tourist trap.

    For Japanese, can I also add Atari-ya? The North Finchley branch, where I love, isn't huge but has a great range of Japanese fresh, dry and frozen produce, plus my favourite, the fresh fish counter, including sashimi grade fish, and I often buy trays of sashimi, choosing exactly how many pieces of each fish I want in the selection.

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      January 13, 2014 at 12:14 am

      Hi Kavey, thanks for your comments. I haven't been to Borough for a few months so will check it out again. But I do think its prices are very high.
      Atari-ya….great recommendation.

      Reply
  8. youngandfoodish

    January 12, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    A fabulous list and beautifully illustrated. I will keep it bookmarked. Thanks so much, K.

    Just two points:

    1) Mr Bagel, the Ridley Road bagel shop, is no longer very good and hasn't been for some time.

    2) The incomparable Newington Green Fruit & Veg doesn't make its own jams and never did. I can see how this account took root, however: A local customer used to sell jams to the grocer with produce she purchased there but she moved away several years ago to South London.

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      January 13, 2014 at 12:12 am

      Thanks, yes it's true, it's no longer as good as it was but then there are no very good bagel places in London. There are a couple near me in Cricklewood and they are 'ok'. The brick lane ones are merely 'ok' too. So I'm starting from a low baseline.
      The Newington Green place had loads of jams say 3 years ago? Their sister branch in Maida Vale definitely has preserves.
      Anyway, thanks for your comment Daniel
      x

      Reply
  9. Afro Caribbean Grocery Store

    June 26, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    Blue Mountain Peak is a family owned business establised in 1976 named after the world famous Blue Mountain in Jamaica, specialising in Afro-Caribbean Food Products from around the world. Over the years the company has gradually grown, with two retail outlets and one wholesale outlet for fresh fruit & veg. Blue Mountain Peak has now taken the step to provide it's specialist products online for everyone to enjoy.

    Reply
  10. Karen B

    August 4, 2015 at 8:40 am

    Fab list…thank you!

    Just wanted to add two locations:

    1) A lovely little Korean food store called Centre Point Food Store (71-75 New Oxford St London WC1A 1DG) where I indulge in their mayonnaise and Korean Red Pepper Powder, which I rub onto a chicken before roasting

    2) Bethnal Green Road has a series of supermarkets between St Matthew's Row and Wilmot Street that has lots of Indian supermarkets. Everything you need from fruit, veggies, pulses and spices to host a curry night.

    Hope these help.

    K

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 4, 2015 at 9:58 am

      thanks Karen. Yes I've been to some of those shops on Bethnal Green Rd…very good!

      Reply
    • Gavin

      December 4, 2015 at 1:21 pm

      Think Centre Point Food Store's moved to 20-21 St Giles High St, London WC2H 8LN. That whole little bit of London around St Giles has been utterly fucked up by the Crossrail Development at Tottenham Court Rd station.

      Reply
  11. madamchocolat

    December 8, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    This is a great blog piece and I love the illustrations – who are they by?

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      December 8, 2015 at 5:19 pm

      I used an app on photos to create this .

      Reply
  12. Lisa Cookwitch

    December 20, 2015 at 6:19 am

    Thanks for this!

    (Continental Stores in Kings Cross has closed now. He FINALLY retired, as the rent forced him out. This is my saddest face ever, as I loved that shop.)

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      January 5, 2016 at 11:35 pm

      I did hear that, thanks, I will edit the post.

      Reply
  13. Ann

    May 5, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    Eat in Italy online shop sell Italian products too…mostly organic
    http://eat-in-italy.co.uk/shop/

    Reply
  14. Victor Tavares

    February 9, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    Fantastic a real ethnic tour of London. I'm also into ethnic seafood products, namely salted and dried fish. London is a great place for food. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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  1. The Long Lunch Interview: Bee Wilson, The Way We Eat Now says:
    March 8, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    […] I talked to the shopkeeper of Where 2 Save, I’ve written about him as well. I asked: ‘What’s your technique?’ because they have so much different stuff and […]

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Just bought a beautiful fresh wreath on Kilburn hi Just bought a beautiful fresh wreath on Kilburn high road- £10! Bargain. I’m home now but will be posting more from my Italian adventures over the next few days #christmasdecor #christmas #christmaswreath
The ancient village of Erice near trapani in Sicil The ancient village of Erice near trapani in Sicily. I scratched my hire car going up a one way street by mistake. On one side you have the sea, the other rocky outcrops. The bells toll, cats slink from doors, I ate marzipan fruits and drank coffee. In winter there are no tourists which is a relief. Nativity scenes are tucked into every niche, the baby Jesus nestled upon highly decorated cakes. You can eat busiate the local pasta shape, twisted among a nest of almonds- pesto trapanese. My nonna Carmela made rag rugs. I never met her.  #sicily #erice #travelandfood
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Yesterday I visited Noto in Sicily. It’s famous Yesterday I visited Noto in Sicily. It’s famous for baroque architecture. The churches, shops and streets are ready for Christmas, with nativity scenes, lights and wrapped presents. The light is beautiful, softly golden, as it is in all of these villages under the eaves of Mount Etna, puffing innocently in the background. Sicily has so much to discover. Of course I had an orange, olive and fennel salad. #citrus #travel #sicily #noto
Went to see the orange groves of @la_.deliziosa_ i Went to see the orange groves of @la_.deliziosa_ in Sicily, under the eaves of mount Etna which is glowing orange with streams of lava making their way down the snowy verges. The air smells of charcoal, smoke and occasionally sulphur. This grove is seven years old. The oranges 🍊 have stretch marks like the swollen belly of a pregnant woman. They will be ready to pick in two weeks. #citrusseason #sicily
The most brilliant focaccia from the Puglia region The most brilliant focaccia from the Puglia region, hot, oily, crispy, with sweet cherry 🍒 tomatoes, green olives and plenty of salt- which we ate in the fields with the farmers. Food always tastes better when eaten outside. @commissioneuvadatavola
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Lebu or Bengali lemon in Whitechapel. These are so Lebu or Bengali lemon in Whitechapel. These are so floral. You just use the zest, there isn’t much juice or flesh. A pound each which is cheap. Just turn left out of Whitechapel station and most of the greengrocers have them. Do not confuse with lime. These are big and knobbly. #london #citrus #elizabethline #bengalifood
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Home grown poblano chillies. They didn’t reach t Home grown poblano chillies. They didn’t reach the size of one’s from Mexico, which are more like bell papers. But it’s virtually impossible to get fresh poblanos in the UK. It’s a shame as they are very mild, a more interesting flavour than bell peppers. They are wonderful stuffed, in soup or to make the Mexican national dish - poblanos with walnut sauce. #londongarden #londonmexicanfood
I’ve been doing the tube game, no cheating, no c I’ve been doing the tube game, no cheating, no conferring. This score means I’m officially a nerd according to @helenlewisposts I’ve always thought if I were kidnapped and held in solitary Terry Waite style, that this is how I’d pass my time, remembering every stop on the London Underground. They should do one for the paris metro. I lived in paris for 5 years so I wonder how I’d do with that. This is the link if you want to have a go: https://london.metro-memory.com
Russell Norman’s latest book Brutto @bru.tto all Russell Norman’s latest book Brutto @bru.tto all about florentine food and Tuscan recipes. Beautifully designed, great photos. Recipes include florence favourites such as panini con lampredotto ( tripe- not for me thanks), schiacciata, negronis. Can’t say I’m a fan of salt less Tuscan bread though ( introduced due to the salt tax) but Russell explains it’s never supposed to be eaten on its own but as a mop for highly flavoured sauce. There are a lot of neat recipes but also plenty of vegetarian ones. Want to try the sugar caramelised pecorino. The book has the Russell Norman trademark of an exposed and stitched spine. Lovely design as ever. One for the Christmas lists. Also thankyou to @eburybooks for their quick efficiency in sending me the book. I do review books: for my blog, for social media and also for newspapers. Yet I struggle to get hard copies of books- looking @murdochbooks_uk for instance. I’ve asked for @tessakiros and @missfoodwise latest books but impossible. Sometimes publishers say we can send an e version. NO! Books are physical objects: the paper, the typeface the feel are all important otherwise I’ll just read a website. Also writers get paid SO little the least publishers can do is send you an actual book. Do they expect us to buy the copies? I find they’ll often send some shitty little TV cook or minor celebrity book or my particular personal horror- wellness books- but not actually something you want to review. Rant over. Not the authors fault but the publishers. #cookbook #review #publishers
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