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London Groceries
What? I can't eat out for -every- single meal. Or -can- I...?
11 Places
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Kevin’s 5-star review: Chances are... if you hate rainbows, freedom, and the like... you're also going to hate on Unpackaged and everything this shop stands for. Mere blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Chapel Market, Unpackaged offers an alternative to your organic nuts, flours, oils, vinegars, and various sundry other kitchen and home goods purchasing needs. As its appellation suggests, you'll want to bring your own containers and bags, as most products here come... you guessed it... unpackaged. There are a few cork-able glass bottles for liquids and plastic bags for your use here, but the idea is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. In addition to snacks and meal ingredients, Unpackaged offers a seemingly random smattering of other edibles worth taking a nosey at - mouthwatering Scotch eggs, Pieminister pies, and home-made/locally sourced baked goods. If you're a fan of not-so-sweet nibbles, check out the muesli cake by Sasha. Yum. While I wish they were open on Sunday, so I could take advantage of the farmers market at Chapel Market and hit up Unpackaged in one go, this is certainly a shop worth popping into any other day of the week. If only they had a location slightly closer to my flat, I'd be in here all the time! -
Kevin’s 3-star review: You'd do well do drop in for your canned and dry goods, but pass on the produce. On the upside, I was able to ask for the specific sauce I was looking for in Mandarin and get an answer (well, really it was more of a directional wave) back. Unfortunately, the cashiers were possibly the slowest ones I've ever encountered in a Chinese grocery. I realise that's not saying a whole lot, considering the robotic speed I've seen Chinese cashiers bag goods elsewhere, but still... Oh, and a giant bag of wooden chopsticks for just ~£1.50? Now -that's- a bargain I can buy into. -
Kevin’s 3-star review: Every time I come to this Sainsbury's, I'm always astounded to discover something new that I didn't realize they carried. The first time, it was Tabasco sauce. The real stuff. With the Tabasco brand label in the little red cardboard box and everything. Then it was tomato juice. Because... what good is Tabasco unless you have a decently boozy Bloody Mary to put it in? More recently, it was disinfectant wipes - even Robert Dyas doesn't sell those! Next thing you know, they'll be stocking things like peanut butter and Ziploc bags. Wishful thinking? Or future amazingness? -
Kevin’s 2-star review: Is this what mid-tier groceries are supposed to be like here? Because if so, I'd hate to see what the low-end ones have to offer... I've yet to encounter another store checkout quite as arduous as this one: the first cashier I walked up to couldn't get his register to work - it wouldn't ring up any of my items. The second cashier I got pawned off to swiped my card, but then had to go scrambling up and down the line to ask for a pen. Yes, it's annoying that I don't yet have my chip and PIN card, but you have the stripe technology; a measly writing utensil should not be a challenge to scrounge up. To add insult to injury, I'm nonplussed by the goods I've consumed thus far. In reality, it's limited to just my chicken salad sandwich, but we're talking soggy bread, flavorless chicken, and wilted lettuce. On the upside, it only cost £1.85, so I suppose you get what you pay for here. All I have to say is... this toilet paper better be the cushiest, softest, fluffiest made-out-of-spun-clouds I've ever felt given these prices... -
Kevin’s 2-star review: Seriously, there's such a thing as being -too- nice. It's one thing to help a customer out by finding her a bottle of pills and letting her know that she can score a discount with some coupon along with a purchase of a magazine. It's a little overboard when you then spend ten minutes trying to sort out another transaction for the same person and hunting for a product that is out of stock... while you have other customers waiting in line to check out. I mean... even the little old lady trying to make her pills purchase turned around to apologise to me, saying, 'I'm not usually that customer.' Yeah, you wouldn't be if the employees here didn't enable you... The mind-boggling bit was the other staffer that was off doing something inexplicably unrelated to checking people out while all this was happening. You have two tills and two people working. My maths aren't great, but... At least Holland and Barrett does carry a wide variety of health foods and obscure fitness products. -
Kevin’s 4-star review: Mother Earth has now expanded next door - the original location here is in the process of transforming into a café, albeit at a glacial pace. According to the lady at the till, it's only taken four years to get this boutique speciality food store to the state it's in now. All that said, Mother Earth is a haven for all things organic and eco-friendly. Much like Unpackaged, they sell many products in bulk - from coconut flakes to porridge to dried apricots. Boxes of gluten-free cereals deck the shelves next to orange blossom water and pink Himalayan salt. If you need an obscure healthy ingredient, you're likely to find it here. Though the selection is pretty jaw-dropping, the prices (not surprisingly) are as well. My bottle of rose water and jar of organic peanut butter ran over eight quid. Good thing it's next door to the Newington Green Fruit and Veg market, where I can make up for my splurge-y impulse buys by nicking some quality produce on the cheap. So... anyone know any great cocktail recipes involving rose water...? -
Kevin’s 5-star review: Hat tip to Lizzie G for first introducing me to this place! Newington Green Fruit and Veg by the numbers: 1 - hunk of ginger root 1 - garlic bulb 3 - grapefruits 4 - onions 5 - carrots 10 - stalks of celery (in a bag) 3.83 - Total cost in £s for all the above. No partridge. No pear tree. I'm a cheap yellow bastard that likes quality products, so it's no wonder I'm a regular here even though it's a 20+ minute trip on the 341 for me.
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Kevin’s 3-star review: Terroni is, for all intents and purposes, a clone of Veneticus, just up the street. It's another Italian deli featuring cured meats, various cheeses, take-home pastas, sauces, sweets, and some high-end wines from the motherland. I opted to compare the made-to-order sandwiches and after asking for recommendations, I ended up with a simple panino with spicy salami, a spiced cheese from southern Italy (reportedly where they're into their capsaicin), and some marinated artichokes. Dining in resulted in my focaccia being served on a plate with some bonus side salad drizzled in oil and balsamic. For the price, I'd argue that you could get more for your money at Veneticus, however they do have some interesting and affordable grocery products worth taking a nosey at - I left with some chilli peanuts and a small jar of pesto I'm interested in trying out. The folks behind the counter were properly Italian, and many of the clientele made their 'buon giornos' and 'ciaos' as they entered the shop, so I take it that Terroni has wide appeal within the ex-pat community for having been open only three weeks. I'm curious to see how this shop evolves over time... -
Kevin’s 3-star review: This Sainsbury's honestly isn't that much different than your run-of-the-mill corner grocery in central London. You have a measly selection of culinary ingredients, some prepared foods, and various other household necessities like man-size and toilet cleaner. However, the one factor that sets this Sainsbury's apart from any other that I've been inside is that their self-checkout machines will sort change for you automagically! Yep. You just chuck all your loose change into a bowl and the machine will chug along merrily and let you know how much of your bill remains after it's done counting. Fair warning - machine mental math may be slower than yours (I'm looking at Tristan), so some patience is required. -
Kevin’s 4-star review: Meats, cheeses, and breads... oh my! Wines, pre-packaged foods, and a bounty of beverages, as well. Hoxton Beach falafels, Monmouth coffee, cookies and cakes galore, no less. If there's any sort of gourmet food item that Sourced Market -doesn't- offer, it wasn't obvious to me. If you've a heavy purse (or man-bag) and you're looking to put together the picnic of your dreams, a stop into the various stalls that make up Sourced Market at St. Pancras International is sure to net you everything you could possibly desire. NB: AmEx is not accepted here. -
Kevin’s 5-star review: CERN and the Tevatron need to forget about all this Higgs boson business; we have bigger mysteries of the universe to uncover. Like how it's possible for the pork roast bap to be slathered with cranberry sauce and gravy, yet still be shockingly tidy to consume. At a mere £4, this mighty sandwich boasts huge slabs of tender, juicy roast pig, a fluffy roll that somehow absorbs all the excess sauces without falling apart, and plenty of savoury stuffing to round out the experience. It's a wonder of nature, truly. Beyond an affordable lunchtime repast, I observed a butcher taking apart a whole leg of lamb (I think) in the background. The meats in the deli cases are mouthwatering. I have a feeling I'm going to need to take advantage of some of those steaks to grill up at home soon. The Ginger Pig has certainly earned a spot in my office lunchtime rotation. Hooray for a carnivore's wonderland just minutes away from my desk!
