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This small, well-stocked shop has all the things you need for a great Thai meal. Fresh fruit and vegetables are imported from Thailand, so you’ll be able to buy hard-to-find delights such as mangosteens, the ‘queen of fruits’, as well as essential ingredients such as kaffir lime leaves and Asian holy basil. There is a huge range of curry pastes as well as a comprehensive selection of noodles, rice and seasonings.
This well-stocked Ethiopian food shop specialises in freshly milled flour – including rice, millet and maize flour – used for making traditional breads such as the soft, slightly sour injera flatbread. You’ll also find Ethiopian coffee and more unusual ingredients such as ‘grains of paradise’ (a pungent and peppery West African spice). A good buy is the aged spice butter, ideal for flavouring stews.
Thisis one of the few places in London where you can find freekeh, a roasted young green wheat. A range of products from all over the Mediterranean feature on the shelves, from Lebanon, Greece, Turkey and Italy. However, it’s the halal butcher that shines the most – the offal and own-made sausages are worth the trip alone.
This popular Wembley Gujarati local has buckets of moreish, freshly made pickles all sold by weight. Rare herbs and spices, hard to find elsewhere in London, are in abundance, such as cobra saffron, soapnuts, and mango-ginger.
This is the place to go for the fresh aromatic herbs (such as Asian basil, red or purple perilla leaves and saw-leaf herb) essential for cooking authentic dishes at home. Exotic south-east Asian fruits can also be found here: rambutans, durian and dragon fruit. Also is the excellent selection of fish and shellfish, condiments (such as fish sauce and fermented prawn paste) and a range of Vietnamese cooking utensils.
For the freshest, sashimi-grade fish, look to West Acton’s Atari-ya, which promises more than 100 types of fish and shellfish. Friendly, knowledgable staff will gladly slice fish into morsels of sashimi for no extra charge. Also available are kitchen essentials, colourful snacks, and thinly sliced meats for shabu-shabu and sukiyaki (Japanese hot pots)
Deepak may not have the best array of fruit and veg – but for dried goods and spices, it has no peers. There are more pulses to be taken here than in the whole of the adjacent St George’s Hospital – Malawi toor dahl, urad dahl, channa dahl, and every staple you’ll need to cook Indian food. The range of spices covers everything South Asian and beyond – if Deepak doesn’t have it, and for a very good price, you probably can’t get it.
A truly delightful Iranian local in Kensington that is more than just a patisserie – fragrant herbs, fresh fruit and vegetables are also on show, and you’ll find anything from halal meat to Iranian caviar, pickles to rosewater. The pastries and sweets are sensational, so be sure to take home some of their freshly-baked-on-the-premises cakes and biscuit.
The market has an interrsting srlection of traditional products and groceries.
