Not the biggest range of fish in the world but my god it tastes amazing. Friendly service and…read morethey'll gut and behead the fish for you, which is great for me as I'm a total coward when it comes to that stuff. Beats the crap out of anything you'll get at a supermarket, and miles cheaper too.

To find fresh fish I find it's best to go to a fishmongers shop. I found Samsun Balikcisi by…read morechance, the shop is near my house and since I pass it on my way to and from work, it is an ideal place to stop on days I'm craving fish. The shop doesn't look like much, but the fishmongers are friendly and I feel welcome whenever I walk into the shop. At times the selection is a bit limited, but everything I've tried has tasted as if it's right off the boat. Plus the prices are good, often cheaper than the big grocers. I love salmon and their salmon is so fresh that I can cook several filets and the kitchen is free of that fishy stench that often accompanies fish purchased at the grocery story. So, it passes the freshness test, which is why I often buy my fish there.

Yu Xiao adds a bit of welcome diversity to Dalston's less than endearing High Street. I often pop…read morein here if I'm planning on cooking anything Chinese or Thai because they have such a great selection of herbs and vegetables that it can be quite difficult to find elsewhere. No matter how many times I visit here there is always some new tropical fruit or brown root that I don't recognise but see old Chinese ladies filling their baskets with. Though I love seeing this little glimpse of real Chinese cooking, it always makes me a bit embarrassed at the uninspired stir-fry I will inevitably prepare when I get home. To make myself feel better, I stock up on the frozen dim sum and dumplings in the freezer aisle. I know that dim sum purists will recoil at the thought of buying frozen but these are so cheap and so delicious I find it almost impossible not to. Though Yu Xiao can't compete with the bigger Chinese supermarkets in central for their sheer size and range of stock it is still a great local resource and well worth a visit if you're planning a Chinese feast.

Yeah Yu Xiao does add a bit of new spice, exotic mystique to the tired formula of general…read moreconvenience shops that London specialises in. I just love thinking of all their food coming in from Malaysia or Vietnam. And thus, it is absolutely crammed with (to me anyway) weird and wonderful items and curiosities. Like you can buy a massive bag of dried mushrooms which look absolutely amazing. And the really big bag of them costs £11.90. Fab. Loads of beautiful juices, many of which I have tried, you know them ones with bits of aloe vera floating about? Got plenty. Obv. all the sauces and spices. And really interesting things in their freezer. Chunks of eel. Little frozen dim sum which I like. Loads of genuine noodles, I like them as well. In fact, just entering makes me want to get inspired and cook genuine asian, stir-in sauces are a bit grim... With real noodles, on sale here. Some of the stuff is fairly pricey. But then it probably has been brought over from somewhere on the other side of the world. So... I'll let them off. All in all, a veritable treasure trove of interesting foodstuff

This Sainsbury's is very big and the first one I see that stocks clothes,…read more It is located inside Dalston Shopping Centre (which I am not sure if I like or not) and is easily accessible from where I live, so it is one of the places where I do my daily shopping. It is confusing because the alleys don't seem to have any logical order and everything looks a bit mixed, but the range of products you can find there is good and varied. It is not too busy, so is a good place to do your shopping without waiting in lines for hours!

Viviane. You are crazy. I don't know you. but I can totally see where you are coming from on the…read moremissing driving to the local grocery store front. but Sainsburys in Dalston DRIVES ME CRAZY! I don't really like to write about chains on yelp, but this one is so terrifyingly terrible that I had to yelp it. It's always so crowded, and there are screaming children EVERYWHERE, and there is always a long line at the check out. I know this isn't really Sainsbury's fault, it's more the customers. But THIS sainsbury's has an overwhelming amount of customers. Otherwise, as a Sainsburys goes, it's a good grocery store chain. Reasonable prices (not cheap, but not ridiculous) and they give you points for shopping there. and they have a pretty wide selection. But I have started going to the tesco express just to avoid the people.

A big hand for Alex S, our esteemed London Yelp community manager who organised a CMYE at B.O.B…read more (never did find out what the acronym stands for) Lobster van We headed there on the last day that the van would be in residence at Borough Market. There was a party atmosphere with balloons up and a big crowd, no doubt wanting to get their last fix of seafood We lucky Elites were fortunate to get a free signature lobster roll, which would usually cost £11 and a glass of bubbly (I got homemade lemonade instead). I've been holding off lobster roll as my US friends in New England have asked me not to partake until I visit them and they would take me for the best lobster roll in the world However, when free food calls, I'm there! The lobster roll was delicious. I was expecting a plain soft roll but B.O.B's have toasted their bread to give added texture, buttered it generously and filled it with a good portion of sweet soft lobster bound together with mayo. Great taste and flavour but perhaps not the largest sandwich in the world I didn't try their lobster mac n cheese and lobster bisque but they did smell fantastic Bye bye B.O.B. and hope to see you back next year. Thanks to Alex for a fun evening

So this Sunday I went along to the pre launch of London's only (as far as I am aware!) lobster roll…read morejoint. Excited to sample the whole menu I did not leave disappointed! The lobster roll is obviously the signature dish and is more than expected in the construction. Months have gone into perfecting the recipes and the buttered brioche roll is light and compliments the sweet lobster meat (a good amount of lobster in the rolls too unlike most crayfish sandwiches that you get at stores) For me. the ahi tuna tacos are the star and a must have. The glorious crispy taco shells are filled with delicious tuna and a wonderful fresh and vibrant salad. The wasabi dressing is great too (and I don't like wasabi!) Mac n cheese is al dente, creamy and rich with lobster pieces and the pickles are great (even though the liquor that they are stored in looks like a witches pot!) Open every evening Tuesday to Saturday this summer I am sure the queues around Borough market will be for BOB's Lobster. Get yourself down there

You know how they say that if you want to go to a Chinese restaurant, you should make sure that you…read moresee other Chinese people eating there. I've applied the same method to this Turkish restaurant near Newington Green...in fact, I've taken it one step further: first, I asked a Turkish person living in London where they would go if they wanted to have a proper Turkish meal. Then, once I'd ventured to the suggested place, I peeked through the windows and made sure that there would be other Turkish people sitting in there...turned out, that I would be the only non-Turkish person ;-) Sariyer Balik specialises in seafood, so if you came here craving a döner or kebab, then you might leave feeling rather disappointed. However, if you like seafood, then you're in for a treat. I have to admit, I'm not big on eating whole fish, as I'm always bothered by the many bones. But - the sea bass that I ordered was grilled and seasoned so wonderfully, that I almost enjoyed sucking off the meaty bits of even the tiniest fish bone. As an appetizer I had the green beans, which I thought were not so great, but I received a freebie appetizer, which was aubergine in chili-yoghurt (Patlican Ezme) and that was just delectable...finger-licking good! Apparently they also have a downstairs and during my visit I could hear a band playing traditional folk music and people clapping and singing excitedly - which is probably just another hint as to how authentic this place is... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the person who recommended this place to me, read my review he sent me a note saying this: "The tradition is that you order around 5-6 appetizers before the meal with a side of Raki (similar to the Greek Ouzo) and then start singing :)"

I attended a friend's birthday meal at Sariyer Balik, which had been booked in good faith, in view…read moreof the mostly positive reviews. Unfortunately the experience was a huge let down, with the restaurant clearly cashing in on catering for a large group by providing bad food, bad wine and bad service. My friend had pre-negotiated a fixed price and was promised a generous Mezze meal with fresh fish dishes (the restaurant's speciality) featuring prominently. While the usual bread, hummus and yoghurt were all provided (albeit nothing special), the real disappointment lay in the abysmal fish dishes which were served. The kings prawns wrapped in filo pastry were so stodgy and devoid of flavour that they could have only come from a frozen bag. The calamari were the same. The deep-fried mussels were so deep-fried that it was like chewing on rubbery bullets. The prawns in tomato salsa were of the tiny, anaemic, watery variety which you could not even pretend were fresh! I had hoped that redemption might have arrived in the grilled fish, however this was dry, overcooked and rubbery. Overall this dismal food offering was such a blatant attempt at cutting corners it was insulting. Not only was the food bad, but the staff were shamelessly dishonest with serving drinks. One of our friends was blatantly short-changed and had to protest forcefully to get the money back. Furthermore, the quality of wine progressively diminished as the night went on (but the price did not!) to the point that one of the later offerings was virtually undrinkable. In summary, the extent to which Sariyer Balik cut-corners and tried to cheat us was offensive and very upsetting. I would be extremely wary about giving them your custom.

This is the worst Jamaican restaurant I've visited in London, and I've ate at a good many Jamaican…read morecuisine across the city. The food was average. The service was mediocre. They're so rude. I couldn't believe it when our waitress kicked us off our table while we were still eating because of some ridiculous pre-booked policy they enforce. They literally rushed my small party of six off the table while handing me a bill of over £300. So unprofessional. Moreover, what kind of a Jamaican restaurant doesn't serve oxtail on the menu? Rudy's. Lastly, their alcoholic drinks taste like koolaid. I had to ask for an extra shot to get some kind of a buzz. If I wanted a smoothie I'd had ordered one. But I wanted alcohol. They couldn't pay me to eat in that pathetic joint again.

I have two words for this Caribbean restaurant : "Yeah Mon"!…read more It's one of those restaurants that's pretty easy to overlook from the outside and I ended up here by chance, but I'm so glad I did. I'm half Jamaican and a foodie so I was coming into this Caribbean restaurant with fairly high standards. I also happened to be hungry so my friend and I ended up ordering a variety of dishes (ackee and salt fish, saltfish fritters, the best sweet potato fries I've ever had etc.) and every single one was well presented, delicious and, most importantly, pretty authentic-tasting! I also like the fact that they cook in front of you (so less chance of anything dodgy finding its way into your food!) But it wasn't just the food that made this restaurant a cool place, the staff were engaging and friendly and the interior had a Caribbean feel to it with a wooden palm tree/light installation and chilled out reggae playing in the background. I'd definitely come back.

I know, I know, TFC is a chain and we're not supposed to review chains. But first things first, my…read morelocal Turkish Food Centre was the very first in the chain, established back in 1980 as a market stall here on Ridley Road. Also, its not exactly competing with Tesco or Wal-Mart for world domination: TFC has about a dozen medium-size shops mostly north of the river. Lastly, this branch is sort of hidden away, and looks smaller than it really is, so I'm not sure that even locals will know about its many charms. It offers fruit and veg at similar prices to the market traders vocally advertising their wares outside. There is a bakery at the back where you can buy deliciously warm and fresh Turkish flatbreads, sesame-covered loaves or layered borek pastries. There's a massive meat section if thats your thang. They also do a nifty line in barbecue equipment - I assume this is because the many local ocakbasi restaurants source their tongs and charcoal here. This is all for wholesale prices. OK it might lack some popular brands or a Finest range, as in other more familiar supermarkets, but what you miss in reassuring familiarity you gain in the chance to try new things and a guaranteed saving at the tills.

A slice of instant Istanbul in a supermarket... As mentioned before it's a chain store but don't…read morelet that put you off... It's much bigger and better than it looks from the outside.... I always go to the produce counter to purchase vegetables like globe artichokes or broad beans which are hard to find elsewhere... The bakery offers delicious baklava which is freshly made and taste like it. Iranian pide is always available along with khoubez... There is a good range of chilled products like halloumi and stuff like cacik, taramasalata and various dips and stuff. This place is good for sourcing White mulberries and dried fruit/nuts ideal for muesli.