I made a visit to Fortnum & Mason when my husband and I were visiting London a week or so ago and…read morehad such a great time. Fortnum & Mason is department store, but it's not your average department store. It's a food department store? I don't even know if there's a word for that! Founded in 1707 in the St James's/Piccadilly area of London, the store is modern but has retained some really incredible historic details: the mechanical clock on the facade, a double-helix staircase, and more. They sell tons of biscuits, tea and coffee, hampers (we call them gift baskets in the US, I think?), candy, chocolates, and more. Everything is beautiful and beautifully displayed. In the biscuit section of the store ("The Biscuitorium"), they sell roughly 70 flavors of biscuits and have an incredibly intricate replica of the store made from biscuits - like a most beautiful biscuit doll house you've ever seen. If you head downstairs, there's also a fantastic food hall and their fancy Wine Bar & Restaurant. After buying a few tins of biscuits upstairs, we went downstairs to the wine bar, where we ordered their Oysters & Champagne deal (6 Carlingford oysters and two glasses of Blanc de Blancs). Other than the oysters taking a bit of time - they brought us some extra Blanc to make up for it and the oysters' adductors muscles not being disconnected prior to making it to us, it was a great little break/snack during our first day of touristing around London! I'm not usually a shopper on vacation. But I make exceptions for stores with history, and Fortnum's has that in spades. It's a great place to stop for some edible souvenirs!

Before leaving London, I had to pop in…read more Starting my day early in the Parlor, I grabbed a small bite. My waiter was most genteel and even brought me a surprise birthday sweet treat! Post-nibbles, I traversed each floor, of course, settling on teas to acquire, for the trip home. F&M has a wide array of teas, some familiar and some which are signature to the brand. The staff are quite eager to assist, and properly demure when doing so. After completing my shopping, it's quite easy to admit that I'm now a tea snob, from this point going forward. LOL

I really enjoyed the green olive "bread stick" (don't know what it was called as it was neither…read morelabeled nor priced. It was very flavorful and just the right amount when one is feeling a little bit peckish. What I didn't so much dig was the inability of the gentleman helping me to, really, actually be of much help. I wasn't a demanding shrew, but, as a first time custie, I had a few questions that I lobbed his way. The more I, in a friendly manner replete with smile, asked questions, e.g, "how much are your blah-blah-blahs?" and "what is this (pointing to unlabeled bread-thingie), please?" the more he seemed visibly nonplussed. Again, people, can we keep that sort of thing masked? No one wants to feel like they are a fuck-tard customer, especially when they actually aren't one. It was rather warm the day I visited EDD and the place was empty. I suspect that the folk behind the counter just wanted to go outside and enjoy a righteously warm sunny day instead of serving newbie customers like me. Who could blame them?

East Dulwich Deli is pretty monumental for a local delicatessen. The high ceilings, modern style…read moreand beautiful presentation is totally enticing. The staff are friendly and competent while the food is so delicious you can even taste the freshness of the ingredients and I do not believe anyone could complain about the portion sizes. The best but probably busiest times to visit the deli are during their fantastic seasonal sales (post Easter, Christmas, etc) where you can pick up perfectly good quality stock very cheaply. During the rest of the year the East Dulwich Deli is rather pricey, but you do get what you pay for and in this case I think it is worth it.

This little stall is always set up outside Feng Shui restaurant although I'm not sure there is any…read moreconnection to the restaurant. A little sign proclaims that this confectionery was invented for an emperor several millennia ago. It's fascinating to watch as the chef starts with a piece of maltose sugar, which is elastic and this is formed into a ring shaped and with repeated dipping into toasted flour to keep the strands separate, is repeatedly stretched and twisted with each repetition tripling the number of strands. The final resulting collection of fine strands is then divided into small bunches which are put around crushed peanuts. Eaten immediately, these are soft and quite moreish. The chef says that these can be kept in the fridge but they will turn hard. It's entertainment as much as food which draws the crowds. Fun to watch but prices are a bit steep at £3 for one box and £10 for 4 boxes.

COVID-19 Heroes Top Quality Products sourced to perfection…read more I Have lived in Nunhead since 2010 and until recently I was quite an infrequent customer. All thanks to the COVID-19 crisis I have now become a regular customer! What is there not to like about this butcher? Top quality cuts supplied at a very reasonable price, I love the ham, game pie, corned beef and oh the pie & liquor. During the COVID-19 crisis this dedicated team of three have been resolute and not altered opening hours. I do hope when this crisis is over we will not forget which establishments stayed open. You are all Community Heroes.

Excellent traditional butchers and very reasonably priced. The actual butchers are very good and…read morefriendly and always happy to help. They have been around since 1955 and are a quality outfit.

They had a caroling group singing & plenty of indoor seating that you could bring ANY food into…read more It was small but had a good mix of different foods. It also had a lot less tourists!!! & more of a neighborhood market feel.

Amazing lobster rolls BUT not available when raining (sadly). Cute food truck street with…read morepersonality & seating spaces. Highlights include lobster rolls (avoid the seared tuna -- not for me), amazing crispy duck fat triple cooked chips!!! Get them! The dumplings were lukewarm / cold and covered in spicy sauce. Skip, better options available. Pho lovely and warm but prefer vermicelli noodles to the thicker ones in them. The duck wrap was nice (not a fan of tomato in it). The confit duck better pick. The smash burger took absolutely ages! Man very sweet & brought it over to us. The steak & frites with pepper sauce was great. But dipped the duck fat chips in that sauce & was in food heaven.

As Tom Jones sang:…read more "It's not unusual to find Lebanese nut shops on side streets in London" OK... that wasn't a hit song or pleasurable lyric. But here indeed is a small shop offering nuts from the middle east. They also offer Baklava-like pastries and other dry goods, but by any measure it's not a standard corner shop. The owner is an absolute delight... Mr. Happy. But as mentioned, this is a tiny store - not a destination to find everything you want like the Harrods of Nuts. The selection is much smaller and simple. If walking near, stop by for a snack. Go somewhere else for a meal.

This is a great little shop which I walk past every day on my way to work. They have a supply of…read moredifferent flavoured cashews, peanuts, and my favourite - chinese peanut crackers, which are a pound for 100gms. They also have a range of other jarred bits and pieces and sacks of lentils and beans but I only go for the nuts. The shop owners are really nice and happy to help.

On a recent leisure visit in London, I found myself indulging in some delights at Borough Market…read more Passing through I found Turnips Greengrocer my favourite. the Chocolate strawberries are literally to die for. Left me with a smile for the remainder of the day. Only negative and this isn't the fault of Turnips themselves was that on the day I went along, I found it really crowded and no real organization about it all. Felt chaotic. BUT I did choose to go during the summer holiday time so kinda my fault. I'd recommend it all in all. Good place to go on a day in London

I came here in the summer of 2023 and returned in the winter time of 2026. There are such a good…read morecombination of vendors with a variety of things to sell from fresh food, hot food, spices, sweets, snacks, drinks and more. One of my favorite places had a Health smoothie, but was also serving hot teas. It was a tough choice to choose between the two. As a tourist and lended, I wish I could pick up more things to take back as well, but I would need a suitcase for all of that. Whenever I return to London, I'll be making a visit here again!

If only there were more places like this. Your truely classic family butch. Does a large selection…read moreof meats, if something isn't instock it can be ordered in. I hear the turkey for Christmas is amazing - the queues outside are a sign of that! It's very reasonable price-wise, it certainly makes more sense to buy from them as it's local produce and you're supporting a local business. Also, you won't need to drive! Friendly as always, hope they are around for a long time yet! Opening hours can be a bit of a pain, but that's a small price to pay! Roll on summer.

Ah an Organic Haven!! It makes my mouth water. Fresh, locally-baked bread, organic lemon curd…read moremade only with easily understood ingredients, a dozen different kinds of honey. Deliciousness at its best. Seaweed rice cakes, muesli like woah, and so much other good stuff. Walking into this place made me weak in the knees. I want it all! All! On my dinner plate. And in my lunch box. And in my bowl with milk in the morning. Too bad I can't afford it all. Although the store doesn't have astronomical prices and I do think it's cheaper than Holland and Barrett, it is more expensive than your chains like Iceland or Tesco Metro. Sad but true. The prices were NOT terrible, but more than I felt like spending. On a day I feel like treating myself, however, I will definitely go back. Also, as a note, I heard one member of the staff advising a customer on nutrition, and I think he gave some good suggestions. Basic, at least in my mind which tends to have a nutrition fix, but not something all people think about - whole grain instead of white bread and potatoes, honey instead of sugar, etc. Sum it up in one word? Knowledgeable. In two? Knowledgeable and helpful. I'm going to have to go back. The only reason I knocked it down a star I price is because it's more expensive than general grocery stores, but that's always the case in this sad sad world. Woe is us poor organic food lovers.

When it comes to health food stores I'm very picky. That's because I've been studying herbal…read moreformulas, complementary medicine etc for years, I have an obsession with health food stores and have visited them in dozens of countries and cities, from Los Angeles to Spain to South London. Baldwins is absolutelyTHE best health food store in the UK in my experience. Amazing choice of herbs, tinctures, supplements and other health care products including an extremely reliable, high-quality and reasonably-priced range of raw Chinese and Indian herbs/barks. Utterly fantastic. http://www.facebook.com/preciouswilliamswriter

An oasis in a desert of shopping chain dross. Fantastic selection of Italian foodstuffs. Very…read morefriendly and helpful staff.