Deals Ahoy! 'Cause wine cellar is laden with cheap alcohol, positively laced with the stuff. A…read morequality selection of wines, beers and spirits. And almost everything they got seems to have a deal on, or be reduced. I'd never been in before, maybe this is the just the pre-Christmas bonanza. And it's not like I'd ever bought friends and loved ones a crate of Nigerian Guinness before. Friends, family, if you're looking for something to get me this year... Yup, so whiskeys, wines, champagnes, all that stuff. Errm, yeah, joyously cheap. Come here, I wish I lived closer, strictly...

Wouldn't bother going in here during the daytime, what with cheapr supermarkets galore just down…read moreGreen Lanes, but they have got a decent offie area at the side, which has served me well on many a trip home after a hard day's slog... Also worth checking out is the little cafe called the 'New Yorker' which seems to be part of the same operation: decent coffee is hard to track down in this area, but the cappuccino here passes muster and the staff are always friendly. One interesting little "factoid" about this place: it's housed in the actual (rebuilt) 'Manor House' pub after which Manor House station and the surrounding area got its name. As a local who's positively gasping for a pint in the area, I do wish they'd kept it as one!

I've been living in the area for well over a year, and I've never bothered to explore the little…read moreshops by Manor House station. I never bothered going into Costcutter because I figured it might be cheap but wouldn't have the variety and quality of groceries I'd want. Today, after going in for the first time, I am totally won over by the endless plethora of random imports, in addition to all your staples excepting fresh meat. Loads of pickles, Polish sausage, jars and boxes of exciting unidentifiable foods, loads of different kinds of cheeses, frozen seafood, organic milks, coffees, juices, an impressive alcohol section with different and interesting things, spices, fresh fruits and veg, cereals, biscuits, crackers, pastas, pestos...I could go on and on, but I will basically sum it up with everything you could possibly want for your daily grocery-shopping needs minus fresh meat and fish. I intend to do all my shopping here in the future, and shall only venture into the nearby Tesco or Sainsburys if I need meat. I'm kicking myself for not discovering this place earlier, but better late than never I suppose.

Consider one of the "10 Best Online Wine Shops in England"!!!…read more You can buy wine online, you can browse by type, country, region or grape and the recommendation section is very handy. If you're up north London way, it's worth visiting their award winning wine shop in Islington, London - Over 1000 wines to choose from. This shop can be found on 71 Highbury Park with the closest stations Arsenal and Highbury & Islington only a short walk away.

A great off licence/wine shop. My focus is usually on the wine. In this respect it stocks a good…read morevariety of wine from around the world - including a particularly good selection from the New World. The staff are on hand for a recommendation and I have never got the sense that they were seeking to push a dud bottle onto me. Quite the contrary in fact - all the bottles I have bought here have been excellent. In addition to the wine, a good selection of spirits and beer is on offer. The beer isn't just your run of the mill stella. Instead it is a selection of bottled beers from both the UK and overseas which are more unusual. I haven't worked my way through them all (yet) but there are no doubt lots of enjoyment to be had doing so. Of those sampled so far the beer brewed by the Redchurch Brewary has been particularly good, if a little pricey.

Buying wine at Clissold Wines is far more cost efficient than buying it next door at Church Street…read moreSupermarket. Though I love the 24 hour store, their wine selection is poor and generally more expensive. Clissold Wines is a friendly family-run store which has an excellent selection of low-mid price wines, spirits and beers. They always run a few cheap offers in big wooden crates next to the door- I went in last night and they had 3 different 3 for 10 pound white wine offers. As well as inexpensive offerings, they also have an excellent range of riojas and sancerres from about 12 pounds upwards. The staff are friendly and helpful and have two beautiful cats who sit behind the till.

Clissold Wines is great because although it stocks a decent selection, the prices are good and it…read morecaters for a range of budgets. There is not a great deal of top end wines, but as long as you are not after something very special, I'm sure you will find something. There is always a bargain to be had, which is why I keep going back. The specials are often at give-away prices. I also keep going back because I love the people who run the store. There are a few rather posh wine shops in the area, and I am grateful that Clissold is not one of them. Church street can get a it carried away with its prices sometimes, and Clissold keeps it down to earth.

There's lots I like about this place, but probably the best thing is that they're open 24 hours and…read morehave a booze license. Praise be! As you'd expect in this area there's loads of halloumi, olives and other Mediterranean food. They also have a great selection of veg and the usual stuff you get in convenience stores, as well as a bakery with fresh Turkish bread. Pro tip: go for the feta and spinach slices, yours for 50p.

The name says it all. End of this review…read more Ha ha... I couldn't leave it like that I always have more to say. I love this little store. It is wall to wall alcohol dispensed by a couple of Greek or Middle Eastern (I can't really tell. Ooops!) guys who are always welcoming. The store has the old magical feel of a Diagon Alley wizardry shop. They have an awesome selection of spirits at very reasonable prices. There are also wonderful credit crunch beating deals such as two bottles of wine for £5. My favourite finds are Aperol, awesome Mount Gay rum for £12 and scrumptious Desperado beer. Drinkers Paradise, you are fantastic.

If you think Drinkers Paradise is a good place to buy beer, you may be a tosser or a moron…read more There's a reason beer is in cans or brown bottles. That reason is that beer can be "light struck". Light struck is the term used when the hop compounds that cause yummy bitterness react with UV light to produce methyl butane thiol (MBT). MBT is a similar chemical that Skunks use to make their fantastically stinky skunk smell. Beer in cans block out all UV ray, brown bottles most, green less and clear none. When you approach Drinkers Paradise, it's quite apparent that there are many bottles visible in the window. I'm guessing the owners aren't the biggest beer drinkers. Not to mention the big Fosters logo on the outside to make anyone who enjoys good beer cringe. Please for the love of God stay away from Drinkers Paradise.

Great selection of Italian food and always good quality. However, the gent at the till needs to…read moreimprove his maths skills. It seemed a bit expensive for what I bought, so I totaled it up when I got home. I was overcharged 11 quid and was not offered a receipt. I have heard of others with the same issue (buying the same thing repeatedly and being charged a different price each time.) If you go to Salvino, pay attention to the prices of your purchase.

This place is really fun to pop by for lunch. You simply grab the bread of your choosing, and go up…read moreto the deli....The rest is up to you! Parma ham, seafood salad, and blushed tomatoes on a sandwich? Whatevs! It's really fun to go in and make whatever you want eat. If you're feeling a bit breadshy, then just grab some olives and cheese to go. My minor gripe is that is can be a bit pricey for ?? reasons; Adding a few slices of parma ham to your sandwich and raise the cost a whole pound, which is a bit odd considering the takeaway aspect of Salvino. This place also is good if you want some italian staples..pesto..pasta..italian bouillon cubes.. lov'init. I come here a few times a week. btw the artichokes are awesssommmmeee (but again..costly!)

My wine knowledge is laughable. I really try very hard to remember names and grapes but in the end…read moreI'm sorry to say, I base a lot of my wine purchases on the label. Although the words 'don't judge a book by its cover' ring in my ears, I am the kind of person that panic buys a bottle on the basis of a pretty picture rather than bothers herself to ask the staff for help. I always find conversations with sales assistants in wine shops impossible because I know that two questions in I will sound like a complete moron. One attempt at conversation in a wine shop left the staff so confused, they asked for ID to make sure I was even allowed to drink the stuff! However, in my discovery of The Sampler, I think I may just have solved these wine dilemmas. The Sampler offers a unique opportunity to try a large selection of their stock whilst choosing which bottle to buy. This experience is in itself quite fun- buy a card from the till and pop it in to the machine to have a taste of whatever you fancy. Think of this as a boozy Oyster card- you pay more for the fancier wines, much like a longer journey but you can always take the bus route if you fancy getting sloshed on the cheap stuff! Samples start at 30 and the most expensive I saw was £3. For real winos, this is a great opportunity to try very expensive bottles you would never usually buy. For those like me, who still need a little more instruction, the Sampler also hosts regular wine tastings. The Sampler truly is a local business at its best, offering services you would never find in the big supermarkets and going above and beyond to spark your interest in the grapes. A great wine shop and well worth a visit!

I used to love this place (it once warranted a 5 star review) but I think that it is on the slide…read moreat the moment. The format is still the same - either you can use the shop as a normal wine shop and buy from the good selection of wine (organised by grape variety rather than country) or taste the wine from the various tasting booths. In relation to the former, the selection of older vintages which are kept is special storage cabinets at the back of the shop are particularly interesting. In relation to the later, you buy a card from the counter which can then be used to purchase tastes of the wines in the cabinets. The wines rangs from everyday £7-8 bottles up to what The Sampler describes as 'Icon Wines' which are in the £100-£500 bracket. Consequntly, sometimes even the taste measure of these Icon Wines can be in the £10-£15 range. So, why is this not an automatic 5 star shop - it sounds great, no? Well, the overall wine selection is not vast. Consequently, the range available for sampling does not turn over as frequently as one might hope and if you come here regularly you will start to see the same wines over and over again (arguably no bad thing as the wines are in the main excellent). Second, my sense is that the focus of the business is on its new South Ken store. It is still a really good wine shop. However, it is no longer the absolute winner it once was.

A lovely indie-addition to Muswell Hill - definitley a big plus over the usual Nicolas Wine outlets…read more(or whatever they're called these days). We went to this shop a few times already to pick up wines for dinner parties that we were attending or to stock up our own wine emergency stack. I really liked that when we came here the staff was not only very friendly, but also quite knowledgeable and not pushy at all. I also read on posters that they have monthly wine tastings and wine pairngs (in conjunction with Cooks from next door). I made a mental note to come and check out on of these gatherings one day...you can never know enough of wines, right? What I also liked was they they had a rather nice selection of unique California wines, from small and selected vineyards. Definitely a plus for the California expats who miss a piece of home...

Paul helped put a gift order for me from the U.S. what made him so special was the care and…read moreattention he provided and the thorough follow up on delivery. He's the best!