Andronaco is Italy. Sometimes it does not take many words to explain something. But - you do it…read morewith good reason. Enthusiasm is what it takes to raise the sparse German flow of speech here to Italian level. Only the gesticulation has to be learned by the northern man. Italy, from north to south, from east to west, in fact there is almost everything the country has to offer. In flats, in cans, in jars - or even open. Vegetables, wine, meat and sausage. Bread and of course, very importantly, a part of the Italian attitude to life: pasta. Unless we want to appear embarrassingly pseudo-worldly, we simply call it " noodles". Similar to the range of wine - endless shelves in all colours, shapes and tastes. Andronaco - is Italy, eat italian!

Really good Italian supermarket in Hamburg. You can find a wide selection of typical Italian stuff…read more The 'pasta' area is really huge! I was able to find really specific kind of pasta (that you don't find in German shops, and some neither in Italian too!). The shop has a good selection of olive oil, red/white wine, meet and almost every kind of Italian food. There is also a small Bistro near the entrance if you want to experience some italian food. I had just a minor bad experience with the guy selling cheese. I asked for 100g of 'pecorino romano' and that guy force me to take 200g, just because he said 100g was too less... Please note that prices are a bit higher than usual (especially if you compare with an Italian shop).

Basically, a British corner shop removed from any small town in the UK and transplanted into…read moreHamburg. Pretty bloody essential, as one could go mad here having to drink German 'tea'. You can also pick up most of the ingredients for a full English breakfast, real crisps, and....wait for it... bitter! Yes indeed, for a paltry EUR3.60 you can savour a bottle of Theakston's Old Peculiar, a Tim Taylor's Landlord, or a Moorhouses' Old Speckled Hen. Makes living in Germany seem not half as bad really...

There's nothing like it anywhere in Hamburg: Robert Berridge's used bookshop selling only English…read morebooks. Mr. Berridge himself reminds me of a hobbit, and if hobbits were capable of living in complete chaos, they'd feel right at home in this shop. Overfilled, dusty and musty, the cheap (and mostly dangerously leaning) shelves are packed in no particular order with used books in English, in wildly varying states of decomposition. However, despite the haphazard state of his shelves, Mr. Berridge has surprised me time and time again by laying his hand on the book I'm looking for within seconds. If the shop were slightly cleaner and more organised, it'd get a five, but it's simply the only place to go for a large selection in Hamburg, so a three will have to do. As for the attached "English Foods" shop, I can't really judge. I've never been impressed enough with English cuisine to bother going in it, but I guess it'd be a comfort for poms over from the island.