Abu Bakar Supermarket

Abu Bakar is without doubt my favourite supermarket in Leeds. One of the two reasons for this is the fact they sell tomato flavoured Snaps crisps, but I’m aware this is somewhat frivolous!
However the real draw is the great range of products and fantastic prices. They have (as the name would suggest) a fantastic range of spices and other such delights, plus a variety of beans, grains and pulses that boggles the mind. But their stock also covers a range of international delicacies, so Thai ingredients, Baklava and Soy sauce sit alongside an arrays of Naans and Rotis.
The fresh fruit and veg is very well priced (£1 for 5 fresh, ripe figs yesterday) and the staff are always friendly and helpful. They also have a butchers counter at the back with very well priced chicken, plus various marinated cuts of lamb that make me yearn for barbecue weather.
Whenever I do venture to Sainsburys and the like I often look up at Jamie Oliver’s face bearing down on me and yearn for Abu Bakar.

Slap bang in the middle of Hyde Park, this Abu Bakar is worth the trek through the labrynthian, student lined streets, on account of its super friendly staff and awesome range of international produce. My mum’s sent me a mammoth shopping list of middle eastern ingredients as she lives out in the sticks and they don’t sell persian rose water in the co-​op for some reason, so I’ve been on a bit of a treasure hunt this week, culminating in a successful trip to Abu Bakar, where I pointed at words I didn’t know like a numpty while a chipper yound lad showed me where the corresponding things were.
Will be coming back here as it’s my new best :)

To say that Abu Bakar is well-​stocked is a gross understatement! The shelves are absolutley choc-​a-​block with row upon row upon row of immaculately presented groceries of endless variety and flavour! Wow! If, like me, you ever struggle to choose between about three sandwhich options then you may be liable to be frozen in cant-​decide panic at the endless choices presented to you by Abu Bakar! Even the halva section appears to be never ending!
They sell a wide selection of vegetables, a broad variety of juices, endless rows of pulses, spices, herbs, cakes, bread, jars of pickled items, huge sacks of rice and flour — possibly aimed at businesses but may be handy if you live in a big house, loads of condiments (including some very mysterious and tantalising items such as a pot of chololate and cherry something… spread…whose ingredients list was in Polish only).
Homeware-​wise they have pots, pans, crockery and kitchen utensils. There is also a halal meat counter. As Susan mentions, Abu Bakar is aimed at the Aisian community, but for anyone like me with boringly British culinary habits it is a fascinating and exciting place of endless possibilities and obscure and intriguing ingredients.

As a bit of geek when it comes to shops that sell loads of different things I absolutely love this shop. They sell everything in the name of groceries. All your usual vegetables, but complete with exotic varieties that I have never heard of nor would know how to cook with, canned drinks that you can’t find everywhere but are amazing (lychee rubicon), baking goods, cooking utensils, sauces, breads from all continents and they also have a butchers at the back of the store where they sell meat for prices much lower than you would find in your local chain supermarket. They are always happy to help even if you are pronouncing your item of choice completely wrong. I wish I lived closer as I would spend a lot time getting my bits and bobs from here.

Sitting somewhere between supermarket and corner shop, Abubakar is aimed mostly at the Asian community, with a large selection of Halal meats and more exotic fruits and spices, but it’s also a popular spot with local residents and students looking to stock up. They often have good deals on fresh fruit like mangoes, and you can pick up all the ingredients you could possibly need to cook a decent curry from scratch. The staff are really helpful, and the nearby parking means it’s ideal if you need to do a large shop but don’t want to do the supermarket run. Worth stopping by to check out the huge range of exotic fruit juices — hangover heaven.