Spice Centre

Spice Centre is a strange little shop, often nicknamed ‘the mosque shop’ due to its proximity to one of Hyde Park’s more prominently visible mosques. It sells an assortment of reasonably cheap and decent quality fruit and vegetables piled a little haphazardly outside on wooden pallets. They have also somewhat neglected the notion of a sign denoting the name of their shop… an attitude I rather admire! Inside they stock odds and ends of essential groceries, some unusual and yummy spicy crisps, Asian deserts and hardly any chocolate to speak of! The interior always has a slightly empty feel with shelves never appearing fully stocked… but it certainly has character!
Top tip: they also sell probably the tastiest vegetable samosas I have ever tried (which I have decided earns them an extra star!). They are usually displayed ready to eat in a box on the counter.

Spilling out on to the street, I honestly believe that the fruit and veg shop on Brudenell Road is the cheapest in the area. I’m fairly convinced that when you go to the till, they knock off a certain ammount of the ‘real’ price. I might be worng, but the place is incredibly value.
When I first encountered this place, I did my normal fruit and veg shop, which would normally have cost around £20 at a larger supermarket, and got it all for around £7. From then on, I abandonned the fruit and veg section in the supermarket, and stopped off here on the way home.
Selling almost everything you need, depending mainly on the season, though not as extensive as other similar shops in the area, Spice Centre really is a great place to stock up on your 5-​a-​day, without spending a lot on expensive and inferior stuff at the supermarket. One thing I would say is beware, when it comes to the summer months, the items can be out in the sun all day, so be sure to really look at the veg you’re planning on buying before going to the till, or you might be in for a nasty shop when you get home and realise you’ve picked up a rotting sweet potato.

This long-​standing fruit and vegetable shop is like a market on the outside and an abandoned general food shop on the inside. On Fridays there is a mass of men who spill out from the mosque next door and have a good natter on the street and in the road.
Vegetables and fruits are stacked on top of wooden pallets. You can get fresh herbs such as coriander and mint for a very decent price, the usual fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges as well as fairly priced spices such as ginger. And a large variety of vegetable from Chinese radish to sweet potatoes lay here waiting to be selected. Inside you can also buy freshly made vegetable samosas for only 25 pence.
A refreshing change from the expensive chain corner shops such as ‘One-​Stop’ and ‘Londis’ and more choice than is available at ‘Sainsbury’s’.