Church Street Supermarket

This small grocers and off-​licence is open very late, so it’s very handy to pop in to when you suddenly find you’ve run out of matches to light the gas to cook supper. Or (as has been the case for me) when you get a craving for a magnum ice-​cream late on a hot summer’s night. (They probably think I’m mad, turning up at midnight for an ice-​cream, but who cares a craving is a craving, right?!)
They also stock those international call cards and I bought one once, but it seemed a bit of a rip-​off in the end.

The best thing about this store is that its open 24 hours. Which means the best shopping to be done here is after hours, when it can often be a lifesaver stocking things that you really really need. No, not cigarettes, kick the habit already. Its covers all other life enhancing necessities, like Popeye’s spinach cans. Hot chocolate too.
In the daytime, the magic of the night wears off when you realize that most fruit and veg cost about 20% more compared to other shops. So its best for the midnight run, and for a quick snack and immediate necessities. Not so good for the weekly shop.

I wanted to take a moment to commend my local grocery store. I am slightly biased because its at the top of my road and would probably go there if they only sold one type of bread, but they don’t! They sell hundreds, well that’s a slight exaggeration, but they do have a lot of variety and not just in bread. Church Street Supermarket stocks luxury items not usually provided by smaller, local vendors such as Green and Blacks chocolate spread, Dorset Cereals and RJ’s of New Zealand natural liquorice.
They cater fantastically to the Stoke Newington mentality of organic, free range and recyclable, with a great selection of dairy and dairy replacements, vegetables and fruit. Not everything here is in the tree huggers category but they do try and even ask before shoving everything into a plastic bag because they know we all have canvas ones tucked under our hairy hippie armpits.
The staff here are perpetually cheerful, even though the shop is open twenty four hours. The newspaper stand is well stocked, although they always run out of The Guardian because people that live on Church Street all seem to read the same paper.

This is the best local shop I have ever lived near. I love it. It has saved my life on numerous occasions as not only does it stock a wide range of medicines, it also has an atm machine and is open 24 hours. And it really is open 24 hours, not just till midnight like some 24 hour shops. It almost doesn’t bother me that the groceries are more expensive than some others shops in the area, because I still haven’t got over the fact that I can buy mangoes, aspirin AND fish fingers at 3am in the morning. Also, the staff are very friendly and do not judge my midnight food selections.
I can recommend this shop to anyone with a dairy allergy. Whilst I would not call their selection extensive, unlike most local grocery shops there is a good range of soya/​lactose free products. I was really surprised to find dairy-​free custards, milkshakes and cream in a store of this size. They also have a good selection of goat and sheep products for anyone like me, who can’t have cow’s milk.