Fresh-baked Naan bread & other local(ish) food finds in Blackstock Road

In response to a new Sainsbury's Local opening up, a local email newsletter for the area to the south of Finsbury Park has just published a list of all the great local food finds on Blackstock Road. Gotta love that.

Nicolette Jones publishes a weekly round up of info and gossip for her area - a kind of email version of HoL. I scan it each week and sometimes include some of her news. But this one, I can't resist adding in full. Some items may be worth taking a walk through the park for.

(It was the fresh-baked Naan bread wot done it fer me).

So le voici:

FRESH BAKED NAAN BREAD Sold at 51A Blackstock Rd, corner of Somerfield Rd (opposite Ambler Rd). Good, inexpensive bread made on the premises. Recommended by Carol.

ITALIAN ICE CREAM Fresh ice cream made daily: Cremeria Vienna 145 Blackstock Rd (corner of Brownswood Road). Recommended by Laura, Lorie, and anyone who has ever tried it. (Also someone who recently emailed listing their favourite flavours and I can’t find the email! So sorry. If you resend, I shall circulate.)

GOZLEME a kind of Turkish flatbread calzone, with a cheese and spinach filling, at Leziz, 17 Blackstock Road (Nick)

DELICIOUS BAKLAVA and
FRESH DATES from Tunisia and Algeria, recommended by Fiona
LOVELY LITTLE SWEET CAKES and
FRESH ALGERIAN BREAD and
FRESH OLIVES recommended by Lorie. Nick especially recommends their wrinkled black ones.
PRESERVED LEMONS (loose), and
HAJUB (?) pancake stuffed with spicy tomatoes and onions, and
LE PHAR DU CAP BON HARISSA recommended by Nick
All at Al Bahia, 5 Blackstock Road

SPICES Good range at A K Market (4 doors up from the N4 Library) Recommended by Wolfgang

BOXES OF RIPE HONEY MANGOES from Pakistan in season (July) and sometimes
GUAVAS Middle Eastern greengrocer opposite Sainsbury’s. Recommended by Fiona.

STEAK AND KIDNEY PIE Recommended by Fiona.
VERY GOOD LAMB Recommended by George
LOVELY FREE-RANGE CHICKENS at a good price, says Teresa
TOULOUSE SAUSAGES and SIRLOIN STEAKS great and cheaper than Godfreys, says Henry.
All at Highbury Butchers 183 Blackstock Road, near the corner with Mountgrove Road

TAKE-OUT SALAD from Good for Food 16 Blackstock Road. A favourite treat of Louise’s.

There is general praise for the range of fruit at White Bros the Greengrocer 150 Blackstock Rd (between Chatterton and Gillespie), particularly (from Nick):
CHERRY TOMATOES (in season - the Isle of Wight ones are particularly good)
DAMSONS
SEVILLE ORANGES (for marmalade)
And it’s now open on Sunday, which is great, says Louise.
FRESHLY BAKED BREAD  Jeremy recommends Luscious Rendezvous, at 142 Blackstock, with a fine range of Tunisian cakes and biscuits, piled up in the window, and very friendly service.

BAGELS (round the corner from the Blackstock Road on the Seven Sisters Road) at the Happening Bagel Bakery. Recommended by Louise, and Nick, who also recommends their CHOLLA BREAD.

EXCELLENT CROISSANTS La Princesse ‘Salon de Tea’ 86 Blackstock Road (near the corner with Ambler) (Nick)
WINE There is praise for the range, and the service, at Arsenal Wine, 144 Blackstock Rd (corner of Chatterton). Dorothy also points out that this shop has a clean bill of health from Trading Standards for not selling to underage people and having all legitimate stock (including tobacco) - not from vanmen who offer counterfeit and smuggled goods.

And from the Ozzy Fan Club: Arsenal Food and Wine, on the corner of Ambler and Blackstock Road gets a resounding vote of confidence from Ozzy’s customers. It is open long hours, and seven days a week. It is “far more than ‘just another corner shop’", says David. “I love Ozzy's shop. Not least because you only have to ask him to stock things, and they seem to appear as if by magic” says Jo. He stocks, for instance, often originally at our request:

INTERESTING RANGE OF BREADS, including rye and spelt (Wolfgang and Nicolette)
WIDE RANGE OF YOGHURTS (Wolfgang)
GREEN AND BLACK’S CHOCOLATE in small bars, and lots of flavours.
COLLECTION OF INTERESTING BREAKFAST CEREALS from small producers like Wessex Millers (Wolfgang)
GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS including PASTA, and BISCUITS - a fantastic range: my favourites Prewett’s ginger biscuits (with a layer of chocolate), and (also very popular even with the members of family who can have gluten) lemon shortbread and (savoury) stilton and walnut biscuits. Also gluten-free MUESLI Alara (in the blue box) is, I think, the most edible (Nicolette)

‘JUST CHANGE’ FAIR TRADE TEA (Tricia)
SYRUP WAFFLES Such a naughty treat. But yummy, says Jo.
WRINKLED BLACK OLIVES and
LE PHAR DU CAP BON HARISSA (as also at Al Bahia) and
CLIPPER AND PERCOL COFFEES and
PEARL BASMATI RICE and
CIRIO TINNED TOMATOES (Nick)
ORGANIC MILK and a wide range of organic products (Jo, Wolfgang, Louise)
FRESH, SEASONAL FRUIT notes Louise. Including watermelon, mangoes, satsumas, at appropriate times.
NATURE BABYCARE NAPPIES AND WIPES (Jo)
REFILLS FOR ECOVER PRODUCTS: hand wash, washing-up liquid, fabric softener and more. (Lorie, Louise and Wolfgang)