Restaurants

Polsmak's shelves are stacked with Polish essentials

British customers, she says, shop for cooked and smoked sausage (podwawelska is a bestseller), sauerkraut and extra-crunchy pickled cucumbers. Poles tend to stock up on instant soups and kubus (natural carrot juice). Juice is a big thing for Poles: there is great excitement about Costcutter stocking the country’s delicious, 14-flavour brand Frugo.

Russian shops are also thriving. Russian London (www.russianlondon.ru) lists more than 40 stores. One insider’s tip is the newly-expanded Kalinka on Queensway, which stocks an exhaustive range of Russian products alongside DVDs, CDs and magazines. Here, Russians stock up on salo (Ukrainian pig fat – a sort of aromatic bacon), herrings, tvorog (cream cheese – for making syrniki pancakes), Red October chocolates and sukhariki (dried biscuits for dunking in black tea). Beriozka on the Finchley Road does a roaring trade in caviar (black and red varieties as well as the more affordable veggie option, aubergine caviar), Baltika beer and Russki Standart vodka.
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With Poland and Russia so well represented, other nationalities feel a little left out. Daniela Krepelkova, a Czech student, despairs of finding authentic food: ‘I bring everything over with me in big plastic containers on the plane because you just can’t get Czech food in London. Polish is not close enough. I miss proper Czech flour, rohliky (soft white rolls), our own Edam-style cheese and salami.’ She has discovered one unlikely taste of home, though: Heinz fruit-based baby foods are exactly like her mother’s compote.

Bunny Flips snacks

Several delis are trying to fill the gaps for the neglected nationalities, pushing an exciting cultural mish-mash. Fortune Foods in Hendon has developed a legendary reputation as a one-stop shop: Lithuanian, Russian, Polish and Slovakian products are all on sale; the frozen dumplings are particularly recommended. Lewisham boasts a Latvian-Lithuanian operation, Baltic, which stocks a great selection of beers.

Another unusual destination is Jakob’s on Gloucester Road, a true delicatessen rather than a shop (with an excellent café-restaurant at the back). It’s Armenian-owned but often has traditional Russian specialities and Central Asian dishes, as well as Mediterranean-influenced meze. The Armenian chef whips up stuffed vine leaves, borsch, pierozhki (pies) and a fabulous Russian chocolate cake.

Polish deli food on your doorstep

The cuisine of former Soviet republic Georgia is famed among Russians and Ukrainians and deserves a mention. Complicated to make but utterly unforgettable, Georgian recipes are usually as long as your arm and packed full of impossible-to-find ingredients. There is no Georgian deli in London, but Tbilisi-born foodies Nino Toradze and Irina Surguladze both shop at Middle Eastern stores for walnuts, pomegranates, cheeses and spices. Super Bahar in Kensington has saffron, herbs and spices, while Damas Gate carries flatbreads and feta – a favourite with Nigella Lawson, whose Georgian recipes in ‘Feast’ (Chatto & Windus, £17.99) are good.

The fastest route to Eastern European culinary heaven, though, is to try a restaurant or café. Polish café and shop Polanka is one of the best. Also Polish, Clapham’s Café Wanda is atmospheric: plates piled high with carb-heavy tortes and pies. If it’s inspiration you’re after, with a view to shopping later, the best places to try are Daquise, an old-fashioned Polish diner in Kensington, or the wonderfully authentic Polish White Eagle Club in Balham.