Sundrica, Hammersmith, London

If you work in Hammersmith, you’ll know that it’s not always easy to get inspired when buying lunch. Sundrica has changed that. I am a regular visitor for their fantastic salad boxes - a brown box costs about a fiver, but it’s well worth it for the fresh, home-made food. The lemon dressed mushrooms are great, as are the pasta salads, beans and sunblushed tomatoes with feta, the fresh soups, the couscous, the aubergine gratin… For anyone who grew up in NZ or Oz, they also make lamingtons, which are not easy to find in London.

Sundrica boasts a fantastic selection of delicatessan items. I like their duck parfait, in particular, but apart from pates they also sell a wide variety of cheeses and cured meats. There are seafood salads, marinated peppers, bowl upon bowl of olive varieties, jars of preserved lemons or pears in red wine, pasta shapes you’ve seen of outside of Italy and ciabatta sandwiches made to order.

Sundrica also caters and I’m sure they do a great job. They’ve even ordered smoked duck for me when they were out of stock and recommended I choose their duck butcher over the packaged variety. They were right, and I got about 30% more of a better-tasting duck for my money that way. Well worth a trip to Hammersmith just to check out this deli gem. And with Christmas coming up, they do great hampers!