Turkish Food Centre

marketurk.co.uk will be delivering traditional Turkish food online to your door step.

TFC (which I belatedly found out stands for Turkish Food Centre) is a place I discovered as a result of being just too late back from climbing to do my weekly food shopping stint at Ridley road market. As someone who has consistently lived within parts of London with high Turkish populations, I’m very adept at navigating the local mini-markets, with aisles displaying thousands (OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little there) different types of beans or choosing between ranges of green leaves that kinda look like spinach but aren’t without getting confused, giving up and going to Tesco.

This place is just as reasonably priced as the nearby market, without what some would consider the false economy of getting 8 spotty bananas for a quid. It’s great for puy lentils, every form of curry powder you could imagine, avocadoes, and herbs. The Saturday queues are a bit rage-inducing though…

A fantastic Turkish supermarket hidden away at the end of Ridley Road. Fruit and vegetables are great (and similarly priced to the market but often significantly superior - try the oranges which are usually fantastic). Plus, there’s a LOT more. THis is a big place which will not disappoint you - apart from Turkish specialties, Baklava (sp.?), fresh feta, halloumi etc, this place also bakes fantastic bread - and does so several times a day. Hot pide is a dream - and really cheap. If you’re a meat-eater, get some of their best lamb chops - consistently excellent (not cheap). Oh, yes. And olives! Forget paying £2.50/100g at Borough. Try TFC where the best of their olives is 50p/100g!
A real gem - always on my list when in Dalston - and I’m sure there are branches elsewhere.

Huge and fabulous shop. They don’t just do feta, they do loads of different types of feta… plus all sorts of halva, hummus, biscuits, drinks… most of the stuff you’d get in a ‘normal’ supermarket, but with a whole different slant. And not just confined to Turkish either. They have a sweets counter, and shelves of Greek and Turkish breads (unwrapped, you can choose a plastic bag or a paper wrap). In the back there’s a wonderful fruit and veg section. Lovely fresh, quality stuff, at very competitive prices. I’m always especially drawn to the green celery (can’t see the point in blanching myself) and big bunches of flat leaf parsley.