Baltic Food

We have attended this shop for a few years feeling lucky with the opportunity to buy Russian products locally. The shop assistants have always been pleasant and helpful. Twice over the last year it happened that the products we bought were off but not out of date, obviously, we thought, it is a long way from Russia, difficult to keep food in a proper condition all the time... 

This time it was a £16 caviar we bought 3 weeks ago and opened for "Stariy Noviy God" (we kept the jar in the fridge!), the caviar was very sour. When we brought it back to the shop for an exchange the owner of the shop accused my husband of "buying it in London and returning in Oxford... buying it long time ago... not keeping it properly..." It was a very unpleasant experience, a kind of customer service I would expect back in Russia but not here! We did not have a receipt but who keeps receipts from food shopping? 

My advice is to either keep all the receipts or open products IN the shop and check the quality, so your customer rights will not be compromised!

This fits in wonderfully on the multicultural melange of Cowley Road. It’s one of the few (the only?) specialist shops in Oxford with Eastern European and Russian food. Great if you come from there and miss your food, but also really fun if you’re bored of the usual pub grub, Chinese takeaway or Italian pizza. I’ve never been to Russia, but I have been to Eastern Europe, where the food can be really stunning. (It can also be really weird, but I guess that’s a matter of taste!).

They have some unusual meat and pickles, some love it or hate it cake, and, of course, lethal Russian vodkas!

The prices are reasonable, and it’s not like you can get hold of these things easily elsewhere. The staff are knowledgeable in that they’re from that area of the world, but this does mean some of them have rather strong accents!

Great for people who mainly travel to try different food - now you can spend all your flight/accommodation money just on the food in the comfort of your own town!