UK groceries / foods in Philadelphia?

[gmw]

Hello all, my first post, though I've been reading for a couple of years.

Not a particularly high-brow gastronomic topic here, but I'm curious to know if there's anywhere in Philadelphia where one can buy basic UK foodstuffs - UK teas, HP sauce, biscuits, Bisto, curry, pickle, etc.

I remember seeing some items in a supermarket in Center City a few years ago, but can't for the life of me remember where exactly this was, and I've struck out a number of other shops.

Any suggestions within the city (Center City, West Philly, etc) itself would be quite appreciated!

[KatieLoeb]

Welcome gmw! Glad you've decided to come out and play!

I'd suggest checking the aisles at Whole Foods to see what items they might have available. There's certainly a good tea section that ought to have something. There's also House of Tea on 4th Street below Bainbridge that should have all your heart desires in loose teas. The Earl Grey with Violets is fabulous! For curry and pickles there's a decent Indian grocery section at Whole Foods but there are also Indian markets up west of Penn's campus in West Philly. I seem to recall one at 41st & Walnut and another at 44th & Chestnut.

Good luck and keep us informed of your finds.

[philadining]

Indeed, welcome gmw,

I don't know if their selection will be complete enough or the places close enough to make the trip worthwhile, but there are a couple of Irish-oriented shops in Upper Darby that carry UK products. Neither is a full-on grocery, but might have a couple things you crave. (I know Ireland and England are very different places, but many of the commercial products are the same.)

The first is

The Irish Coffee Shop

8443 W Chester Pike

Upper Darby, PA 19082-1104

(610) 449-7449

It's mostly a little diner-style place where you can get really good, terrifyingly huge Irish breakfasts, etc. But they also have a few shelves of canned, jarred and packaged foods, I'm sure they have HP Sauce, etc.

The other one is even less likely, it's a little minimart attached to a gas station. I'm sorry, I don't recall the cross street, but it's on the north side of Westchester Pike (rt 3) only a mile or two west of 69th street. There's a small side street, with a gas station on either corner, a Texaco and a Mobil (I think) on the other. It's the Mobil minimart that you want. It's mostly just a typical 7-11-ish convenience store, but there's an aisle of British candy (Cadbury galore!) and some biscuits, etc. There's not much there, but if you're out at the Irish Coffee Shop already, it's nearby, maybe they'd have something you're missing.

Hope that helps!

Or you can always just mail-order stuff.

www.englishteastore.com

[shacke]

I could not find any other way to satisfy my Fruit and Fibre craving as hard as I tried locally.

I got my stuff here but oh the shipping you'll pay!

http://www.britsuperstore.com/

Evan

[mrbigjas]

i seem to remember seeing various things in various places--chef's market down at 3rd & south seems to carry several of those sorts of things, for instance, although i developed a dislike for the place a while ago and haven't been back in recent memory.

the spice terminal in the terminal does as well. i know i've seen marmite and vegemite at spice terminal--in pretty dusty jars, though... katie's recommendation for whole foods isn't a bad idea either. i think i remember seeing hp sauce there, and possibly pickle, although i could be wrong.

i can picture digestive biscuits on a shelf somewhere in my mind... was it the new dibruno's? nah, can't be.

[Greg Ling]

A few years back there was this shop in chestnut hill by mcnemanins that only sold british foodstuffs including meat dairy and cheese ,might still be there.If not you can still get a smichitter

[Alec Hart]

Here's the website that I use. The stuff usually comes in about a day, so don't pay extra for rush shipping. I think they're located in Delaware.

http://www.ukgoods.com/index.php

Also, I believe Fado has biscuits, chocolates and a few odds and ends.

--Alec

[zeffer81]

there are also Indian markets up west of Penn's campus in West Philly. I seem to recall one at 41st & Walnut and another at 44th & Chestnut.

I believe you're thinking of the one called something like International Food and Spices, which is right next to the 7-11 on Walnut Street. They have a great variety of spices and frozen Indian dishes. They also have fresh Indian food made right upstairs. The samosas are cheap and delicious!

[Nancy HM]

Now you've got me craving Branston Pickle. I love that stuff with sharp cheddar on a crusty roll!

[SaxChik]

i know you said within the city, but if you ever venture out, the wegman's in downingtown (chester county) and one in mt laurel, nj (opening soon) have a decent selection of english and irish foods.

they have HP sauce (both the regular and the curry), all sorts of teas (like barries), biscuits, lucozade, custard mixes, etc. their cheese shop carries a bunch of english and irish cheeses.

they also have other ethnic food, like indian, thai, japanese, spanish, mexican, french, german and israeli.

might be incentive to hop the R5 sometime.

lauren

[Andrew Fenton]

I could swear that the Überfresh down on Delaware Ave. has a selection of British foods. They've got a surprising amount of crazy ethnic stuff (Polish mineral water, etc.) and at one point, I seem to remember noticing Marmite on the shelf.

And shuddering.

And walking away.

Very, very quickly.

(Welcome, gmw!)

[rlibkind]

I could swear that the Überfresh down on Delaware Ave. has a selection of British foods.  They've got a surprising amount of crazy ethnic stuff (Polish mineral water, etc.) and at one point, I seem to remember noticing Marmite on the shelf.

←

Your recollection is correct, Andrew. I just got back from that Super Fresh and they have a small selection from the UK and Ireland:

Not in photo, but to the right of the peas, are baked beans. Yes, that's marmite on the left, as well as two types of HP sauces (regular and fruit), Branston pickles and canned mushy peas.

[gmw]

Thanks all, for both the welcome and the suggestions!

Looks like that Super Fresh down on Delaware Ave has the basics of what I'm craving. I'll cycle through a number of the places that people have suggested - if I find any ideal places that haven't been mentioned, I'll add them to the thread.

Thanks again folks - any other suggestions would be great too!

[Andrew Fenton]

Your recollection is correct, Andrew.

"I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!"

(Actually, I think I may have posted about this before, at a moment lost in the mists of hoary antiquity. But it's good to know that I wasn't just hallucinating. Or fibbing.)

[ellencho]

Here's another UK food link. This place is pretty good. Not only do they have a decent stock of UK products but they also offer afternoon tea. Apparently they have a new website. Both these links should be fine. Edited September 15, 2005 by ellencho (log)

[KatieLoeb]

I could swear that the Überfresh down on Delaware Ave. has a selection of British foods.  They've got a surprising amount of crazy ethnic stuff (Polish mineral water, etc.) and at one point, I seem to remember noticing Marmite on the shelf.

←

Your recollection is correct, Andrew. I just got back from that Super Fresh and they have a small selection from the UK and Ireland:

Not in photo, but to the right of the peas, are baked beans. Yes, that's marmite on the left, as well as two types of HP sauces (regular and fruit), Branston pickles and canned mushy peas.

←

Nice pics rlibkind! That Delaware Ave. Überfresh never ceases to amaze me. They really do have an amazing selection of ethnic groceries of all sorts. Great Mexican foods section too (large selection of Goya products and Jumex juices if IIRC, as well as the aforementioned Polish foods. Really good Polish jams and preserves as well as that mineral water you mentioned. I confess I'd never really noticed the British foods before having not really had any burning desire to find them myself (think of that great scene in A Fish Called Wanda where Kevin Kline is sticking the fries up the guys nose), but it's nice to know that they're there.

I think I'll go get me a jar of those Branston Pickles everyone keeps talking about and see what the fuss is.

[TarteTatin]

Strangely enough, we get a lot of Brit stuff at Shoprite on Aramingo.

Hubby spent 10 years in the UK, so he HAS to have Typhoo tea, which they have in teabags, not loose.

They also have a full isle of International food, including Marmite, HP, etc. etc.

Oh, and Malteasers! How could we live without that?

Shoprite at the Cherry Hill Racetrack circle has the same thing.

Cork gin, however, from Cork, Ireland, is a different kettle of fish. Can't find that anywhere in Philly. Dickens Inn used to have it. Very juniper berry taste, I want to say Bergamot? Love it.

[philadining]

You'll probably find everything in center city at the places mentioned above, but if you ever find yourself in Upper Darby, you might want to swing by the places i mentioned upthread, maybe just for the candybars... I stopped by the little convenience store on my way home. It's actually an AM/PM minimarket attached to a Sunoco (not Mobil) but everything else I mentioned was about right. The cross street is St Laurence, but it's on a tiny street sign that's hard to see. It's not very far west of the Terminal, on Westchester pike, on the north side.

Anyway, they have a shelf full of UK candy, and then another half shelf of various foodstuffs, seems like a similar array, and at least as much as the photo rlibkind posted above, which is surprising for a little AM/PM. The best part is that they're open 24 hours....

[gbredben]

The Shop-Rite here in near me in South Philadelphia at 24th and Oregon always has a pretty good selection of British items including teas and HP sauce in stock. However, if I'm looking for my clotted cream or Colston Bassett Stilton fix, it's then off to the new DiBruno's in Center City.

[rlibkind]

. . . if I'm looking for my clotted cream or Colston Bassett Stilton fix, it's then off to the new DiBruno's in Center City.

←

At the Reading Terminal Market, Downtown Cheese has those items, too.

[mrbigjas]

bumping this thread up -- have any of you seen places around town that sell english crisps? you know, walkers, mccoys, hula hoops, etc. in flavors like oxtail, ham and mustard, baked beans on toast, smoky bacon, etc...

i have a friend who goes to england and brings me back the meat flavored crisps i request, but he doesn't go often enough for my tastes.

[rlibkind]

bumping this thread up -- have any of you seen places around town that sell english crisps?  you know, walkers, mccoys, hula hoops, etc. in flavors like oxtail, ham and mustard, baked beans on toast, smoky bacon, etc...

i have a friend who goes to england and brings me back the meat flavored crisps i request, but he doesn't go often enough for my tastes.

←

You are going to drink some Irn Bru with that?

[mrbigjas]

bumping this thread up -- have any of you seen places around town that sell english crisps?  you know, walkers, mccoys, hula hoops, etc. in flavors like oxtail, ham and mustard, baked beans on toast, smoky bacon, etc...

i have a friend who goes to england and brings me back the meat flavored crisps i request, but he doesn't go often enough for my tastes.

←

You are going to drink some Irn Bru with that?

←

you know it, if i can find it.

i just love the ingredient lists on those crisps, things like:

Ingredients: potatoes, vegetable oil, flame-grilled steak flavouring

besides the fact that i love the crisps themselves. so good. snyders of hanover used to make several meat-based flavored chips, but a) they weren't as good, and b) as far as i can tell the only ones they make anymore are buffalo wing flavor.

[kretch]

bumping this thread up -- have any of you seen places around town that sell english crisps?  you know, walkers, mccoys, hula hoops, etc. in flavors like oxtail, ham and mustard, baked beans on toast, smoky bacon, etc...

i have a friend who goes to england and brings me back the meat flavored crisps i request, but he doesn't go often enough for my tastes.

←

I know you're not talking about me but I'm pretty sure I brought you a few bags of bacon crisps at one point or another between 2000 and 2002.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Fado was selling Hula Hoops, or maybe it was Walkers, at some point over the past couple years. Check in there. And I might be making this next part up, but I think I saw various packets of British crisps for sale at the asian (southasian) supermarket next door to the 7-11 at 41st and Chestnut (is that right? 41st?) several years back.

And if you can find anywhere that sells Diet Apple Tango stateside, lemme know.

[mrbigjas]

i think you did bring me some, yes. and hey, good thinking--i didn't even consider looking at fado or fox & hound or one of those other themey bars. thanks kretch!