To be honest it's a bit out of my way for food shopping, since there's the whole of Deptford High Street between me and it, which is probably why it's taken me so long to get there. Luckily the Particular is also between me and it, so it's worth timing a visit specially so that I can take advantage of both these food highs in one trip.
I was also a little sceptical about what the Allotment could offer me apart from maybe some nice cheese and a few things I can't get in Deptford. It's fair to say that the shop far exceeded my expectations, and it's quite likely I may be making regular visits - heck by only a slight stretch of the imagination it's almost on my way home, and with the shop open till 7.30 every weekday night, it could be the place to drop into on the way home when my fridge is bare.
They have a good range of fruit and vegetables at reasonable prices (all looking very fresh and tasty and you can pick your own which is important to me), several fridges at the back full of a selection of cheeses, cold meats, smoked salmon, big dishes of olives that you can mix and match (sold by weight) yoghurts and creams, as well as things like homemade hummus and baba ganoush.
They sell bread from Flour Power City Bakery which is made just down the road at Juno Way in Surrey Quays, cakes and brownies sold singly, and a massive range of groceries which are high quality and also reasonably priced, including big bags of fancy crisps for dipping or wolfing down with beers. And it took me some time to properly browse the full range of chutneys and jams, there were so many!
From the front you would think that the shop is quite small, but it goes back a long way and they have used the space very effectively so there's plenty of variety and range. I liked the fact that I was able to browse unmolested, and when I did require help it was friendly but not overbearing.
If you live nearby, lucky you! As for me, it will make a great place to head for on occasion when I want a bit of variety and don't mind the walk.
The Allotment
318 New Cross Road, SE14 6AF London, United Kingdom
Mon-Fri: 9:00am - 7:30pm
Sat: 10:00am - 5:30pm
Tel: 0203 583 5953
Email: the_allotment@live.co.uk
7 comments:
I really wanted to like The Allotment as a good deli would be great for New Cross. I was particularly excited about the bread but the few times I've been it's either sold out, or the loaf I've bought is hard and only usable for toast.
I agree they have a great stock of items, but when I bought dairy (I needed cream for a recipe) it was going out of date the next day - and was about 1.5 times the price of cream in supermarkets - I can't really justify the prices I'm afraid.
I must admit, I have not popped in here yet. It looks nice but I normally buy all my fruit and veg in Deptford. I am definately tempted to make an effort next time I'm walking past. However, if the prices are as shocking as 'I heart cupcakes' suggests then I'll probably be walking straight in and then straight out again. Shame, as it is a welcomed addition to that stretch of road!
Hi, Gill from The Allotment here.
I do understand your comment about the cream. The dairy products I get from our current supplier tend to have short dates in when I get them, which is frustrating. I'm looking at getting butter and cream from the dairy which supplies our milk, and this should also be cheaper than the Longley Farm products. I do recommend Longley creme fraiche though - it's delicious!
I order more or less the same amount of bread each day - some days it's sold by early afternoon, whereas other days we have several loaves left over (our freezer at home is full of bread!). It's hard to predict from one day to the next how much we'll sell, but we only ever put out for sale what we receive fresh each morning. You can always give us a call to keep a loaf aside for you.
Hope this information helps!
everything in the allotment is to expensive she does not cater for local people of new cross who are on a tight budget all they want is the middle class people who have money and the lady with the white hair who i think owns it did not want to cater for my needs when i asked her why everything was so expensive WONT BE GOING THERE NO MORE......
I'm not rich or middle class but I do like the cakes they sell at the Allotment. They are more pricey that what you can buy at other shops but the taste is sooo much better too, for me it's my Friday treat!
The Allotment has a website btw: www.theallotment.uk.com
I thought it was pretty good compared to Sainsbury's - and you don't have to buy things in bags of many. It may not be the cheapest but they're a small independent shop - they can't compete with Iceland or Tesco, and they have lovely things, I bought an Onion Squash for £1.50. You wouldn't get that in Sainsburys! Less stressful for me as a dog owner too, because I could leave him just outside the door in sight of me while I was shopping!
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