A day trip to the Middle East..

…well, almost…

In Shepherds Bush, West London there is about half a mile of road that is packed full of Middle Eastern shops, restaurants and businesses; it serves a local Middle Eastern community as well as providing a fab place to visit and shop for those of us with a love of everything Middle Eastern, which is what Selma and I did yesterday 🙂 🙂

I arrived before Selma and had a good walk around and quickly realised that I was in my version of paradise – I just love Middle Eastern designs, styles, aromas, flavours, the language, everything. By the time Selma arrived I was literally bouncing up the street, grinning from ear to ear – and pulling along my new and very necessary shopping trolley!!! I filled this thing by the end of the day with a whole heap of tasty goodies – and all at extremely good prices – I was very pleased to see that just because it is central London that the prices aren’t loaded up 🙂

We visited a couple of supermarkets as well as the fabulous ‘Nut Case’ and had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant, and I can tell you in all honesty, that when I was in each of these establishments I could very easily have been in Abu Dhabi. The layouts, the staff, the products are all the same as I would find when visiting my Mum..

This, and the photo at the top, is in ‘Nut Case’, a shop full of fresh coffee, fresh nuts, fresh mahmoul (biscuits with dates and nuts) & baklava, an array of sweets and chocolates, as well as a whole range of shisha pipes. I can tell you absolutely that this shop is virtually exactly the same as a shop in the Hamdan Centre in Abu Dhabi, down to the same wrapped sweets! I was literally there!!

I managed to buy just a few things…it would have been rude not to, of course!

In the supermarket, Al Dimashqi, Selma and I oohed and aahed our way round, getting in everyone’s way as we marvelled at the products and choices. I fell in love with an entire shelf of tahini and grabbed the chance to try cooked chickpeas in jars, which I’ve been told are better than using tinned.

I stocked up with arabic bread and various ingredients which you will no doubt see featured on here as time goes on. One tip we were given, was to add a few rose petals to a bowl of natural yoghurt and nuts – I’ll be trying that soon.

In the restaurant we indulged in our favourite dishes of homous, mutabal, tabouleh, foul medames and patatas harras. OMG! the flavours of heaven!!

How fabulous does my lunch companion look??

I was in heaven, again!!

When you eat in a Lebanese restaurant they bring you a little plate of baklava with your bill..

I am almost heartbroken that my tastes have changed so much that I could only manage a tiny piece 😦

We had such a great day, it was lovely to see Selma, we are in touch constantly, but nothing beats face to face. As we ate our lunch, we discussed all of our lovely blog friends that we wished were at the table with us…you were with us in spirit, my lovelies xx