Woody's

crouchend tiger

I'd be sad to see Woody's go. It's a bit of a beacon when you're staggering home at the end of a night. I bet Saino's won't be able to help with my post-pub cashew habit.

j

Not trying to dampen enthusiasm for the debate but does anyone even know how definite this is, beyond a rumour?

andiebrown

I really hope this isnt true. I do most of my veg shopping in there because they have a good selection and its so much cheaper than Tesco. Also, its open all year round, 24-7. I hate the idea of a Sainsburys. I echo the sentiment of someone above with regards to Crouch End. I went there for the first time in ages, last week, and i felt a little depressed at the abundance of chain coffee shops etc (although i do actually think that Budgens is pretty good).

Also, as someone who uses Woodys practically every day, i am surprised to hear someone say it is always empty - its not when i go in there! Granted, there are times when i've been slightly disgruntled with some of the service but to be honest, i was appalled at the way some of the staff in Tesco spoke to customers today (myself inlcluded). I also think i'd prefer to visit every single one of Dante's circles of hell than go to Tesco after work... Please, don't let this be true... if i want to go to Sainsburys i can go to the Hades that is Sainsburys Green Lanes or even the one at Angel. No thanks.

David

There's a new Tesco's opened up along the tracks near the stadium in Drayon Park, which I'd say is a little bigger than Woody's but it does give an idea of how supermarkets struggle to keep a good range in smaller spaces. I stop off there on my cycles home sometimes and invariably they don't have what I was looking for. I'm with the idea Woody's dovetails quite well with the Tesco's down the road. Sainsbury's would merely mirror Tesco's, but probably not that well as its a much smaller space.

andy

Co-ops are mostly rubbish. May as well stick with Woodys.

Papa

My favourite Woody's moment. Going in there a few months after 24 hour licencing and trying to buy some booze only to be told I couldn't. The reason given: we're applying for a 24 hour licence. But I've always bought booze here late at night, I replied. Yeah, but we're getting a licence now, so we have to stop selling it while we apply, came the answer. Genius.

staplejack

coop on Caledonean Road. Get the 91 (if you must).

twinspark

@sg_mike There is a Co-op in Crouch End, small one next to YMCA at petrol station, used to be Somerfields otherwise Kentish Town road.

Co-ops with their dividend points are the best but thin on the ground in these parts - if I was PM I'd nationalise the supermarkets and make Co-op the stakeholder/managing partner [ actually ditto for the banks!]

I'd prefer Woody's to stay an independent store - I live nearby and use it for fruit and veg. and non-staple stuff. Goes without saying another chain outlet would be horrendous - esp. Sainsburys, original home of the mimsy and smug before M&S started to sell food.

Two or three points about indy stores;
Who created the expectation that they should sell everything from a sink-plug, to Buffalo Mozzarella, or a newspaper? Was it us I wonder?
Why do we have to get everything from one store in a smash and grab raid? [ much better to buy fresh food every 2 or 3 days instead of once a fortnight and buy ingredients not ready meals]

The quality of produce is down to the supplier as much - sometimes the produce available to the retaileer just isn't so good, lettuce is feeble or tomatoes small etc. As for the way it's kept? This problem applies equally to Tesco, Sainsburys etc. even with their acres of polythene bags as camouflage, as much as to Woodys and indy stores. Take time to choose rather than grab and rush home to find it's no good - you might even have to change your selection if you can't find the veg. or cheese in good condition but you'll probably get over it.

ADGS

"much better to buy fresh food every 2 or 3 days instead of once a fortnight and buy ingredients not ready meals"

Possibly, but who except TV chefs and the unemployed has the time? And the unemployed don't have the money (I speak from current experience).

Arkady

With care it's cheaper to cook than get ready meals. Courtesy of Woodies I made a vast beef and chorizo stew last night from which I anticipate getting about ten servings, judging by what was left after three people ate last night. The ingredients cost slightly over £12. A large tuppaware container of beefy goodness is now in the freezer.

It took an hour and a half from prep to plate, much of which was spent listening to it simmering while watching Inglorious Basterds, which I can also recommend.

B

twinspark

@ ADGS

When budget is tight and we've all been there then buying fresh every couple of days is the way to go,[ you can buy 1 potato, 2 carrots, 1 onion or even 2 sausages, 2 rashers, 2 eggs etc.]
It's worth making the time - it's not that long and you can always multi-task if you must - although

@ Arklady I was with you until you slipped the Tarantino thing - what an overindulged spoilt brat of a director he is!! a modicum of talent stretched way too far - it would have been much cheaper for Harvey Weinstein to adopt as son or two rather than cow-tow to QT's tantrums.

Ali

I agree make it yourself. Have a couple of hours of a cooking and freeze if you can. Works really well if you do a Floyd and have a few glasses of red wine while cooking ! I can make a Chilli, mince from Tony the Butchers a couple of onions, carrots and a bag of dried kidney beans ( not tinned as they are expensive, cook the dried ones in a pressure cooker!) approx £4 or so. Takes about 45 mins of effort and gets ten servings oh you will need rice as well. 5 pints of carrot soup, 6 carrots , two onions two stock cubes, water about ten mins prep, sweating the onions etc, 35 mins simmer, whiz add some orange juice and milk season, lunch for 5 days cost £1.20 ! Making soup is so easy

Arkady

It didn't think it wa a masterpeice - and it was very oddly paced - but it was good fun. Especially the scalpings.

B

krappyrubsnif

Hey - Stroud Green Org lunch club!

missisclack

It would be nice to establish if fact or fiction before I start to rage at the prospect of a Sainsbury's. Pleeeeeeease no.

It's all been said before, but Woody's is best for bread n olives n beans-in-tins n herbs. I buy at least one bunch of something from them every other day, their herbs are always the freshest on SGR.

The Fruit Basket (is that what it's called?) next to the post office and the flower shop used to be good for all this produce until they sold it on 4 years ago or so.

Also, thie girls on the tills in Woody's are usually quite nice to me Well, they sometimes pass a compliment on rings/gloves/hat/bag.

They did short change me for a fiver on a tenner once 'though. And they would always charge full price for 6 cans of whatever was on 6 for a fiver deal, until I'd point it out at the checkout. It was always a bit of a battle to only pay the fiver.

We should start a save Woddy's petition, the way that above mentionned Fruit Basket started one when there was talk of Tesco opening 24hrs!!

Ian

I always get my fruit and veg from the stall outside the tube. She's really nice and the stuff is cheap and good. What would the point of a save Woody's petition be? "Please don't go bankrupt or continue running a low turnover business if you have a better offer". They are not in the business of social policy these shopkeepers you know. There is opportunity cost here - people might use an alternative store more. Go and use the shop more than you would us a Sainsbury's. When there are 2 or 3 more tills, with queues at the tills like there are at Tesco's then I'll believe you all that Stroud Green residents love Woodies. Once I've got a Sainsbury's on that site I can start putting energy into getting a Starbucks nextdoor :-)

rainbow_carnage

Woody's used to be good several years ago. They had a decent selection of cheap fresh veg. Now the veg looks manky. The tinned beans and things are no cheaper than at Tesco, and Tesco delivers. We get most of the basics delivered either from Ocado or Tesco. Our veg comes from Abel and Cole, which is worth every penny. When the weather is better, we walk to Green Lanes. I have the time to buy fresh produce every couple of days, but I'm too lazy. The only thing I'd miss about Woody's is that it's open 24/7. We went in at 10pm on Christmas Day. I can't imagine that a Sainsbury's that size would be very different from a Tesco Metro, which we already have. I would like a large Sainsbury's nearby, but there's no space for it. We used to live in Camden back when the large Sainsbury's was open all night five or six days a week. It was brilliant.

Beek

Do you remember Woody's was called Yesim when it first opened? Far better name (and signage - whopping orange glowing letters) imho. I love the staff in there - especially the guy who used to have a mullet, he's such a dish now he's had a haircut! And what happened to their mini shopping trolleys?

sg_mike

Wow, never realised there were so many co-ops around here. I guess they've never been able to crack the SG market though!

I liked the co-op when I was in Oxford, it had way better fresh food than the sainsburys nearby. But there again that was a few years ago now, I guess the smaller ones can be a bit ropey. The food at tescos always seems to go off far more quickly than at sainsburys or anywhere else.

I'll go the co-op in CE this weekend to buy a pint of milk, loaf of bread and a carrot and report back on its freshness. Unless I get distracted by the pub. Again.

SgEnquirer

@ Arkady
Your stew sounds lovely... can I have the recipe plzzzzz? Or should we just start a new Recipe thread??? :)

SgEnquirer

Oh also isn't there a co-op near the arsenal stadium?

Arkady

@SGEnquirer:
No specific recipe I'm afraid! The trick is to heat up a big pan on the hob, then fry a load of chopped (and peeled if you prefer) chorizo until it starts to release it's oil - then add garlic and onions. Once they're starting to brown, add a dangerous slugof red wine. Reduce, then add stock and a couple of bay leaves, canned peeled tomatoes, butter beans, chopped potatoes, sweet potato, butternut squash, leek, the beef (which I browned separately and added with the veges this time, but sometimes chuck in with the chorizo early on). Then cover and simmer until everything's tender. Uncover to reduce it for a while if necessary, then season & scoff.

All bought from Woody's ;-)

B

JungleFaceJake

I hear that Walls have bought The Noble and are going to change it into a Cornetto Dispensary!!

miss annie

My goodness, that stew sounds completely delish! Deffo whipping that up at the weekend.

missfrancesca

While i'm not a fan of the big supermarkets moving in, it would be nice to have something other than Woodys in that spot. I won't shop there any more, having been over-charged, forced to pay more because of 'pricing mistakes' and finding phantom items added onto my bill too many times. I was popping in there on my way back from The Noble usually so I suspect they assume the tipsy are fair game and unlikely to notice but it happened almost every time I went in (until I stopped).

Secretly I dream of having an M&S but a good independent & open late place would be great.

ADGS

These various stew recipes and similar - do they involve any herbs, spices, any of that, the sort of thing which people who can cook just assume we all have in our kitchens? Even salt? Because I don't have any of those so right there, that's an extra expenditure.

And because I'm in shared accomodation, any savings reliant on making huge amounts and freezing loads are out - I have one small freezer shelf, normally occupied with bread I got cheap by timing my visit to Tesco right.

Then factor in that my cooking skills are such that I can only get porridge right about a third of the time...and I think I'm still better off buying a cheap can of soup from Tesco.

Arkady

I tend not to season much, and when I do it's the 'pinchful of whatever comes to hand' technique. But you seem to be saying that you're a)massively lazy, b) culinarily incompetant and c) without means of effectively storing food. That being the case you may be better off with the 99p pizzas from Londis.

B

SgEnquirer

Thank you Arkady it sounds delish and will be tried and tested :)

Ali

ADGS You are certainly going to get your salt if you eat all that soup !

Arkady

I'm happy people are enjoying my menu suggestions, and await reports back from (hopefully) satisfied diners. Other cheap & tasty suggestions from others would be very welcome. However I must protest at the use of the horrible abbreviation 'delish' by two seperate people on this board. Please, please, make it stop!

Suprisingly cheap and immensley tasty, I can strongly recommend my signature dish, stolen from Hugh-Fearnley-Whittingstall: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/26/foodanddrink.recipes

[Tosscat will have to fix the link, though if someone tells me how I can do it I will...]

Get it while it's pheasant season. And yes, I'm addicted to chorizo.

B