Sainsbury's is coming to Stroud Green Road - Woody's is going!

ADGS

Yesterday was the fourth time I've attempted to use the Sainsbury's cashpoint, and the second of those times when it was out of cash. Not an impressive ratio, really; they must be aware that it's the last free one for some distance, and should surely be able to stock it accordingly.

Tallboy

I suppose 100m is "some distance".

Arkady

I agree with ADGS's concerns about the triangle site. Anyway, isn't it reserved for development of a station extension for the new light railway on the Parkland Walk/new Finsbury Park space elevator? Heh

Alex

I remember reading that the triangular site is made up of dozens of separate plots, some of which are even of unknown ownership, which makes co-ordination of any change impossible. Only a compulsory purchase would get rid of it, which the circumstances presumably don't justify.

Ian

The card system went down completely in the UK yesterday, all of Sainsbury's was affected, as was B&Q & Waitrose. Unfortunately they didn't tell us until we got to the till which was a bit annoying, but probably explains their cashpoint being down.

ADGS

All it said was 'Services not available: Withdrawal'. But this would explain why the Tesco one also seemed to be having simultaneous problems.

Tallboy: Admittedly, my 'last' was predicated on people starting from, well, my house. Tesco and Sainsbury's are in opposite directions for me; either's fine, but having to double back to the other is nonetheless deeply annoying since by that stage I will be en route to something else in that direction. Going past Tesco, no problem, there are tons down by the station. Going past Sainsbury's, there are no more 'til Crouch End, Green Lanes or Tufnell Park,depending where I'm headed.

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krappyrubsnif

Post Office is back

crouchend tiger

Whisper it, but I think Tesco SGR might be improving! Went in yesterday, checkout staff charming, shelves more than half stocked, no lake... I guess market forces do work?

WillM

I agree the lake's gone, but the stock levels this evening (6ish?!) made it look like a 1980s Soviet sob story... No fresh fruit worth speaking of, very limited amounts of herbs...

I blame the Health and Safety culture personally, it's Political Correctness Gone Mad.

kreuzkav

I agree, Tesco has got away for so long with bad customer service and terrible stock taking. Let's face it we all use supermarkets and while I sympathasise with low paid workers and I am one, maybe not as bad as a Tesco worker, I think they really need a shock. Not all of them, many of the staff are lovely and I've got to know them over the years.

However, some of them have scowled at me when I've nicely asked them to acknowledge my alcohol purchase at the self service till (sorry I called you over from your chat with a friend). And last week I noticed that awful camp guy who is horrible to many people is back working there. He needs to be sacked promptly. Please, what have we ever done to hurt him and get his scowl?

On the other hand, I don't like the false over friendly service at the new Sainsburys. All I expect is someone to check out my goods without a scowl, but also without asking me if I'm alright.

crouchend tiger

Hmmm. Maybe I just caught it on a good day.

@WillM I find it difficult to respond to your comment about political correctness without knowing exactly which type of herbs you were trying to buy.

miss annie

That herb section makes me want to cry. It's nearly always full of empty boxes and there's rarely a chilli to be had either. I've more or less given up expecting to ever see any products there and I either grow the easy ones (mint, thyme, rosemary etc.), myself or go the shops by the station to pick up giant bunches of coriander and chillies. Surely basil would be the politically correct herb. Doesn't really offend anyone and doesn't taste of very much.

Ian

Basil's a bit sexist isn't it?

sincers

The Waitrose near my office in Clerkenwell is amazing. I'd much rather shop there and lug my groceries back on the bike than use the Tesco or news Sainsbury's.

Tallboy

I shop at the same Waitrose. It's a different class.

sincers

Apparently they have one of the fastest checkout systems of any Waitrose in the country. Their customer service is very good and sometimes I'll just go for the eye-candy (that sounds really pervy!). I also read that Waitrose are trying to double their store count in the coming years.

Arkady

TESCO had no bayleaves. If anyone thinks that adding curry leaves to a beef and chorizo stew would be a disaster they have about two hours to let me know.

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JaneDoe

The Waitrose on Holloway Road is only a 20 minute walk from me and I find it loads better than any of the other supermarkets. Even when they are busy they usually have plenty of stock and there are always staff around to help if you need it. It can be expensive but I mainly shop from the newish Essentials range.

miss annie

Arkady If you have time to walk up to Crouch End you'll find bay leaves in both the greengrocers there. I agree with Misscara though, I'm always scrumping them when I see them too.

sincers

I have a bay tree in the garden. I nearly killed it when I moved it over the summer - it didn't like that - but I dug it into the ground and it has come back with gusto. I chucked a few leaves in with a chicken carcass this morning for the first of the season's chicken soup - mmm.

WillM

Just trundled up to Upper Tollington to spot the bay bush, only to realise on arriving that I have very little idea upon looking on a bush what is bay leaf and what is, well, just leaf. At this rate, I suspect my next piece of cooking will contain a selection of SGR leaves, and the days of ADGS substituting curry leaves will be looked back on with fond memory.

WillM

(or even Arkady substituting said leaves. Ahem.)

miss annie

The problem with bay leaves is that they look a little bit like large privet leaves. If in doubt give them a brisk rub between your fingers and then see if your hands smell like bay leaves. Were the curry leaves a winner Arkady?

sincers

Ha - I can't wait for my Chicken Soup with Privet hedge.

Arkady

The stew was, if I may say so myself, a victory of Alexandrian proportions. I ended up chucking in some fresh chilly to give it some kick, so I’m afraid that I’m unable to clearly distinguish the effect of the curry leaf admixture. Here, though, is a tip: When using chorizo in a stew I always fry up the chorizo first with the garlic and onions. The chorizo releases its tasty tasty oil which permeates the onions and then the meat. However the chorizo can become quite tough once it has leached out its oil. What I did this time was to fish out the chorizo with less than an hour of stewing time to go and bunged a load more in. This left me with lots of soft chorizo in the stew, extra chorizo flavour - *and* a biltongesque chewy snack for later! Woot. I have enough stew to feed me for a week too, despite the impressive greed of my guests.

tosscat

Dear old Arky, get cooking chorizo and that should do you - very soft and should survive the stew.

tosscat

And while we're on scrumping herbs, there's a fab sage bush on Mount View which I often raid, and anyone who buys rosemary on the upper east side needs their head examining. (Although there is of the course the danger that the owners may use a systemic weed killer.)

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