Four Peterborough Food Shops Worth Knowing About

There's a particular kind of food shop where going in with a list is almost pointless.

You went in for cheese.

Then you saw the salami.

Then the bread looked good.

Now you're holding a packet covered in Italian or Polish writing and have absolutely no idea what it is, but it's coming home with you.

Peterborough has quite a few shops like this.

And perhaps we've been looking in the wrong direction when we've talked about local food before.

We've already covered farm shops, Ferry Meadows and Peterborough City Market.

This time we're staying closer to the shelves.

These are four places to try when you fancy buying something different for dinner, tracking down an ingredient you can't find during the big shop, or simply having a nose around.

Fratelli Tavola Calda, Rivergate: Italy Hidden in the City Centre

Rivergate is easy to walk past.

Most people heading through the city centre naturally gravitate towards Queensgate and Bridge Street.

But tucked inside Rivergate Arcade is Fratelli Tavola Calda, and this is exactly the sort of independent place we'd like more Peterborough people to know about.

It's part Italian restaurant, part café and part deli.

So you can sit down for pasta, pizza, coffee or lunch and then start eyeing up what you're taking home.

The deli side carries Italian meats, cheeses and other Italian foods, while the restaurant serves the sort of dishes you'd expect from a traditional Italian café rather than a national chain.

There's something rather nice about that combination.

You don't have to organise a grand Italian meal out.

You can pop in during the day, eat something and leave carrying the beginnings of dinner.

Or just buy the food.

Fratelli is at 2–3 Rivergate Arcade, Viersen Platz, Peterborough PE1 1EL.

Current listings have it open during the day seven days a week, although we'd check before making a special journey.

What we'd go for: lunch first, then Italian meats and cheese from the deli before leaving.

And possibly something we hadn't planned to buy.

That's rather the point.

The Pasta Shop, Fletton: A Peterborough Italian Institution

This one comes with a story.

The Pasta Shop on Queens Walk was founded by the Borrillo family in 1992, but its roots fit into a much bigger part of Peterborough's history.

Fletton became home to a sizeable Italian community, with Italian workers among the thousands who came to work in Peterborough's brick industry.

The Pasta Shop grew out of that community.

More than 30 years later, it's still trading.

Inside you'll find Italian hams and salamis, cheeses, antipasti, pasta, wine and cupboard ingredients, alongside food prepared in its own kitchen.

This isn't really somewhere we'd approach with:

“What's the cheapest thing I can buy?”

It's somewhere to go when you're cooking Italian food and want the ingredients to be the main event.

Planning carbonara?

Lasagne?

Antipasti for Saturday evening?

This is where I'd ask the people behind the counter what they'd buy.

Because that's one of the pleasures of a specialist shop.

You don't have to stand staring at twelve packets of pasta while Googling the difference between them.

Ask.

The Pasta Shop is at 15 Queens Walk, Peterborough PE2 9AN, and current local listings show it trading Monday to Saturday.

What we'd go for: the ingredients for one Italian dinner rather than trying to fill the cupboards.

Tell them what you're cooking and see what you leave with.

Nectar, Stanground: The Shop to Visit Before a Polish Dinner

Peterborough's food story isn't only Italian.

The city's Polish community has changed what you can buy locally too, and NECTAR Polish Delicatessen at Stanground is a good place to explore it.

It's at 2 Central Square in Stanground, and unlike the first two places, this can become much more of a food shop rather than a quick deli visit.

That's why I'd go with a different plan.

Don't walk in looking for a British supermarket translated into Polish.

Look for the things that make going there worthwhile in the first place.

Cold meats.

Sausages.

Cheeses.

Pickles.

Bread.

Dumplings.

Sweets and snacks you've probably never bought before.

And this is where being slightly clueless can actually make the visit better.

If you don't recognise something, ask.

Peterborough has communities from across Europe and the rest of the world, yet it's remarkably easy to do the same supermarket shop every week and never taste much of it.

A shop like Nectar gives you an excuse to change that.

What we'd do: give ourselves £15 or £20 and buy the makings of a Polish lunch or dinner, including one thing we've never tried.

Much more interesting than coming home with the same Tuesday-night dinner again.

Global Flavours, Dogsthorpe: For the Ingredient the Supermarket Doesn't Have

Then there's Global Flavours on Welland Road in Dogsthorpe.

This is an Indian food shop, and it earns its place here for a different reason.

Sometimes you're following a recipe and reach the dreaded line:

“Available from specialist food shops.”

Ah.

Brilliant.

Global Flavours is the sort of place to remember when that happens.

Rather than limiting yourself to the relatively small world-food aisle at a large supermarket, you can look through ingredients intended for people who actually cook this food regularly.

Spices.

Rice.

Lentils and pulses.

Flours.

Sauces.

Fresh ingredients.

Snacks.

And all the little things that can turn “I'm making a curry tonight” into something rather more interesting than opening a jar.

The shop is at 193A Welland Road, Dogsthorpe, Peterborough PE1 3SY and currently trades seven days a week.

I'd go in with a dish in mind rather than buying random spices you'll rediscover at the back of the cupboard in 2031.

Pick a recipe.

Work out what you need.

Then go looking.

What we'd go for: ingredients for a curry from scratch, plus a couple of snacks we've never tried.

Perhaps Peterborough's Food Scene Is in Its Shops Too

When people talk about Peterborough's food scene, the

 conversation usually turns to restaurants.

Fair enough.

But we're beginning to think some of the more interesting food in the city is sitting on shelves and behind deli counters.

Italian food in Rivergate.

A family-run Italian deli in Fletton with roots going back decades.

Polish food in Stanground.

Indian ingredients in Dogsthorpe.

And that's before we've even started exploring Peterborough's

 Portuguese, African, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Asian food shops.

Perhaps that's the next list.

For now, try one of these instead of automatically heading for the supermarket.

Go in with dinner in mind.

Ask what people recommend.

Buy something you haven't eaten before.

Worst case, you come home with an unfamiliar packet of biscuits.

There are considerably worse outcomes.

What'sYour Favourite International Deli Or Food Shop Comment Below