Scherezade

Brilliant food, and friendly staff, I live around the corner and go at least once a week. the falafel sandwich is amazing, plus I can recommend the hummus and samosas, which are both awesome. Good place for a cheap lunch, with great selection of healthy middle eastern food.

I’ve ventured down this street loads of times, and therefore I *must* have been past Scherezade, but it was only after reading Steph S’s review that it really popped up on my radar. I was visiting Pena nearby, and decided to pop in here for a visit.
While this wasn’t a 5 star experience in terms of customer service — the guy running the shop is totally fine, he just doesn’t really ooze friendliness or warmth — the shop is really a total gem in terms of what they stock. There’s a deli counter in the window jam packed with Middle Eastern delights like hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, spicy chickpeas, baked aubergine, olives and samosa. There’s a grocery section which again, has a really wide range — couscous, oils, soups, tagines. The store is a little cluttered and if you were looking for something specific, you might want to ask rather than trying to find it.
I grabbed a medium sized tub of the baked aubergine/​eggplant, and that’s what makes this a 5 star review for me. It was rich, juicy and decadent — absolute perfection. Served with some chopped onion, it made for a delicious lunch and didn’t need a single thing added to it. It was somewhere around £2 and was enough for one portion, I’d definitely get more when I head back.
It’s well worth popping in here for a visit and seeing what delights you discover — be adventurous!

Give me this old timer any day.
New deli here, new café there, it’s all new, new, new. Well, Scherezade’s a Middle Eastern/​Sub Continental delight of a deli that’s been on this planet for donkeys. Tucked away up Bank St, next to the old laundrette I often wonder how it survives, but having sampled the samosas, falafel, hummus, flat bread and the chana I now know why.
The guy running the shop’s a character too. I can definitely see him on the cover of National Geographic wearing his shalwar kameez, chain smoking several cigarettes while tending his Himalayan mountain goats (In fact he’s Iraqi, but I don’t have time to wiki Iraqi mountain ranges :-/​). Indeed I’ve often thought he pretty much runs the shop to sell his family’s evening meal leftovers. A more perfectly seasoned samosa is yet to be found.

Yummy falafel, very helpful and friendly chap in charge. Worth travelling across the city for!

The Iraqi chap who runs this Middle-​Eastern deli sells homemade falafel pitas to takeaway for just £2.50 and they are very yummy indeed!

Ha! its funny how the reviews of this place are largely based around the desire, nay need for Hummus and the shopping experience found within this quirky establishment.
I too ventured into this place when i lived in the stinky orange, nicotine chicken fat flat round the corner… dont ask… Anyway, we popped in here for some Humus, were drawn into a conversation with owner who suggested… wait for it… some flat bread to go with it and i must agree with Adam that it was damn tasty. My wife also tried the stuffed olives (alien eggs) and found them to be straight of the yumsville express. Apart form this there ain’t much to say about this place.
I think next i’m in it deserves a thorough investigation, however i fear that i will be forced to purchase Humus and leave as i believe the owner must be paid on some sort of hummus selling commission…

Scherazade, looks kind of an odd shop for a deli, I was slightly thrown by the shish a pipes in the window but I pass almost daily and decided to have a butchers.
The man in the shop kind of spoke in an abrupt manner when I entered, but after enquiring about humus I found him to be very friendly. He helpfully recommended some bread I have never heard of before which was pretty much amazing (if you are keen to try it out just ask him what would go well with humus!).
The humus; a little pricier than supermarket pre-​packed but was very very nice, one of my friends has a slight obsession with humus and many a discussion has been had, this one was ever slightly garlicy and had a good tang to it. I’m not really sure what else the shop sells, a lot of Iranian food I presume (as it is an Iranian deli) but a good discovery none the less.