Al-Fath

There’s so much more to this friendly local Algerian butcher’s shop than the rotisserie chickens cranking on the spit grill out front. Venture inside, and find the usual range of halal chicken, lamb and beef. But you can also find delicious, paprika-​spiked merguez sausages that cost a fortune in smart couscous restaurants, tubes of pungent Tunisian Harissa du Cap Bön, tins of Spanish olives stuffed with anchovies or preserved lemon, small crumbly baguettes and family-​sized bottles of Algeria’s famous home-​grown soft drinks brand, Hamoud Boualem, whose cola has a hint of old-​school dandelion-​n-​burdock. On high days and holidays, the shop stocks up with a lethal range of honey-​soaked festive sweeties such as Qalb El Loz and Makroute.