Thaismile Supermarket

Had everything we needed to make our own phở after being severely let down by Saigon Saigon.

My love for Thai food doesn’t stop at eating at one of London’s many fabulous Thai restaurants or dining on street-​food once a year in Bangkok — nope, I also cook the stuff myself… papaya salads, yellow rice chicken, tom yum soup… I just whipped up a seafood red curry for breakfast FFS.
So I’m blessed in Hammersmith to be just down the road from Thai Smile. This is London’s best Thai market by quite a way, selling all the Thai food you need and some Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian stuff as well. It has also in the past had a spin-​out magazine, web portal and restaurant — the great family who run it try their hand at anything and now it’s basically the community hub for Thais in London.
So alongside the best range of Thai herbs, vegetables, sauces, noodles, snacks and sacks of jasmine rice Thai smile also sells Thai/​English dictionaries, stocks Thai wine and whiskys, sells Thai chocolate bars, recipe books, magazines, even Thai computer keyboards. And if like my wife you’re one of the thousands of Thai women new to England you can pick up a free ‘Tips for living in England’ pack for Thais.
We’ve all tried our hands at some Thai cooking at some point in time — look how often someone tries it on BBC for example — well, Thai Smile should be on your radar for your next attempt. Kaffir limes, galangal, fermented fish sauce and salted crabs — all present, correct and gorgeous.
PS. This is in HAMMERSMITH not Covent Garden. Stupid Unilocal Map

I stop by here every once in a while for sauces and other extras, it seems to be good value (though to be honest it’s the only Thai supermarket I’ve been to). The staff are friendly and helpful.

There are some great bargains to be had at this friendly little Thai supermarket in Ravenscourt Park, and if you are a cooking enthusiast, you’ll find all the weird and wonderful ingredients required to make most Oriental meals (if not the fresh meat), and some ready-​made or cheat-​pack meals if you’re not so fussed about learning your lemongrass from your kaffir lime.
Also, if you are a regular, it may be advisable to make use of the loyalty card (of sorts) — by paying a nominal fee, you get 10% off your purchases for a year. Though if you’re unlikely to spend hundreds of pounds here, it’s probably not worthwhile.

My ex flat mate would kill me for not giving this place a five star, but the thing is they were always nicer to me when I came with her. She is Japanese and every time I would bug her about cooking some of her delicious food we would come here to pick ingredients, and for a lesson on oriental food. Me as the student and her as the teacher, of course.
They specialize in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Malaysian and Thai. Let me just mention some of the stuff they have: prawn crackers (to make on your own with oil at home), sweet chilli sauce, soba (japanese noodles), wasabi, chili oil, wasabi peas (spicy but good), soy sauce, japanese stock, seaweed, crackers, and its best to go and have a look because there is bound to be something there you’ll love! If you are into trying many different culinary dishes, that is.