We watched the demise of Oriental City this June, and the popular Colindale shopping centre is now well and truly buried in favour of a "community regeneration project." Way to add insult to injury.
Regeneration or not, the community is still around, scattered to all corners like so many Lost Tribes of Israel. While the food court was the real heart of the centre, the vast supermarket was the excuse for many a visit and the source of many an essential ingredient. On the final day (see photo above), we were pleased to find photocopied signs at the door informing us that the business would relocate to a new address in Bayswater. We finally stopped by to check this week, and there it was at number 26 Queensway, just below Whiteleys: "orientalcity supermarket," with the name lowercased and conjoined to look like a strange abstract noun.
Predictably the premises are much smaller and the stock, as a result, less comprehensive, but on the other hand the prices are still very good — even more so for the neighbourhood — and for most of us Londoners, the location is infinitely more convenient. We stocked up on steamer fodder from the freezers: a full kilo of quality Shandong dumplings and a dozen red bean baozi for ten quid. This time, it was still frozen by the time we got home.
Do you know the whereabouts of any other Oriental City refugees? Please let us know in the comments.
