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British Food Centre
Categories: Food Specialty Food Food Grocery Specialty Food, Grocery [Edit]
1652 El Camino RealSan Carlos, CA 94070
(650) 595-0630
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
15 reviews for British Food Centre
15 reviews in English
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Review from Nigel J.
Palo Alto, CA
Updated - 4/1/2012
All three stores have closed
No idea where to get a similar range of British stuff, other places just have a few items1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/5/2011
Excellent place for British foods, pretty much like any old fashioned corner store you would find… Read more »
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Review from Emmalouise B.
San Mateo, CA
Overall, a pretty disappointing store.
Inside is small and the shelves look very bare but they do have some of the items I love and miss from 'Blighty so I'm going to be generous and give them 3 stars.
They stock Tinned, Packet, Jarred and Frozen food items such as Heinz Baked Beans, Salad Cream & Spaghetti Hoops, Bisto Gravy granules, Marmite, Birds Custard, Pataks curry paste's, Foxes biscuits & various Chocolate (Double Decker, Yorkie, Caramel & Maltesers ect).
They have 3 freezers towards the back which contain Bacon and sausages by brands I have never heard of, many of which are icy and have freezer burn. Eeeaw. Another where they keep their Mr Kipling cakes. Nooo! They don't get kept in the freezer *sad face*. This is presumably because they don't sell enough before they go out of date. If they were on the shelf where they should be I would have snapped up a few boxes.
Items are on the pricey side too. I know they have to cover import costs but the items in which I can find in other store's were about 50% more in here.
Like Sarah S, I was also expecting the lady working the shop to be British but no. Also, be sure to check the dates! Some of the chocolate I spotted were 2 months out of date.
Ok place of you're desperate and can't find the items's elsewhere. Street parking only.Listed in: Multi-National Food Store's
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Review from Audrey Jean T.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 8/11/2011
Even though I've moved to SF this is still my very favorite British Store. I've tried others and always left unimpressed. When I need my Irn-Bru and Steak Pies I'll be making the drive! Please never leave!
Listed in: My Neighborhood
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/3/2008
I love this little store. It never fails to impress me and take me back to my childhood. She has… Read more »
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Review from Ken K.
12/12/2006
Small mom and pop store with great and friendly customer service. Despite the fact that I did note a few items were nearing or passed their expiration date on the shelf two times, there are some interesting items here that might be hard to find elsewhere.
Schwepps Bitter Lemon - hard to describe, but this is a tasty soda. I don't think you want to google the chemical that's inside this drink... Just down two bottles and forget about it, live for the moment! Preserve for a lifetime! Haha.
British coke - Other than Mexican cola, British coke is the only other way to get "Classic" Coca-Cola, made with sugar, and not the high fructose corn syrup. Use a lot of ice, and you might get that signature dryness after drinking it.
Irn Bru - Kind of like a Fanta Orange but different. Scots love this stuff for some reason. I wasn't blown away by it
Ribena - Ahhh the cheap way to get Vitamin C...blackcurrent concentrated syrup, mix with water, and make every kid clammer for more.
PG Tips - My favorite and apparently the most popular commercial brand of British red tea. Brew it properly and this is a nice afternoon cuppa with cubes of sugar, scones, sandwiches n' shit.
Meat pies - this is in the frozen section all the way in the back. I guess you need an industrial oven to bake this properly. The amount of salt that are in these things will brine you for centuries, but other than that they're quite fun to have, especially if you had them as a kid. Not quite the same, but interesting nonetheless.
Yorkie/Blokie - Ahh pure hard core British chocolate. The blue bar is the Yorkie, and the equivalent gimmicky version is the brown wrapper bar, "Blokie" for guys with a no women allowed sign. Very cute. Don't let N.O.W. see this shit.
Digestive Biscuits - Dem McVities, tasty wheat digestive biscuits that probably go great with PG Tips or other kinds of British tea. The chocolate version is a childhood favorite. You can buy these at most Chinese supermarkets now or variants of them. Try the off beat version, Hob Nobs, in the cans.
Did I suggest getting a physical done after consuming most of these products? -
Review from Ann L.
10/20/2007
If you like British food then you might want to visit this tiny store, otherwise it's not that great..stuff looks old and shelfs kinda bare & boring.
I've been here before, so it was my 2nd time here. These are items I saw:
British sodas
Marmite in a can
Vegemite in a can
Scottish haggis in a can
lime curd
orange curd
teas
tea pots
Aero candy bar $1.65
Jelly Babies $5.25 a big bag
Kinder Surprise $1.95 ea
Smarties
Galaxy Bar $1.65
Violet Crumble $1.65
Walkers shortbread cookies $1.25
Hrs:
M-Sat 10a-6pm
Sun 11a-5p -
Review from TC W.
Menlo Park, CA
7/24/2011
When you need your Cadbury's flake fix, your Roundtree's Fruit Pastille fix, your Marmite, your Hobnobs, even your packet of Quaver's crisps - this is it. While Cost Plus has a fairly decent collection of English chocolates, they miss a great deal of the tried and true English favorites. Walk into this place and I swear it's all I can do not to fill an entire basket. You'll also find English newspapers, tea towels, some porcelain, along with the groceries. It's not huge by any means, but when you have to have a packet of Polos and a bottle of Ribena - this is your place. Also, the woman who works there (owns it I believe) is really lovely and is basically the spitting image of the Scottish mom in How I Married An Axe Murderer. You'll see what I mean. :)
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Review from kim n.
6/5/2011
There used to be a place calld BJ Bull in Palo Alto that had pasties for sale fresh everyday. I used also buy frozen ones to go to bring to my place in Tahoe for the snowboard season. Unfortunately, that whole shopping center got shut down, all the businesses disappeared and now it's being built into apartments or somethingrather. I missed those pasties and now I've found a decen alternative here at BFC. Pasties, meat pies, haggis, and all those other British foods that have clinical sounding names. Regardless of the phonics, the food is tasty despite what the rest of the world says about British cuisine. Don't forget the HP sauce!
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Review from Melanie D.
Mountain View, CA
7/15/2007
First place in California I've found that sells chocolate digestives. Yes, heaven. If only if it were closer to where I lived.
Also, the woman that works the counter reminds me of a sweet, kindly grandma dispensing smiles for miles. -
Review from Sarah P.
Menlo Park, CA
9/3/2007
One weekend I made scones and was searching desperately for some clotted cream (because you obviously can't eat scones without jam and clotted cream!). Enter my savior, the British Food Centre!
Closeted away in a tiny storefront on El Camino, I nearly missed it as I drove by. The store is not big or fancy, but they do have British food. I got my clotted cream, some cookies, smarties, and frozen pasties. If you're looking for British food, this is the place to go! -
Review from Bradley N.
Woodside, CA
9/10/2009
Come for the McVitie's and stay for whatever else tickles your fancy at this great little British import store. Bring cash and a bag to take your loot home. You can do much worse, and coming here is a nice excuse to walk around the back streets of San Carlos. There is a world beyond El Camino Real, and it's actually quite nice! The community starts where the roadway gives way to sidewalk and actual people can be observed walking the streets.
Listed in: Best of the Royal Road
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Review from sarah s.
San Francisco, CA
2/24/2011
Heard about this store a while ago and never realised how close it was. So today i checked it out, had a bit of trouble finding it using my GPS, but after checking google maps I found it :)
I was expecting the store to be a reasonable size but it was very small, and the shelves were not well stocked, it looked a bit like it was closing down.
The first few items I picked up I checked the sell by dates on (after reading some reviews on here) and found some items had less than two months on them.
Price wise i wasnt that impressed, they were either the same or more than i pay in other places that sell British food.
However.... they did sell British bangers and sausage rolls in the frozen section :) I purchased these but havent cooked them as yet. they have a selection of meat pies and pasties and bacon too, along with loaves of hovis bread.
If the sausages and sausage rolls are good then i will pay the store another visit, but other than that i probably wont make a special visit back there, may call in if im passing buy for a few chocolate bars though.
One more plus side, i found wagon wheels in there, havent had them in years :)
I also expected the person who worked there to be British, i was looking forward to hearing a British accent, but alas no. -
Review from Sara K.
Redwood City, CA
11/12/2010
I have been coming here as long as I remember. Alice who runs the San Carlos Branch is like a very close family member to me!!! I have grown up with an English/Scottish mom, Irish Dad, and a Scottish Grandfather and English Grandmother (all under one roof). They have everything the family ever wants from back home. Prices are slightly high because they import themselves and they have to have full containers, but no higher than any other privately owned import store!
Shannon (my favorite) and Galtee Sausages (chipolatas and Banger style). Are our faves.-- Closest to the real Irish Sausages! Shannon Back Bacon is great as well! Don't forget your Black and white pudding as well for a great fry up!
U.S. made Cameron's and Piccadilly brand meats, pies, pasties (vegetarian and meat), sausages etc. Yorkshire pudding, Kippers, frozen deserts, Almond cakes, you name it!) Fresh Frozen Hovis baked bread, are in the back freezers.
Malt loaves (hidden in the freezer at the front of the store) clotted cream and kerry Gold butter are there too!. Tons of great Jams, from BlackCurrant , redcurrant, Raspberries, Strawberry, and Thick and thick cut different brands of marmalade always available.
For Snacks: All the newsstand sweets from glacier mints, smarties, Turkish delights, Taytos crisps, Walkers crisps etc.
Real jelly Babies, Dolly Mixture, Roses, and Quality street, Toffees with and without nuts including brazil nuts, take up a good portion near the front of the store.
For baking: Irish Brown bread mix "Odlums," (just add water). Flour, Bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, Christmas time: all the dried fruit and Suet for making Christmas cakes and puddings from scratch, (Including icing sugar and decorations). They also carry ready made christmas cakes and puds.MInce pies etc, and non-Xmas season regular Dundee and other British non-holiday cakes. Birds Custard, mix etc. year round.
Old fashioned classic Bisto and the newer Bisto with hot water. British version of Indian food and Mixes. All the food mix packets from Sheppard's pie to Toad in the Hole, you name it.
Teas' coffees, sugar for your coffee, hot chocolate mixes (Cadbury regular and diet!) etc.
Bitter lemon, British Lemonade, fizzy orange and all the specialty juices and drinks. Don't forget all the canned food from meats, beans, pastas, sauces, to desserts... are all there. Don't forget Marmite and Vegemite. Salad Cream, you name it.
Other things not mentioned is a small collection of greeting cards, Teas towels, larger selection of tea pots, and larger still collection of Stickers with flags and GBR, IRL SCOT etc. And a nice collection of some old, some new, Americanized DVD's of British shows, sports, and movies.
If you can't find what you are looking for Alice will call, then send you to the Campbell store, or will order it up for delivery from there (1-2 weeks- to get to the Campbell store), This is if what you want is out of stock in the smaller more personal San Carlos Store.
You can buy the ready made Sausage rolls and the British Food Centre-- taste great and save time!, If you buy the pastry , and sausages there (or Pepperidge farms sheets- from a regular grocery store you can make your own with the sausage you like the flavor of most-- just use an egg wash before baking and strip off the casing before wrapping to make it authentic) --I usually cook the sausage in the broiler about halfway without casing, cool over night in fridge - then bring to room temperature-then wrap in pastry- and bake until golden brown). Serve with Coleman's mustard (warning: it's hot and spicy) and plain with nothing. You can get three cocktail sausage rolls out of each sausage. cut to size before wrapping pastry and baking. (I know this is obvious to some regular British cooks, but not so to Americans who married into a British family).-- BTW-- these homemade Sausage rolls with the Coleman's dip is a hit at every party-- pigs in a blanket British style. (Bowl Games, Superbowl, Boxing day, St. Pat's day, just a famlily dinner party/potluck etc..)
They don't carry fresh fruit or veggies, (Always look at a good small privately owned Indian market for a good selection of fresh veggies and fruits-- there is a great new one in Belmont behind the AM/PM mini Mart on Ralston- with a frequent buyer card for discounts).
The only think I wished they carried was Marks and Spencer's food items and baby items (and maybe some basics like socks and undershirts/clothes for men and women).. My guess is you can't resell it that's why they don't carry it, or the profit margin is so low it's not worth it.
Feel free to call ahead and ask Alice if they have what you are looking for. She is so great that she knows that the long distance I now take the food keeps frozen if she wraps everything in paper then in paper bags, then in my reusable bags in soft sided cooler -
Review from Elizabeth A.
San Mateo, CA
12/7/2010
Came back from London missing my pub grub...especially mushie peas. I also thought that British crisps were the best ever. I found this store and low and behold...they have mushie peas...a bit of jolly ole England right here on the peninsula.
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Review from Stuart J.
6/29/2005
When you absolutely have to have some Marmite, chocolate Hob Nobs and PG Tips, this is the place. If you have no idea what I am talking about you are undoubtedly not British. On looking at the extensive sweet selection (that's candy to you) it became abundantly clear to me why British dental health gets a bad rap.
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Review from Shauna M.
Atherton, CA
7/8/2010
Small store. They have a nice selection of frozen items such as shepherds pie or meat pasties. Hwo ever ever I would advise on checking expiration dates on canned goods etc, as we have gotten expired foods before. It's such a small store that the rotation is not always 100%.
