A Taste of Home: Growing up on Ilford Lane

As I walk 100 metres from my door, I find myself on Ilford Lane. Along just over a kilometre stretch, I am able to access grocery stores, mithai shops, countless Indian and Pakistani restaurants and chai spots serving thousands of South Asian Londoners like me, every day.

In this melting pot city where everyone is trying hard to hold on to their heritage, Ilford Lane represents so much more than just another cultural corridor. This commercial lane has become a sanctuary, whilst sometimes noisy and often crowded, it feeds a need and that feeling of homesickness through each shop, restaurant or cafe. But it wasn’t always like this.  

When Dad and Mum first moved here in 1980, they told us stories of the Patel couple who had an off-license style shop with a few groceries, the only South Asian owned shop on Ilford Lane. It was nearly impossible to find the right spices and ingredients locally, usually making trips to other parts of the city to shop for weekly and monthly grocery runs, picking up chapatti atta or flour, spices and fresh produce that reminded them of home.

Ilford Lane, 1920's.

I remember walking down Ilford Lane as a kid, making our way to that one bakery on the corner of Mortlake Road - they had these 4 little square tea cakes, they were the prettiest cakes I had seen and would get so happy when mum or dad would buy them for us! Mum would cut them into smaller pieces so we could all share, and I remember how the little sugary candies that were garnished on top would sometimes come on my little piece! Slowly, the bakeries went, the video-hire shop and the tailors disappeared. Instead, rows of restaurants and mithai shops popped up.

The nostalgia of yesteryear is bittersweet, but the changes have only become a core part of what characterises Ilford Lane as a haven for South Asians, myself included. Now, my walk down Ilford Lane is a sensory experience, with the smells of fresh samosa and that one sweetcorn vendor making your mouth water just enough to almost stop you in your tracks.

One of my favourite new features on Ilford Lane happens from early June to late September. During these months of the year, this 1 km riad is the spot for Mangoes.

Starting from the Indian mango season, through to Pakistani, Nepalese and Sri Lankan, you will find numerous varieties of the King of Fruit - from Dasheri, Honey, Chaunsa, Sindhri, Alphanso, Kesar and Neelam - to the small green varieties ideal for salads and pickling. Nearly every grocery store, corner shop and even some of the butchers have a guy who sits outside with a huge stack and a small wooden stand, displaying the golden fruits.

I really love being at the centre of such a colourful strip of East London - so here are a few spots for you to check out if you ever make the trek:

Quality Foods Grocery Shop.

When you first walk in, you are greeted by rows of fresh vegetables and fruit piled high. At the far end of the produce aisle, you’ll find the best section; bunches of fresh coriander and mint piled high and a beautiful smell that instantly sticks to your hands as you pick the best bunch. As a Gujarati, seeing methi or fenugreek leaves, calls for the opportunity to make thepla (flat breads made with fresh fenugreek leaves), methi gota (fenugreek fritters), or items like methi bateta nu shaak (fenugreek and potato curry). So on the occasion that you arrive at Quality Foods to see a fresh batch of methi feels really special and hardly ever missed! This is only one of two places to find the fresh leaves on Ilford Lane and so whenever they’re in, we usually buy a little more to sort and freeze.

When you walk through, you're almost overwhelmed with rows of different items, from a full backwall of spices, 2 aisles of spice-blends, a whole back row of snacks or 'nashto' items and this aisle, pictured above where you can find instant-noodles and tea!

Nagina Restaurant.

A small Pakistani restaurant specialising in Lahori cuisine, it was one of the first Pakistani restaurants to open on Ilford Lane. A cuisine that is deeply rooted in Punjabi culinary traditions, Lahori cuisine brings together influences of Mughal dining and Central Asian cooking techniques, including the heavy use of a tandoor (clay cooking oven), deeply spice-rich curries and iconic dishes like nihari, (spicy beef shank), siri paye (goat soup), and Amritsari fish, often called Lahori fish. On weekend mornings, you’ll find a queue outside this spot from 7am for their infamous halwa puri breakfast (puri are soft, deep-fried bread, halwa is a sweet, warm semolina pudding).

Pan Shops.

Above: Grabbing snacks at Anand Pan Centre.

I’ve noticed an innate need amongst the diaspora that gathers on Ilford Lane and it’s not just the food that draws people in, but a deeper desire for genuine connection. A social need to just hang out. One such pitstop is the various Pan shops along the Lane. These are regular pan shops where you can pick up a handmade betel leaf mouth fresheners, along with cold drinks, snacks and something light to eat. Each one has a different range of Pan, with some sharing North Indian style, chocolate pans and Lahori pans with a beautiful rose jam inside. But these stop's are more than a shop, they are a place where you can simply hang out. Catch the latest cricket match with your mate over a plate of chaat or a glass of freshly squeezed gana ras (sugarcane juice). Almost a landmark along the Lane, it feels reminiscent of a spot you might find back home, somewhere that feels familiar and cosy without the urgency of the big city rushing you along.

Above: Pan being prepared at Lahori Pan Centre.

Chaiiwala cafe.

One of the first to set up shop on Ilford Lane, this is a tea shop version of a café that sells a variety of chai, from classic Masala chai, Kadak, Kashmiri and also Pink chai. Open until late, it’s where you’d find the young ones coming after taking a stroll down the Lane, eager for a late-night cup of warm chai and maybe even some food. As many of the youngsters in the area don’t drink alcohol, places like Chaiiwala replace the need for a local pub (public house), where the chai ‘adda’ or spot becomes the preferred hangout spot. The chai shop serves the younger population as a meeting spot after spending the weekend with their family, as a kind of relief. Sometimes, after my cousins and I have returned from attending a Navratri garba function (this is a Hindu festival celebrating the divine feminine, where we dress up and dance to folk music), we’ll make a stop at the local chai shop in our full Gujarati attire and take a little chai and snack break before heading home!

Some more photos: