Buying Christmas cake and mince pies in Essen

I would really like to have an English traditional Xmas cake and some mince pies this year. Is there anywhere in the Essen region where I might be able to buy these.?

Hi Raffles, don't know about any place in Essen. However, there's "The International Store" in Düsseldorf, Kurfürstenstr. 28 (about 10 minutes from Hauptbahnhof railway station).
They sell Lyons Mince Pies pack of 6 at €2.50. Tesco Christmas Iced Fruit Cake 1.36kg at €22.95, 907g at €16.99.
Their website can be found at www.foodfromhome.de. Hope I coul help. Regards Wolf

Many thanks Wolf. Will check it out.

Raffles.

I'm most probably going to test that shop also and order a few things what you can't get here and also can't miss.

www.foodfromhome.de

This is where you can take a look at what's on offer ...

I ordered the Mince Pies they were quite good. Also the Koln "english shop". I have quite a List of Stores with Food from Home I will share!

http://www.english-shop.de
http://www.mercadomexicano.de ( for the mexican cuisine)
http://www.american-style.de
http://www.american-food.com
http://www.hello-food.de/

There is also an international store in Cologne BUT I buy lots of things at Kerlstadt in Essen. They have a large "English food" section. I know I saw mince pies there. I am not sure about Xmas cake I already have mine sent from friends in Shefford!!

As in Shefford, Bedfordshire?

Do you mean Karstadt.?

ps. If you don't mean Karstadt, please supply address in Essen where this store can be found. Many thanks.

Yes I do mean Shefford in Bedfordshire. My husband lived there for several years.

sorry I was having a spelling lapse. Yes Karstadt has some English things.

Many thanks to you. I'll check it out.

Let me know what you find. I may need to make a trip myself.

I went to the downtown Essen Karstadt store today. No English food apart from, maybe marmalade and jam. They're closing down at the end of December anyway ...
Perhaps Raffles should try Karstadt in Mülheim (Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum).

Wolf,
We must have been there at the same time. I did not find anything either. I suppose I will have to try food from home.

Oh and BTW I tried Food from home and they seemed a little "you should be glad we let you buy from us" for my taste. ...LOL I guess I am too American for that attitude. I will try the online shops. They advertise Mobil" delivery but don't tell you its once a month. Maybe I need to open a shop! Seems like they buy most of there things from Tesco. I will try some of the other websites listed.

J

Well we made a little trip to Düsseldorf Saturday to get some "Food from Home". Other then the fact that the place is not in the best of areas and I was glad I did not go alone, I was disappointed at the lack of choices. We did get Christmas pudding, but not much else. I think I would try the other online sites listed.

I placed an order with Food from Home and was not exactly chuffed with what I received. A Malt loaf was flattened out of recognition, but tasted OK.
Mince pies were missing from the order and no mention about this. Rest was of indifferent quality and forgettable brands. Won't bother again. Maybe I'm being over-critical, but I have waited a long time for this order and paid through the nose, to boot.

Raffles,
When I talked to them on the phone they had the attitude that if I did not like the way they did things I could go elsewhere. My hubby & I decided to visit the store. It is not in one of the best areas of Düsseldorf that is for sure. Then again the attitude and lack of selection. It made me wonder, if I am going to pay the price why not just order directly from Tesco. Most of there items (90%) are from Tesco so why not just skip the middle man. You will pay alot for shipping, but you either pay Tesco or pay someone else. Just a thought.

By the way, I did buy 2 jars of mince so I will make my own pies. My husband said some of the people from his work bought mince at Karstadt.

Do you thik Tesco will ship to here.? About time they opened in Germany anyway. Liddl and Aldi are in UK, so what's the hold-back?.

I don't think Tesco ships outside of UK but I think there are numerous websites offering food from 'home'. Besides, Tescos and all the major UK supermarkets wouldn't make much profit here in Germany. Aldi, Lidl and co ARE the Tescos, Asda and Morrisons of Germany!

I wonder if you asked Aldi or Lidl corporate if they would stock some Enlish stuff this time of year. I know Comet here in Essen does. They have English candies, cookies and chocolates. I even bought prawn crackers the other day in Comet. So maybe we should start asking.

Well we recieved a package today from England! A freind (who works for Sainburys) sent us a "care package" with Christmas puddings, mince pies, walkers shortbreads and all kinds of other goodies. So we are happy. We are still going to make mince pies though. Can't waste that mince we bought.

Well we recieved a package from England today! A friend (who works for Sainburys) sent us a "care package" with Christmas puddings, mince pies, walkers shortbreads and all kinds of other goodies. So we are happy. We are still going to make mince pies though. Can't waste that mince we bought.