Maxi Mart is a new shop which opened three days ago between the British Heart Foundation and Percy Ingle's. The new owners have obviously decided, like I did when it was empty, that this is an excellent position opposite the Central Library. It is less than thirty yards from a prime piece of real estate called the 'arcade site' and faces the 'Town Square', our famous Walthamstow Market and the Farmers' Market on Sundays.

The name may sound like it's another 99p store, like the one two doors up, but the shop in fact is a rather well-fitted out grocery store specialising in Mediterranean and Turkish produce. They do not quite have the range of fresh fruit and vegetables as the famous Turkish Shop at the bottom of the High Street, as quite obviously, there is a lot of competition in that department from the market and the nearby Super Grow Foods. The Maxi Mart does still have a range of fresh produce in the entrance area, and were selling oranges and limes at 5 for a pound today.

Inside are long chill cabinets with dairy produce, sausages, cold meats and other charcuterie and towards the rear a butcher's where it is possible to buy all the usual meats one finds in Turkish butchers, including some reasonably priced treats not always available at Terry's or Parson's, such as fresh Lamb Fries, Sweetbreads and Hearts. Also to the rear of the shop is an area to sell bread, though this morning the fresh deliveries had not yet arrived when I visited.

The aisles have a variety of tinned goods dry goods and pulses, a selection of spices, some from the usual Asian cooking ranges obtainable at Ummer's but also many more different ones, particularly useful for Turkish cooking. More than at St James Supermarket, they join Faris's Supermarket, in having a long aisle of bottled and tinned Polish and Eastern European vegetables and pickles in competition with Lolek and the Polski Sklep for the Polish pound.

Being new, the place is clean, inviting and uncluttered at present. There is a small range of wines on offer to complement whatever culinary creations are constructed from the goods on offer. My only criticism is that many of the pricing signs are in Turkish and that which is not, is in mis-spelled English.