Kiełbasa, kajzerka and twaróg: Polish shops in Ealing from the Broadway to Greenford

A Polish shop in Ealing is not confined to one street. Counters and markets appear on the Broadway and in West Ealing, Hanwell, South Ealing, Acton, Perivale, at Hanger Lane and along Greenford Road.

After Poland joined the EU in 2004, west London gained residents who wanted everyday staples familiar from home: a morning kajzerka, twaróg, pickled cucumbers and sausage sliced at the counter rather than from a supermarket tray.

The big chains noticed. Tesco on the Broadway installed a Polish deli counter more than a decade ago, with brands such as Sokołów and JBB. The regular weekly shop, however, still runs largely through independent delis and Polish supermarkets. Signs and opening hours change; the names below are those that still recur in 2026 directories, reviews and recruitment ads.

The typical basket is consistent. Bread includes rye, sunflower loaves, kajzerki and chałka. Counter meats cover ordinary and hunter’s sausage, ham, kabanos and pâté. Dairy from Poland includes twaróg, kefir, sour cream and rokpol-style cheese. Jars bring cucumbers, ćwikła, horseradish and plum butter; freezers hold pierogi, Hortex products and berries. Sweets, Wedel chocolate, a newspaper, a SIM card or a parcel home often complete the trip. For part of the street this is the daily grocer, not a once-a-week “ethnic” treat.

Mleczko Delikatesy opened in Shepherd’s Bush in 1995 and put its first Ealing shop in Hanwell in 2000, later adding Greenford (2006), South Ealing and Acton. The Mleczko family—founder Władysław and sons Michael and Tony—still runs several borough sites and stresses service in English as well as Polish. Stock includes cold meats, Polish dairy, bread baked for some shops, and cakes. Hours can run from about 7am to 10pm on weekdays, with shorter Sundays. Reviewers often praise polite staff and the chance to ask in English what is in a jar. These are mid-size corner delis rather than warehouse halls.

Kopernik Polish Supermarket on Greenford Road is closer to a hypermarket. Directory scores sit around 4.3 and it often stays open late, sometimes until 11pm. Shoppers praise the vegetables, the sausage counter and the range; complaints mention price, staff chatting instead of serving, short dates and sticky cold cuts. In February 2026 the chain was still advertising for a meat-counter assistant in Greenford. Kopernik also has a presence on Ashbourne Parade at Hanger Lane.

Mieszko Polski Supermarket operates at Sudbury Hill and in Perivale, with hundreds of reviews also clustering around 4.3. Some days it opens from 6am. These are trolley shops for flour, water and a week of frozen pierogi, not a dash-in for one roll.

In West Ealing, Kujawiak Polski Sklep on the Broadway draws lines such as “the widest range in Ealing” and “the best Slavic meat counter in London,” with pelmeni, frozen mushrooms and homemade-style cakes. Scores hover near 4.3 across hundreds of reviews. The other side of the same feedback is a sharp counter, staff who assume Polish, and labels only in Polish—easy to leave with the wrong half-kilo if you do not know the language, and a reason regulars return for the ham if you do.

Smaller counters fill the Broadway and High Street area. Deli Polonia is a more compact international deli covering Poland plus Romania and Lithuania, with high-street hours rather than late supermarket nights. Polski Sklep on Royal Parade at Hanger Lane is the classic narrow aisle: meats and bread near the entrance, cheese and ice cream further back. Older reviews like the meat and staff; they dislike the crush and tired-looking vegetables.

On Greenford Avenue in Hanwell the name Żabka / M M Polish Delicatessen still appears as a family shop for fruit, bread, ham, next-day cake orders and a coffee while you shop. One review site shows about 4.8 from more than 150 ratings—a neighbourhood scale rather than a big hall.

Beyond the large Greenford Road stores, Maja Polish Deli on Oldfield Lane North opens early, sometimes from 6am. Reviews split between praise for bakery, drinks and friendly service—including from non-Polish shoppers—and 2024–25 complaints about out-of-date meats, rude service and a parcel to Poland taken without a receipt. Delight Wędlinka on The Broadway in Greenford and Kredens on Ruislip Road East complete the map for anyone living nearer Greenford Broadway than Greenford Road.

Across the borough the pattern is similar. Strengths are a range the main supermarkets do not fully match: a specific sausage, a tub of twaróg, morning bread, horseradish that tastes like home. Prices can undercut on jars and dairy and look dearer on counter meat. Weaknesses include dates on meats and dairy, staff who will not switch to English, narrow aisles and Saturday queues before feast days.

This is not a story of Poles versus everyone else. Some of the warmest reviews come from non-Poles who came in for a roll and stayed for the curd cheese; some of the coldest come from Polish customers who met slimy ham or a short temper at the knife. A shop is only as good as that day’s delivery and that day’s shift.

Polka Kitchen on Dickens Yard at Ealing Broadway is a restaurant, not a grocer—pierogi, żurek and portions “like grandmother, not like London,” sometimes with a cake counter. That is an evening out. A kilo of sausage for Sunday still means places such as Kujawiak, Mleczko or Kopernik.

Practically, check hours before a big shop: Sundays finish earlier, the halls on Greenford Road run late, and High Street delis close like any high street. Cards are widely accepted. Some shops handle parcels to Poland; reviews urge customers to take a receipt. Labels are often Polish-only, so a phone translator or a plain question such as “which sausage is mild?” beats guessing by the casing colour.

Ealing has no single Polish centre. It has a strip from Acton High Street through Hanwell and West Ealing to Greenford and Perivale. Live by the Broadway and you need not travel to Greenford for a kajzerka; live on Greenford Road and you already have a hall the size of a small Tesco—only with more kabanos.