You might remember that the loss of Oriental City in Colindale hit me quite hard. One of the shops I adored was Utsuwa-no-yakata - our own little outpost of the international Japanese laquerware and pottery brand. I signed up to their mailing list with promises that they'd let me know if they ever resurfaced and then ... nothing.
This morning I received a letter that Utsuwa is back from today and has rebranded itself as Doki Limited - and a new Japanese bakery called "tetote factory" has come to join them.
Their location is Pacific Plaza which was mooted as the new version of Oriental City in Wembley Retail Park - looks like there's life after Colindale yet.
UPDATE 07.12.09: Ibzo went on a reconnaissance mission on our behalf and Pacific Plaza looks mighty promising ...
Doki Limited
Japanese Tableware
020 8903 0235
Open 7 days a week 10.00-18.30
tetote factory
Japanese Bakery
020 8903 2559
Open 10.00-19.00 except Tuesday
Both at:
Pacific Plaza
Unit 16
The Junction
Wembley Retail Park
Engineers Way
Wembley
HA9 0EG
Posts
7 comments:
It hit me hard too. We used to go often, as it was a 10 minute drive and we work from home a few days during the week so... great lunch option. Not to mention the shopping.
On the last day of the food court, despite driving ALL the way home from Islay in Scotland (look it up, it's far far and involves a ferry and much road mileage) I insisted we drop in. And I actually cried. Yes, really.
Thank you for this news!
Very excited about this! I adored Oriental City. We used to drive out there frequently. The food court was fab, wasn't it? How sad they allowed it to close, or forced it to, rather :(
Loved the walk through you did of the place.. Was sad to hear what seemed like a bustling place close.. Anyway, the new bakery sounds cute!
@Kavey - You're such a softie :)
@Niamh - This is only the beginning - Pacific Plaza will rise like a phoenix and we will eat like kings ...
@Dennis K - Thanks! Yeah, I'm hoping it'll be fab :)
If you thought Oriental City was good you would have loved it back when it was Yaohan Plaza. It used to have cute little Kissatens and supposedly Europe's largest Japanese book shop. Utsuwa-no-yakata was the only original shop that was there from start to finish.
I received the Doki flyer yesterday in the post. I'm gonna try to head down there after class this week or next. I'll take some photos and put them on my blog.
Hey there. I went here today, thanks to your blog post. I really liked it. For me, as someone who grew up near Oriental City, this is so exciting!
http://willeatformoney.blogspot.com/2009/12/pacific-plaza-wembley-park-new-oriental.html
Thank you.
@name which I cannot reproduce - I would have LOVED a kissaten! I'm mad obsessed with Japan so yeah, I am triple gutted I missed out on Yaohan Plaza.
@Ibzo - Fantastic - thanks for checking it out - will update my post above :)
Post a Comment