Smakosz - Swindon

This is truly a great find! I have been by this Polish Deli a number of times. Yes, I have stopped to stare at the lovely looking cakes and pastries in the window, but have been so intimidated I haven't gone in. Until now. I was going to head into town anyway, but when Mr. Snarky sent me a message saying it got a new position at work and the details, I decided we needed a little something to celebrate... like cake : Every time I have walked by the store is always busy! This time was no different with a queue snaking to the back of the store. It is a narrow store, making it quite cozy as you are trying to make your way through. The only downside for me was that I couldn't really read any of the packages or signs as everything is in Polish. On one hand, I think it is a great because it means adventure, but on the other hand, if I'm looking for something in particular or trying to avoid certain ingredients... like dairy, it could be difficult. For me, the best parts of the store are the cakes near the entrance and the meat. Oh the meat! In the states we have Hillshire Farm Polish Kielbasa and it is a lovely, smoky accompaniment to sandwiches, pasta, even breakfast, but finding something similar here has proven difficult... until now. They have quite the variety of smoked Polish Sausages, but also a great variety of other meats like salami, roast pork loin, etc. The next time we need lunch meat for sandwiches, I know where I will be going. I had a poke around and really it is a complete store with dairy products, pasta, canned items, salads, an entire section of powdered mixes... some looked like sauces, others looked like drinks. They also have some delicious packaged cookies and crisps. As the queue disappeared, I went back over to the cakes to have a look. They do have full, beautifully decorated cakes starting at £20 or you could have a slice that would definitely serve 2-3 in a variety of different flavors. Choosing one was difficult as I love chocolaty sorts of cakes while Mr. Snarky enjoys cakes with fruits like strawberries and raspberries. I found one with a mix of chocolate and vanilla sponge with what looked like a layer of jam or fruit sauce as well as a strawberry on top. I also saw that they had packaged up some of their fruit tarts and at £1.49 each, I decided to grab a few of those too... will make nice treats on the train to Twickenham : The staff are very helpful, but I did notice that everyone in the store was speaking Polish except me! However, they were able to help and for the amount of lovely cakes and tarts I picked up, it was just over £7.00. We some of the cake an hour ago and it was definitely a Black Forest Cake and it was definitely as delicious as it looked! I was a bit worried that it would look lovely, but not have much flavor, but that was not the case at all. Really excited to try the tarts tomorrow.