Four fabulous new food vendors have arrived at The Mall Wood Green. Spud Stop, Spice Pop, Habibi Shawarma and Mex-Man have all joined the Centre since the end of last year.
Spud Stop, which is located outside Costa on the ground floor of the Centre, opened just before Christmas with an extensive menu of jacket potatoes. Owners/Directors, Shujaat Khan and Mohammad Aidoun are on a mission to provide healthier, freshly prepared food options at affordable prices, particularly for families and children.
“We want to offer filling, nutritious meals that don’t compromise on quality or value,” said Shujaat. We focus on freshly prepared food, generous portions, and fair pricing.”
Shujaat has lived locally in Wood Green his whole life and knows the area well. He commented: “Growing up in the local community, I understand the social demographic and everyday challenges people face when it comes to food choices. With Spud Stop, I wanted to change that by offering a healthier alternative. Our aim is to bring a variety of cultural flavours together in one place, creating simple, comforting food that the whole community can enjoy, without breaking the bank.”
Speaking about why Spud Stop chose The Mall, Shujaat added: “Wood Green has a strong sense of community and high footfall, and The Mall felt like the perfect location to introduce a concept that caters to families, workers, and shoppers looking for good-quality food at reasonable prices. With us both being born and bred in Wood Green we understand there’s nothing like this in the area and wanted to bring back a sense of nostalgia by providing jacket potatoes with a twist.”
Spice Pop, which launched in November and officially opened on The Bridge in January, offers a fragrant range of Indian street food including numerous vegan options. Owned by Amal Mohan and Vishnu Unnikrishnan, the aim is to serve fresh, affordable, high-quality street food inspired by authentic flavours, while creating a welcoming space for the local community.
Wood Green was the obvious location for this new business: “Wood Green has a vibrant, diverse community and strong footfall, which aligns perfectly with our food concept,” said Amal. “The Mall offered the right platform for us to connect with a wide range of customers and grow as a local business.
“Our focus is on freshly prepared food, authentic recipes, consistent quality, and friendly service – all at affordable prices. The first month of trading has been very encouraging so far; we’ve had some very positive reviews on Google, great feedback from dining customers and are seeing steady growth in repeat visits, which is wonderful.
Joining Spice Pop on The Bridge, is Mex-Man. A well-established, restaurant chain, Mex-Man provides a tasty selection of high-quality dishes featuring homemade sauces, inspired by Mexican cuisine. It’s an absolute must for taco and burrito lovers. The eatery opened on 2nd February and is already a hit with shoppers
The Mall welcomed its newest eatery, Habibi Shawarma on 14th February, when Cllr Ahmed Mahbub, Mayor of Haringey and the Centre’s Marketing Manager, Catriona Baillie cut the ceremonial ribbon. On its first day, Habibi Shawarma, which serves an extensive menu including wraps, sandwiches, platters, rotisserie chicken, falafel, fatayer and pizzas, served over 3,500 customers with free shawarma.
“Demand was so great that Habibi Shawarma ran out of food and ended up offering a voucher to those who had been waiting, so they can get their freebie another time, reported Catriona.
She added: “We’re always looking to offer guests plenty of choice when it comes to food and all four vendors bring something very different to The Mall. As well as providing new cuisines for our guests to enjoy, we’re delighted that the vendors are responding to our wider community’s needs by making affordable meals a priority. Judging by our guests’ reactions, all four eateries are going to be very busy indeed.”
