A small wholesalers on Smithdown Road, if you fancy buying some out of the ordinary spices and…read moresauces, putting some pazazz into your kitchen or only want to buy your favourite hot sauce once every five years then come here! (Sweet chilli goodness, here I come!) It's cool walking around this store, they have a small butchers inside and fresh fruit and veg, as well as rows of freezers full of massive fish with their eyes gawping up at you. It's really cheap for the quantity you get so if you don't want to go to Asda and are feeding the five thousand then consider yourself in good hands.

Continental Supermarket is an alternative supermarket which deals in foreign food for those who are…read morenot natives of Liverpool but are after some home comforts. In principal this is a great idea and it follows in the footsteps of a number of Polish general stores which I have seen dotted around Liverpool and various other places across the country. Inside however this appears to be a poorly run establishment and one which could do with a good tidy to be honest. The order of the supermarket seems to be none- existent and the staff do not seem to be forthcoming with help or indeed seem to concerned about tidying the general mess. There is a wide selection of goods inside from fruit and vegetables to halal meat and in this sense this is a useful and caring place, the problem is it has too many faults. With a good tidy and a spruce up this could be an excellent stop for an alternative shop it just happens that there is work to be done.

Eastern Food Store in Renshaw Street sells a variety of Halal, poultry and continental foods both…read morefor wholesale and retail. When you walk into the shop, you can immediately smell the aromas of Asian ingredients which sets your senses going. You are presented with essential sauces, dried and canned foods with a mid/far eastern taste so if you fancy something different, then here is a shop that can offer you that exotic twist to your dishes. There is even a butchers at the end of the shop where a friendly guy will provide you the best cuts of meat how you wish. Prices are generally a little dear but you are paying for good quality products so that is your guarantee.

This foreign grocery store offers a little wider variety than Hondo in that it sells Indian items…read moreand other Asian items as well. I personally think they are smaller than Hondo, though. (I'm not sure why someone said that Hondo was the smallest of the main three?) This seems to be a quieter shop as well, but that could because it's not as near to China town. Besides dried and canned goods they also sell fresh produce and meat. Still, I don't think you will find as wide a variety here as you will in Hondo (my personal opinion.) And the prices are a little higher.

Deli Fonseca is one of the few places that makes me wish I was loaded…read more A fab independent deli in Liverpool's business district, it's packed floor to ceiling with all kinds of mouthwatering goodies. The gigantic counter displays a myriad of delicious cheeses, hams, olives, pates, anti-pasti and salads whilst the nearby baskets display fresh sticks and loaves of bread. To top it off, they have dozens of wooden shelves groaning with all kinds of lovely store cupboard treats from organic granola, cereals and cookies to oat cakes, chutneys, olive oils, vinegars, sauces and spices. Now, where did I put that darn lottery ticket?

This review is for the upstairs restaurant area - and sadly it is not a good one. One Saturday…read morelunchtime, I popped in for a light lunch. Nothing complicated - in the end, I ordered a Greek salad and a plate of Serrano ham rather than the pricier mains on the blackboards. I'm not sure how two really basic things could be so disappointing. I think it's because on the surface, this looks like a place that prides itself on sourcing and attention to detail. On the specials during my visit were such items as hand foraged local samphire, Cumbrian lamb and Pink's award winning sausages. So why was the Greek salad about 50% raw onion? Why did it feature those mealy crunchy supermarket basics tomatoes, cold from the fridge? Even the black olives mentioned on the menu were green. And they clearly did have black olives in the kitchen, because my four slices of Serrano ham (almost £6) came topped with a single olive. They boasted it was "20 month aged" - most of it had clearly been in their fridge, as it featured a faint tang of refrigerator and managed to be unpleasantly rubbery. Not sure how Serrano ham can even go rubbery but there you go. If you've boasting of excellent ingredients then it's unacceptable for the basics to fail so badly. I wouldn't bother returning.

During my time in the UK, I knew absolutely nothing about where to shop. That changed quickly when…read morethe homie Shay M. was hooking it up with the hints on where to go for some of the good stuff you can only find out here! Enter... ASDA!! It's a grocery store, but this particular location has 2 stores under 1 roof. The Home Bargains store houses "hardline" items as well as a few food and drinks options. It's here at this location that I was able to find and snag the well-known English cookies (or "biscuits" as they're locally called) which are branded as "Digestives." I do believe these can be found in San Diego's Shakespeare restaurant and store, but they're probably limited on flavors and guaranteed to cost more. While here, I found some of the hot sauces Shay told me about. I have a friend who loves hot sauce, so I'll be gifting that to her along with other yummies. The Cadbury chocolate tub was also here, and on sale. 2 tubs for £9!! That's an unbeatable price! There's a small selection of fruits and veggies and also fresh flower bouquets. I love the prices at these grocery stores. If I lived here, I wouldn't worry too much about sales, but the ones they do have make the prices even more amazing! Gotta love it here at ASDA! Get your shop on and save a grip of money doing it! ;)

Smithdown Road ASDA, or officially Sefton Park ASDA. Everything you expect in a large supermarket…read more This branch has an extra 'string to their bow'....... the staff. Last Saturday, I approached 3 different members of staff with different enquiries I needed resolving. I can only say they went above and beyond what I expected and remedied all my requirements . Many thanks to you all. I had earlier visited the instore Opticians, my original reason for attending the store and was served by a young lady, Kia. She was obviously well informed and trained. A credit to all trainers and recruiters at the store. I have never thought this before but I left feeling as if I was a truly valued customer, due to Kia and her 3 colleagues. I can only recommend visiting this store as it makes shopping a pleasant experience and not the usual chore. I hope the store general manager and department head take note of this review.

The name Euro Wines makes it sound as though it would stock and sell a selection of fine alcoholic…read morebeverages from across Europe but this is really not the case if I am going to be honest. This place has nothing distinctive about it all so there is no real reason to go here as opposed to any other off licence or supermarket. The outside doesn't look particularly appealing and inside the place is fairly plain and I would be lying if I said there was anything inside which really caught my eye. Obviously as a student I have always been keen to look for cheap booze and as such I have visited a lot of off licences and this one did not really stick out in my mind at all. The name seems to suggest a lot more than the place actually delivers and as such I found this place to be a real let down.

Adjacent to Liverpool's China Town is this handy convenience store. Euro Wines not only stocks a…read morenice variety of booze and a good few groceries, because of its proximity to Merseyside's Oriental capital it has a few surprises too, such as Chinese ingredients, unusual vegetables and plenty of noodles. As well as wines you'll find a vast array of spirits here and beers too, and the staff have always been friendly and pleasant when I've popped in. All in all it gives weight to the term 'convenience' with its handy location for a lot of nearby urban dwellers and those potentially heading into China Town.

If ever I want a reminder of my holiday to Morocco nearly 15 years ago (high time I got back…read morethere!) I just pop to Arabesque on Lark Lane. Whilst enjoying the classic North African dips, salads, tagines and grilled meats and the sweet mint tea so fragrant and the surroundings so beautifully evocative, you are automatically transported to the Jemaa El Fna square in Marrakesh. You might even imagine yourself smoking a hooka pipe. On a sunny day get to Arabesque early-ish to nab a table outside; it's worth it. Lark Lane people watching AND some of the best houmous you can sample in Liverpool? What a combo! N.B. Arabesque is a Bring Your Own Booze restaurant with a £3 corkage charge so get yourselves a decent bottle from Tesco or the Co-Op nearby and you'll still be making a decent saving. Oh yes, and don't forget to check out the actual 'bazaar' before you leave. You'll be feeling in such a holiday mood you'll probably leave with a weaved basket or that hooka pipe you imagined yourself smoking in the Jemaa El Fna...

Great place to find original Moroccan handicrafts and sample authentic Moroccan food. You can sit…read moreat the pavement cafe and watch the world in Lark Lane.

I was amazed at how much this European and Asian food and drink superstore had. There is a small…read morebutchers on site, fresh bread, fresh fruit and veg as well as herbs, spices and nuts. There were lots of products that I hadn't come across before, which was great, but also those more familiar ones such as heinz and baxters. Flat packed olives - and loads of them! Mmmmh mmmmh. Huge bags of basmatic rice that could feed an army 100 times over. With such wonderful things to buy, you might need a car park. As I was stumbling out of the shop with all my bags and a few miles to go, I noticed a car park just over the road near St Vincent Street. Might be a good idea next time - ah dear!

Basically this is an ideal supermarket if you are not a native of this country and are in need of a…read moreshop which reflects your own culture. The place itslef has a wide variety of goodies which you wouldnt find in a standard supermarket. To be honest there wasnt much which suited myself as I didnt really have a need for the niche food products they were selling but nonetheless it is a great little store. If your looking for a standard supermarket shop then this isnt your place but if you want an alternative food shop then visit.

Spiceways burst onto the Indian scene in Liverpool at the end of 2009, and it seemed so promising…read more The decor is lovely, huge portions and friendly staff - I thought it would become competition to the oh-so popular and trendy restaurants on Allerton Road. Unfortunately, it was not to be as only a few months later the quality has dropped so much it is almost unrecognisable. The food was cold, the curries not great - instead of the thick creamy sauces you expect, they were thin and greasy. The service with a smile turned into someone clock watching until their shift was over. Such a shame.

This is our local indian restaurant and we often go there for good food and excellent service…read more There is a good choice on the menu and the waiters are always really friendly. The decor is quite good, fairly modern and not quite so garish as some indian restaurants. We often go with friends who have small babies and there is never any problem with this, in fact the waiters seem to love it. They're also very happy to do takeout (as long as you collect). Iw ould definately reccommend this place to a friend. Especially as I've tried some of the other indian restauarants close by and have not been at lal impressed.

I had few issues with this supermarket. Couple of times, they charged me more. Their till is set to…read morecharge you at least 10% more. Then I always check the bill, count every penny and every single time that has been the case. I was once told that my card didn't go through and asked me to tap 3 times in 3 different machine. They said, they had connection problem. I was not surprised to find out that I was charged in all three times. I have informed the CRedit card but should actually take them for cheating.

T.A.K Supermarket (located in Smithdown Rd, Liverpool) sells food products (vegetables, halal meat,…read morefood ingredients, processed foods and cookware) and cleaning materials. The store specializes in ethnic foods, vegetables and raw meat. The store sells its products at a fairly low price and has varieties of items in their large spacious store. The store also has a corner shop to purchase sweets, alcohol cigarettes e.t.c. These are the aspects that attracts their consumers to purchase from their store. However what I find negative about T.A.K store is that the environment is unhygienic. The vegetables are placed outside the store which I feel that the food would get dirty. As you enter the store, it smells of mixture of raw meat and spice which kind of puts me off from buying from them. The environment looks kind of dirty which made me wonder how people actually purchase from them. Some of the cooking materials (such as cookwares) are badly packaged which make me doubt the quality of those products. Last but not least some of the employees seem to look unhygienic, as though they don't clean themselves. I mean, how can you trust them with food you purchase if the person who is serving seems to look like they have not cleaned themselves (not trying to be mean but this is how I view their employees). I am not saying all of the employees are like that but some of them genuinely look like that. Overall if you want to purchase ethnic foods that are low priced in Liverpool then this is the store to go to. However if you care about hygiene then I would recommend that you find another store to purchase your foods.