A newly opened Algerian food store and Halal butcher where lots of good things - baklava, jars of…read morehoney with honeycomb, foule medame, halloumi cheese - of a Middle Eastern culinary type line the shelves. Maybe I'm a bit unusual in liking that sort of food but whatever one's tastes it's good to see a good selection of fresh looking, interesting food items on display. Another bonus is that the shop is light and pleasant - sometimes I find ethnic foodstores are a little on the gloomy side and the staff were friendly and pleasant.

Definitely my idea of a great delicatessen with a fantastic selection of meats, cheeses, jars of…read moredelicacies, fresh olives, fish, pates, salads and everything else that you hope to find to complete a gourmet feast for a special treat. Among other things there is high quality bacon and locally produced smoked salmon. All sortsof specialised ingredients are likely to be here with things you don't find often such as the Canadian Clover Crest honey which I bought. The only trouble for me is that Arcadia is so far away up the traffic laden Lisburn Road though the longish opening hours are helpful. Mind you, perhaps it is just as well as I'd be overspending far too much.

Arcadia is quite possibly one of the best finds I have had the pleasure of discovering while…read morewriting my reviews. I'm not up on my deli / speciality foods, nor do I know my Perches from my Pollocks (apparently types of fish...yeah, I didn't know that either) but even I realised the extent of Arcadia's wonderfulness. Plus they sell American sweets. No longer was I interested in the Snappers or the Sea Breams (yep, more fish), the Gruyere or the Gouda (cheese this time)...I eyes were solely fixed on the sweetie selection. Picking up a packet of peanut butter M&Ms (I don't like peanut butter, nor do I like M&Ms), the feeling of the novelty of purchasing something that is so highly sought after over here overcame me. And so, they were bought for the grand price of £1.49. My sister, on the other hand, eyes popping out of her head, was visibly distressed by the varied and unusual choice of confectionery which lay before her. Well, Willy Wonka was the lucky man this particular day, and she selected a packet of 'Wonka Nerds'. And now I am officially going to immigrate to the USA. Ohhh, these are good. These are really, really good. Tiny drops of wild cherry and watermelon explode with flavour the moment you pop them in your mouth and start chewing. It's been nice knowing you all...I'll see you on the other side. (Of the ocean).

Love Olive has been around in the market for as long as I remember, and it's not hard to see why…read more This huge stall has one of the largest ranges of cheese, cured meats, condiments and of course olives. The range is superb. I've sampled some local cashel blue type cheese which was superb. Creamy and sour, stinky and sweet at the same time. Spooned through the tail end of a simple ristotto bianco it completely brought it to life. When you do speak to the staff they are overwhelming helpful to your every whim. The last time I bought stuff from them I was deciding whether to go for some prosciutto or serrano ham. The staff member helped me along by giving me a more than generous meaty chunk from both cuts to aid my decision. In the end the cheaper serrano was the winner, much greater depth of flavour, rich and dusty, like a Belgian gueuze beer or an old blanket. The stalls anchovies are superb. Not the typical dark salty cured fish you're used to seeing in tins but pale with the skins on soaking in a zesty vinaigrette. Fantastic tossed through a salad or just eaten with a chunk of hard cheese. There is also a superb range of pestos, sauces, tapenades and other foodie delights. The green pesto is fantastically fresh, light and creamy it goes exceptionally well with anything. The prices of course all vary accordingly but in general nothing is overly expensive. You might pay a little more than you should for say 100g of Roquefort cheese and the fake prawn/shrimp thing they sell is bordering on the revolting, but on the whole this is a one-stop-shop delicatessens which urges you to stop by.

I love love olive. It offers a choice of the most delicious pestos, cheeses, olives, breads,…read morechorizo sausage and tapenades you could imagine. I bought some stuff from a stall they had out at Holywood a few months back and the staff were so friendly. They offered me loads of free tastes of anything I was interested in buying and told me about their stall down at Georges Street Market. I'm getting hungry just thinking about their food as it was just mouthwateringly delicious. Nom! One of the great things about Love Olive too was the great heavy duty flax bag that they put my purchases in, it's been used to carry everything from laptops to clothes and shoes on the bus to Belfast! You simply must sample Love Olive.

Absolutely awful. I ordered a takeaway from them of nachos, and tacos. And when they arrive the…read morenachos are just a box of crisps with meat thrown on the top. No cheese. No salsa. No sour cream. Just a box of chips and meat. This is after waiting 90+ minutes for delivery. I called up and they said they didn't know I wanted cheese. Some people eat their nachos just meat on crisps. That would not be called nachos. That's meat... and crisps! Top this off with the last burrito I got from them with some sort of horrible 'smoky beans' inside. And I will never again order from them. 99% of the food I have bought from them has ended up in the bin.

I really dislike being a mean internet person, but I am not exaggerating when I say that Mex is the…read moreworst restaurant I have had the misfortune of handing over my money to in Belfast. I even gave it a second, optimistic try, but having just finished another offensive meal from Mex, I have nothing good to say about the experience. In short: go somewhere else. If you are a fan of burrito-bar style burritos (like me), this is not for you. If you are a fan of nourishment and happiness, regardless of how low your standards are, I daresay, also, that this is not for you. Whoever hurriedly set up Mex could have gone for doing a bit of research regarding what types of flavours Mexican food is associated with. It wouldn't have been hard; they could have just gone to the other local burrito chain and tried to copy it exactly. Instead, some of their flavours seem not only 'inauthentic' (such burrito bars are hardly 'authentic Mexican cuisine' anyway) but completely random. Beans tasting of smoky barbecue as burrito base? Seemingly sugar-infused pork? Slightly spicy thousand island dressing (which they were trying to pass off as chipotle sauce)? Mex gets it totally wrong. Not only is it weird, it's gross. The food doesn't work at all, and certain bites of the burrito I had tasted like an awful wrap of picnic-food leftovers and a mish-mash of condiments apparently blindly selected from a refrigerator and then mixed with things someone saw in a picture of a burrito once. I left the establishment feeling disappointed and mildly nauseated. My stomach wouldn't speak to me for days. A few months passed, and I was sitting at home without much food in the fridge and a hankering for tacos. It turns out that Mex is the only burrito establishment in Belfast that delivers (at the time of writing, at least), so I decided to give them another try. Alarm bells should have rung when I saw that their menu now offered the eater the misguided opportunity to get a 'burrito on chips', whatever that means. I passed it over, hoping that it meant tortilla chips, which would still be confused semantically but would at least have the possibility of tasting somewhat coherent. I ordered three tacos and decided to order 'chips with cheese' to see whether it turned out to be tortilla chips with queso (it didn't). It took over two hours for my food to arrive, and when it did, it looked almost despondent, the hard shell tacos sadly falling apart into the scattered lettuce, damp and crumbly like wet toilet tissue. I wouldn't have called the taste disgusting this time, but it didn't taste good (or even acceptable) either - just sort of thrown together and bland. The food was lukewarm in some parts, cold in others. Trying to avoid their crazy flavours, I had simply selected 'fresh tomato' and 'jalapeno' as my two salsas, which turned out in the latter case to simply be slices of jalapenos. Fine. I like jalapenos. With resignation, I ate what I could, struggling with the collapsing taco-shapes, wondering if the £10 note I had spent would have been more satisfying. Go somewhere else. Really.

Located on the Lisburn Road, Abbotts Meats is a high quality butchers offering great value meat…read more Conveniently located close to a fresh green grocers, Abbotts strives to deliver friendly staff and tasty fresh food. They also offer meat packs, such as a host of burgers, sausages, minced beef for £10 or a bit more for £20. With Tescos located further up the road, the tendency is for customers to go to a chain store for cheaper meat. But as with most butchers, the food is nicer, particularly the minced beef which is perfect for any cottage pies or lasagne. I would definitely recommend this butchers because despite the price of their food being that bit higher than supermarkets, their food is much nicer and it is better to support local businesses.

Abbotts is a local butchers on the Lisburn Road. Whilst for some things the meat here might be that…read morelittle bit more expensive than that of the Tesco's of the world it is of a much better quality. The butchers here know where every pick of meat has came from, how it was raised, fed etc, it's good to know these types of things. Abbotts itself proudly proclaims on a board outside that all it's beef comes from it's own farm. How much more local can you possibly get?! Their lamb kebabs are fantastic. They are really cheap at 85p for one and make a fantastic lunch. Really happy this place is close to me.

Wittens is a good old local green grocers. These are a complete dying breed which is a terrible…read morething because Its always good to have local produce. This place is filled to the prim with everything you could ever want. Everything is in season and picked on the only a day or two ago. I get my eggs here, mainly due to the fact that they are local free range eggs and eggs is where my ethics when it comes to food comes to an end! The till is at a really awkward position and you have to kinda loiter around in the hope of being served at it, but that just adds a little something more to its local charm I think.

What a pleasant little shop to have in such close proximity of huge chain stores and takeaways…read more Situated on the Lisburn Road, Whitten's looks and smells like an old fashioned green-grocers and is a favourite among the locals. With its well-stocked shelves, cheap milk and traditional feel, this particular green-grocers is certainly my favourite in Belfast. It does not have the 'market stall' impact when you walk in, as if they are waiting for you to buy your food and leave. Instead you can roam around the shop as long as you like and pick the freshest ingredients to cook for that someone special. They have great offers on all products, especially their potatoes which for a huge bag comes in for a £1. Their fruit is top drawer, with a huge selection of everything, whilst their mixed salad bags may not be as cheap as a supermarket, but taste much nicer. For fresh fruit and vegetables with a real homely feel, I suggest you come to this pleasant little place and you never know, they might even give you some discount.

As a fan of Indian food I love to try making my own and I only ever come to one place-Spicy World…read more They are open to both public and trade and they have everything and anything you might want under one roof to create authentic ethnic cuisine! The staff are really helpful too and full of advice and tips on how to use certain things! Its really well priced too and I would definitely recommend a visit to all you budding chefs out there!

This the first ethnic food store - apart from the long established Lee Foods - that I found in…read moreBelfast, with much delight it is a great place for stocking up on beans, lentils, chickpeas and other dried things as well as Indian spices. The dried stuff never seems to have hung around the shelves too long which makes a huge difference when you cook them and the spices are good and fresh too. Futhermore, it's better value than the supermarket. There is also a selection of Asian vegetables such as okra, though not very fresh, as is the wont of small shops like these - getting round that problem would be a question of getting there on the right day I would think. My last visit to Spicy World saw me lugging home a bag of coarse polenta, which is not everywhere, as required by some recipe or other, after my customary time of hovering over the choice of beans, chickpeas, red rice and split peas. No further decision was made - I'll be back again squirrel away a few more provisions.

I have my many foodie obsessions. I have a severe penchant for craft beer and brewing (I've brewed…read moreall grain for a few years and written and reviewed close to 700 brews) and the highest obsession for good beef, cooked well and of the best provenance. One thing I haven't really taken much consideration over is oil. I use a variety depending on the cooking, extra virgin for anything Italian, sunflower or ground nut oil and sesame for those Asian nights. I know there is a wide variety of olive oil available, Greece, Italy and Spain for example, I didn't know there was such a thing as Palestine olive oil. The Biostore stocks such a thing. It's a cooky little stall towards the front of the market and has huge metal containers of all sorts of oil, as well as seeds and pulses. You can buy a container, in varying size and just fill what you want. The prices are a little on the high side but you are paying for quality. The fairtrade Palestine oil I bought was fantastic. Spicy and peppery but all the while unctuous and buttery. It went very well as the base for a vinaigrette for a Greek salad. The guys that run it are great and I recommend it to anyone who has a vested interest in their food and where it comes from.

Good burgers. Milkshakes were okay, not so much shake to my milk. This boy will not be returning to…read morethis yard for milkshakes

Buba specialise in Eastern Mediterranean dishes and offer a full, dedicated Vegan Menu. Had lunch…read morehere on Sunday 19/08/2018 and loved the visually vibrant style of the restaurant interior, which is filled with jewelled colours and beautiful detail. As it was a mild day we sat outside, enjoying the hustle and bustle of St Anne's Square. I ordered off the Vegan Menu and my dining companion from the main Food Menu. We both loved the range of small plates which are named Nibbles, Flatbreads, Bites, Munches and Sides. In particular, my dishes of Lemon & Chilli Olives, Flatbread with spinach, chilli jam & spiced cauliflower and Charred Aubergine, Pomegranate & Mint Salad were moreish and flavourful. A really lovely touch is that Vegan items are clearly marked on the drinks list so I was confident my wine was indeed vegan. Dishes came out of the kitchen at slightly different times, which I always find a bit annoying, but I can forgive this small irritation as the food was outstanding. Am keenly looking forward to a return visit.