The food at tesco is okay... could be better. The sushi's very bland but the coconuts there are…read moredelicious. The service is mid too with the workers being very moody, (fair enough, they're at work) and the cashiers sometimes being too fast and aggresive. The ambiance is pretty good to be fair with decent music playing and the whole thing kinda feels like a chill vibe.

It's super and it's a store. What's handy about this Tesco is actually, although the shop is huge,…read morethe food bit is comparatively small. So you can trolley round in a fairly efficiently short time. But what I like about it is the in-store optician. You can get a pair of prescription glasses for £10!!! Ok, you have to choose style from the seventies, but for a tenner who cares? There's also all the gubbins you'd expect, pharmacy, electronics, home goods, home bads, clothes.... But this Tesco is where all the student's go as the accomdation is very near here. So can be busy at beginnings of terms. It's also often pretty hectic at the weekend with queues coming in and out of the car park.

This Spar is the definition of a convenience store. I used to live up this way and it's the only…read moreshop within a ten maybe fifteen minute walk. Unless you ventured into that little shopping centre thing in the hospital, but I try and avoid hospitals as best I can. Also you can feel awkward rolling up at nine o'clock in the evening looking for booze and fags in a hospital. So that's where the Allensbank Road Spar steps in admirably. Especially now it has new owners and it appears to have overcome its recent troubles. The re-fit has come off nicely and is now filled with all you'd expect of a Spar, newspapers, magazines, bottles of wine, pasties, biscuits and one of those self-service coffee machines that I've never seen anyone use. Cans of pop are steep at 79p a throw. Also note that while they're open until half ten during the week, they're not allowed to sell booze after ten.

When I was living in Allensbank House during my first year of university, this Spar was a life…read moresaver. Being the only shop nearby, I didn't really have much choice about shopping here, but I was always happy to do so. This Spar is a good size and is well stocked with biscuits, tea and all the other things students need to get them through a night of essay writing. It also has a good range of alcohol, really cheap fizzy drinks and plenty of crisps and other snacks that are great for stocking up before a party. Wonderfully convenient for anyone living in Allensbank House or anywhere else nearby. And an extra plus for students: no-one ever minded if I turned up in pyjama bottoms and an old hoody during a particularly stressful study session!

This is a good sized Oxfam Shop, and just happens to be my favourite charity shop in the area. I…read moreregularly shop at charity shops for two very good reasons. These are that I like to support the cause, and I also like finding the weird and wonderful things that you often find there! Plus, I'm passionate about books... If I were to buy all of my books new, I would be bankrupt in no time! This branch of Oxfam, is pretty well stocked on all fronts! As with all the other Oxfam shops, it is well manned, and professionally put together. I like the fact that they stock new fair trade items as well as the secondhand goods, and it has often proven to be a lifesaver where the coffee is concerned! I have to admit to preferring the Pdsa for books, as they always have a good selection and the prices are half what they charge at Oxfam. Nevertheless, I buy a fair amount f books from here, and I'm grateful that they put them in alphabetical order! (Unlike the Pdsa).

North Road Pharmacy offers a convenient conventional service to patients at UHW Hospital, (the…read moreCardiff student hospital), which is situated a little further up the road. It is also well placed to dispense to the patients attending The Balfour Clinic in the same district. Currently only stocking orthodox medicines, it is meeting the demands of this Primary Care area. However, there are plans to develop services beyond the present allopathic remit at some point in the future. Well known for all the right reasons by the indigenous local and student population, North Road Pharmacy has become pretty infamous amongst the emergency services as well, for much more curious reasons. Possessing a telephone number that terminates in 999 has prompted some of the more elderly patients, that use the pharmacy, to cause panic along the wire, believing that they are simply enquiring about repeat prescriptions, but instead have launched a fleet of patrol cars and fire engines! It doesn't happen so often these days, but it was a regular occurrence before they changed the area codes.

As a student I went to many charity shops on the look out for books for my obsession with reading…read more The shop has a lot of interesting second hand stuff and I would have a browse to see if there was a bargain. Unfortunately it's hit or miss whether you'll find something you want, or you may go in and end up getting something you rather didn't buy. Either way it for a good cause so has more intrinsic value when you buy from here.

This is by far the best charity shop in Cardiff. The friendly staff welcome you into their…read moreAladdin's cave of goodies and gifts. The walls tower with books and games, and outfits and handbags hang from the ceiling. There is always something new and interesting to find... and if you can't find it? You feel relaxed enough to ask. And gather round, lend me you ears if you want to hear the best part. I will only say it once as it is a secret I keep close to my heart.... If you ask nicely and use the code word "upstairs" there lies a hidden room with all the magical treasures a young fancy-dresser or vintage queen could ask for. Words cannot describe how you have not, and never will, truly experience my love for Cardiff without this adventure. Reasonable Prices Good Cause My Best Buy: a vintage badminton racket for £3. Top that... I dare you!

Indulgence is a beautiful designer jewellery shop that occupies one of the two best spots to be…read moreseen in the Wellfield Court Arcade, with windows on Wellfield Road as well as overlooking the mall itself. Run by the owner / manager, Maki, who opened the shop about a year ago to rave reviews from the locals. Specialising in silver and gemstone jewellery, a notoriously competitive market, Maki manages to maintain a competitive edge by dealing with exclusive suppliers in Asia. The shop was received very well and trade was brisk, but like so many others, he has witnessed a fall-off in spending in 2010. Being entirely reliant on retailing, with no wholesaling contracts to fall back on, the recession must feel a little tougher than it does for longer established concerns who have had the time and revenue to diversify, to avoid having all of their eggs in one basket. Indulgence does however, reach the global retail market by having an impressive on-line presence, with a straightforward and secure means of shopping on-line. The jewellery is stunning... check it out!

There's a special place in my heart for this typically Indian fabric and tailoring shop, that also…read moresells a selection of 'ready mades' and scarves. I used to live in India, and have visited many shops just like this one, and so I feel very much at home amid the unfeasible amount of stock and the profusion of colour that bursts with the vibrancy of a botanical garden in full bloom the moment you step over the threshold. I wouldn't call myself a dressmaker, but i do own an old Singer sewing machine, that I occasionally dust off if there's something that I really must have, and know that I won't find in the shops. I did a foundation art and design course many years ago, and so it's my way of doing something creative every now and again. I rarely make anything to wear, and I refuse point blank to use a pattern... so if I do end up making myself an item of clothing, it is usually pretty basic, and somewhat loose fitting! My sewing machine is more apt to come out when I need to make something like a cushion cover or throw... there's not much that can go wrong when you're sewing in a straight line! Definitely no patterns are required! Zara's is ideal for the kind of stuff I'm likely to buy... I like to keep my soft furnishings as colourful and decorative as possible, and tend to buy the ultra-bright hard-waring fabrics with machine embroidery that is in abundance here. With so many fabrics to choose from, I usually end up buying more than I need, but the prices are so reasonable that this really doesn't matter... and besides, it all gets used in the end! I also pop in occasionally to buy the odd lunghi, (the Southern Indian expression for sarong). In the summer I like to use these 100% natural cotton wraps as a towel, especially at the beach or at festivals. They dry in five minutes in direct sunlight, and are much better than the equivalent fast-drying alternatives that you'll pick up in camping shops. They are a simple weave cotton, (although they differ in quality, with finer weaves achieved with thinner cotton etc), and don't have any kind of flock, unlike the microfiber ones , so to my mind they are more hygienic... there's fewer places for the bugs to hang out! Zara's has great prices, plenty of choice, and lovely people serving you... a delight! I highly recommend it!

I think it is something of a stretch of the imagination to call this place a boutique. It is…read moreactually a strange mixture of clothes and fabric - there is something more of a dressmaker air about the whole place. Actually, more than that, it seems like a dressmaker who has fallen on hard times and has had to relocate to a smaller premises. There is surely no other reason for the crowding in of so much stuff. I felt worried at times that if a particuarly large lorry went past I would be crushed under the fabric and not found for eight days. I didn't buy anything - worried as I was for my life - but the people hanging around seemed nice enough. It's just not a place to get your everyday buys, I'd say.

A Christian Bookshop…read more An Aladdin's cave... It has all the gifts of wonder for your delight and enjoyment... This is originally a Christian Bookshop, but they do sell other items that are not Christian related books, CD's, audio tapes, children's picture books, and children's fiction, they even sell children and babies bibles and other related baby items such as photo albums, etc... They often have cheap deals and offers on certain items. They do photo copying, sell DVD's, Fair-trade items, and the Woodlands ornaments. They also sell book tokens; gift cards, cards, and hand-made cards, posters for children's and classroom walls, plenty of bible study books and bibles of kinds, shapes and sizes. Above the counter they've got hand-crafted, dangly items, mostly animals like dragon flies; elephants, penguins, turtles, dinosaurs, and snails, often with bells added to them. They're £7. 99p, or £8. 99p each. The room has a TV; towards a right hand corner area of the room most of the time it plays a DVD of which you could possibly buy, price varies. There is also quiet frequently some classical or quiet Christian music playing in the background, trying to create a peaceful atmosphere. And it does. They're complimented on their taste in music, because they're the quietest shop, in the concourse, Heath Hospital, in Cardiff. They've sixty or so volunteers as staff apart from the Managers. I recommend them too all...

A world of wonderful things…read more.. Mostly clothes lie heart in where I would say is the area that is the heart of the Heath Hospital, where life hustles and bustles away busying it's self all within one shopping complex. This is another eye-catching, pretty little shop. You can buy items for babies here; flowers, female clothing, jewellery, house ornaments and accessories, shoes, hand bags, photo frames, and cards, wrapping paper. The ladies at the till are very friendly and welcoming. I recommend it to all females, because I don't ever really see a male product insight. The prices aren't bad and new parents with babies will also love the place as will babies and children. I really like the shop and have gone back a fair few times and still will when I can. There website is brilliant and they have delivers that are free if the order is over £50.