Venus Foods
One of the greatest places for anything remotely Turkish or Mediterranean, Venus’ range of foodstuffs is legendary and is a much more interesting shopping experience than any of the UK’s Big 4. They have an expansive range of food, crockery, cooking utensils, and they even bake their own fresh bread and baklava at the back. There’s also a brilliant restaurant here that serves up amazing kebabs until late every night.
Venus Foods, 45-49 Anson Rd, Manchester M14 5DE
0161 256 1110
www.venusfoods.co.uk
Harvey Nichols Foodmarket
Much more upmarket than many of the other places on this list, the Foodmarket is packed full of a wide range of world food and goods, many of them rather obscure or things that just make you go ‘What?!’ Where else in the city could you buy White Truffle Mustard from France, TimTam’s from Australia and Matcha Green Tea Pocky from Japan all within the space of a large living room? The world booze selection here is fantastic too – as is the deli counter.
2nd Floor, Harvey Nichols, 21 New Cathedral Street, Manchester M1 1AD
www.harveynichols.com
Lunya Catalan & Spanish Deli
Lunya has become one of the city’s best Spanish restaurants since opening up on Deansgate a few years back and this is helped with the fantastic deli that is situated on the ground floor – a space that’s small but so packed full of Spanish goodies that you could spend hours here and still uncover new things. Gin and Tonic Turrón? Sure. Reserva Serrano Ham? Si. Fried Egg flavour crisps? Ohhh yes!
Lunya, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BB
0161 413 3317
lunya.co.uk/manchester
Worldwide Foods / Manchester Superstore
These two Rusholme institutions are the perfect places to get your hands on some hard-to-find Asian and Indian ingredients, or just to stock up on the basics. They both stock a huge range of goods, including large amounts of pulses, lentils, rice and flours, as well as some proper obscure meats and fish. Manchester Super Store also has a brilliant fresh fruit and veg bit out the front which is mega cheap to boot.
Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, M14 5BJ
Wing Yip Superstore
An Ancoats staple, Wing Yip has been here seemingly for a million years and there’s one main reason for that – it’s the best place to go for anything remotely Chinese related including everything from Prawn Toast to those little Golden Waving Cats. You’ll find all the best soy sauces, noodles and everything else in between.
Wing Yip, Oldham Rd, Manchester M4 5HU
0161 832 3215
www.wingyip.com
Unicorn Grocery
Charlton’s premier co-operative supermarket is the best place to get fresh, local produce at unbeatable affordable prices. They specialise in organic produce so you can feel good about the things that you’re buying, and as you’d expect – it’s very popular with the people of Chorlton.
Unicorn Grocery, 89 Albany Rd, Chorlton, M21 0BN
0161 861 0010
www.unicorn-grocery.coop
Rodyna
For anyone looking for somewhere that specialises in Eastern European food including Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian and Lithuanian stuff then you’d better get your walking shoes on and head down to Rodyna on Cheetham Hill Road. This place is an absolute treasure trove of goodies and the prices are very, very good too. This is a great place for caviar, as well as some of the best vodka in the world (as you’d expect).
Rodyna, 151 Cheetham Hill Rd, Manchester M8 8LY
0161 835 2968
Salvi’s Deli
Your one-stop shop for anything even remotely Italian, Salvi’s Deli in the Corn Exchange stock a massive range of Italian cheeses, olives, meats and pastas, as well as a load of stuff for your kitchen cupboards that you’ll probably never actually get around to using. If you’re ever looking for somewhere to get meat and cheese for one of them platters while you watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy – this is the place.
Salvi’s Mozzarella Bar, 1, The Corn Exchange, Corporation St, Manchester M4 3TR
0161 222 8021
salvismanchester.co.uk/restaurants/deli/
Barbakan Delicatessen
What has pretty much become a Chorlton institution could actually now be called a Manchester institution, Barbakan is Manchester’s most impressive (and well respected) bakeries and delicatessens. The deli itself began life selling mainly Polish goods but they’ve expanded and improved the choices over the years to include a vast array of meats, cheeses, staples and sauces. The bread here is outstanding.
Barbakan, 67-71 Manchester Rd, Manchester M21 9PW
0161 881 7053
www.barbakan-deli.co.uk