This Little Waitrose was a life saver for when I stayed at Cottons Spa & Hotel. Since I brought a…read morefrench press with me from the United States, I was able to stock up on coffee to make proper drink in the morning. Also, was able to stock up on various healthy bread and peanut butter for lunch time snacks and dinner. Of course, the beer selection was also decent (at least for someone unaccustomed to the usual UK beer) so I was able to stock up. Also bought fruit and yogurt for work to try and eat healthy. My only complaint is that I wish it were open a bit later and had more of a selection on nonprocessed foods.

Booths at Hale Barns is right in-between Altrincham town centre and Manchester Airport, it is one…read moreof two Booths stores within Greater Manchester. This location is obviously much larger than the Media City UK store, which doesn't stock as many products. The look and feel of the store is good, it feels different from your regular supermarket and it matches the high-end nature of the brand and area. Getting in and out of the store can be tricky via the car park, it is basically off the main road, next to Costa Coffee and in a small complex with a few other stores. The traffic lights to get onto the main road take several minutes, it's ridiculous making getting in and out of the store difficult. The staff here all seemed super friendly and eager to help, even though I did visit later on in the day. The store closes at 10 pm during the week but in the final few hours they do wind down a bit, I personally think this should be made clearer on their website for example - The cafe closes at 7 pm - this is reasonable as you can still sit in a cafe with a drink from the machine and they do state this on the website However, after around 8 pm they close down the counters with fresh cheese, fish, meat which are some of my favourite parts about Booths - I was especially gutted as my favourite crumbly Lancashire cheese was on offer at 30% off, which already is pretty cheap. The only way I could get my cheese is if I chose one which was already pre-cut, which was an ultra-small or large piece. I had to spend £5.70 just to get enough cheese which was around 1/3 more than I planned to spend coming into the store (that's before considering it was on offer too!) They also shut off the freshly squeezed orange machine, again they left two small bottles available to buy. I don't like how they didn't label this, however, they did turn the machine off but it wasn't obvious so I did try to get the juice out for a minute only to get a member of staff who in turn asked a supervisor to see it had been switched off. They did have some great products especially for gluten-free foods, gluten-free ranges included their sausages, pigs-in-blankets, fresh bread rolls and bread and the MakTok Chilli Paste, as seen on Dragon's Den where the amazing Will went on to get a well-deserved investment with Sara Davies. A high-end store so it is pretty expensive in general, I ended up paying £6 for two packs of sausages, close to £4 for fresh gluten-free bread (still expensive even by gluten-free standards), but on the other hand most of the cheeses were good value and the fresh butchers sausage were much cheaper than the pre-packaged ones, they also had good multi-buy offers on the essentials and more common/budget items including chocolate. A really good store, the overall design and feel of the place is cool and it is probably the best store in the area to get gluten-free products, perhaps on par with Marks and Spencer's larger locations but I really do feel the store's unwinding from 3 hours before closing which even all staff aren't aware of (certainly isn't stated on its' website) is a big down-fall. I can't help but consider the amount of food waste too as many times due to expire including the orange juices (I don't know how long they were there for) were still full price even during this phase. 4*

Made a quick pit stop here after an appointment at the local dentist. Hale Barns exists in a bubble…read moreof its own. The leafy suburb bordering Altrincham maybe a mere 20 minute drive from the city centre, but couldn't feel further away if it tried. Driving through it makes you feel like you're in a different realm, with gigantic mansions laced along quiet American sized roads, each one with a unique grand design. Not surprisingly house prices in the region range between £1-6 million. I digress or do I? Booths is a high end supermarket that has only one branch in Manchester (Media city) Majority of their outlets are in affluent areas in Lancashire and Cheshire and that's reflected in their prices. The fruit and vegetable stock is proudly sourced from local farmers and is fresh so prices are justified to a certain extent. Aside from getting bits and bobs from the Deli for lunch I didn't get much. A more detailed review to follow after my next visit. A lovely store which is perfect for a meeting point and coffee also.

My sister and I have Riverford vegetables (and occasionally the fruit and meat baskets) delivered…read moreto our door every week. All the produce is certified organic and varies from week to week depending what's in season on the farm. I love this idea - firstly that you're eating seasonally and having to think about ways to prepare your vegetables, but also because I think it's pretty reasonable for getting organic produce to door. David at the farm has been very helpful with our deliveries which arrive every Thursday. You can check online what you'll be recieving as well. For £10.85 we'll be eating Robinta potatoes, spinach, sweetcorn, red kabacha squash, salad pack, cherry tomatoes and romanesco cauliflower. You can also add individual items to your delivery as well as pantry items, soups, home-made soft drinks, wines and beers. Love it.

There are plenty of arguments for and against the social impact of segregated communities in…read moreManchester. One of the overwhelming advantages of such communities however, which I'm sure will gain universal approval is their complete immunity from being threatened by giant retail food chains. You know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that've been driving out small independents outta business across across the country. I LOVE the fact that the communities remain militantly loyal to local foodstores like Madina. Upon close inspection, turns out the reason is a little more complex than just cultural affiliation. One of the main one reasons? This place is AWESOME!! There's literally a library of spices to buy (at BARGAIN prices) and experiment at home with. Any foodie/charlie out there who's sick of the monotonous nature of the shopping experience, will find this to be their culinary/chocolate factory. True, London probably bigger volume of such establishments, but they probably cant beat us for sheer quality. So next time you're stuck in traffic driving to town on Stockport road (through Levenshulme) have a break, and instead of having a kitkat, park up and have a cheeky gander.

Despite having a deceptively small storefront, once inside Madina Superstore turns out to be…read moreanother Desi supermarket easily on a par with branches of Worldwide Foods or Manchester Superstore. With the UK 'hungry gap' upon us, I bagged a box of lychees plus sundry Desi vegetable and fresh herbs. Freshness of the produce was very good, although a bit of banter with a Desi customer revealed that he was passing up on the tinda as being too big - although this is no doubt an out-of-season issue. For the mobile cosmopolitan foodie such as myself, the aim is to know where all the ethnic food stores are so that ethnic food shopping can be done with a minimum of detour from other city business and pleasure. Although there is nothing really oustanding about Madina Superstore to make you travel beyond your nearest Desi superstore, it is nice to have a proper Desi supermarket in Levenshulme to save Levy locals a trip up Stockport Road to Longsight. And visitors such as myself can combine a visit to Madina Superstore with a trip to the monthly Levy Market, or else the permanent Trove café bakery or POD deli.

I like this Waitrose store, it deserves an upgrade to four-stars for sure, it is just under 10…read moreminutes on the bus away from the town centre, it is a fairly modern supermarket too. I like how their handheld scanners are easy to use, to scan as you shop around the store, they seem to be much newer than other Waitrose stores, making them easier to use - It would be a great idea if they fixed their app in order to support scanning on mobile phones, similar to what is on offer at ASDA and Sainsbury's. The staff in-store seemed friendly and happy to help, the product range is good, they had a wide selection of products in most areas, including a great saving on certain items including Pizza Express' gluten-free pizzas which were on offer at £2.50, considering the price is normally £4.50 at Sainsbury's and £5 on Ocado, this is a great saving. 4* - Good, modern supermarket with a decent selection of products, one of the better supermarkets in Altrincham, it is a shame it isn't closer to the town centre and the bus network isn't too reliable, I do also think the checkout areas could have been better laid out, but all in all a good store.

Terrific selection spot on deliveries store brand items as good if not better than popular brandsread more

This is quite a nice branch of Tesco, located in Handsforth Dean, this is a big branch of Tesco,…read moresituated right next to a huge branch of Marks and Spencer. This store can be quite a nightmare to get to, being situated on a row of 5 or so roundabouts, especially when traveling in direction from North Manchester. This store has a small customer service desk, which is up to satisfactory standard yet could look much more welcoming and more like "the centre of the store" They was a Clubcard Machine, where you can print off vouchers and coupons however it seemed that it didn't work hence I couldn't log on and the problem was experienced by others as well, they was no staff around to know about it or even seem like it is being fixed. This store has a very big free from section, one of the biggest I have seen frozen-wise and helps to put many other branches (especially Middleton) to shame, their range was so big that is is worth traveling for and even includes some items that I can't even buy online at Tesco's website. They was a few disgusting things regarding this store, including an iced coffee, which was drank out of and then put back, drink was still in it, but they was not all of it left and it was open, I am glad I saw this before drinking out of it!!!! This store seems to be over 2 floors and is quite a nice store entering, with a standard Tesco looking including the yellow/ white colour flooring. I want to give this store 3 stars, mainly because of its' free from range and size, however I can't give any more because - The Clubcard machine was faulty - Customer Service could be slightly larger and more welcoming, especially for such a large store - The disgusting incident with the iced coffee - I have not had a good look around this store yet, as I just ran in to check the free from ranges while in the area.

Having been a secret shopper for many years, this is by far the worst service I have witnessed. At…read morethe till beside me a father and son were refused purchasing Alcohol because the father did not have ID, the son who was of age did. The situation was handled very poorly and I was appalled by how the cashier spoke to the customer as if they were children. After talking to other members of staff we were told that this is a regular occurrence. The behaviour of this staff member was unacceptable.

The only large store in winsford that offers a restuarant…read more They offer a good menu and at reasonable prices. I don't often shop at Morrisons as it is at the other end of town to where I live but when I do I enjoy going for Coffee and Cake after my shop!

Ok value, store gets really really busy and not all the tills are always open. The kids spaces…read morecould do with being closer to the shops, but apart from that its good. The restaraunt is good value for money!