Fruit & Veg does not come better than this! FRESH everyday…read morefrom the market and not pre packed, you can choose your own from the huge selection Matthew provides daily with a smile. I have never tasted apples like the ones this local independent and trust worthy shop has to offer, and there is always locally grown seasonal produce. Matthew always makes the effort to find fresh produce that has been grown within 50 miles of his shop and labels them for all his customers to see. An added bonus is if there is something particular you are after, all you have to do is ask and the next day you have the best quality of it! There is a free delivery service if you cant carry your 10lb of spuds and carrots etc home with you or if you cant get to the shop at all which is fab for the older generation. Also THE BEST place for Christmas trees! Always service with a smile :)

I absolutely love this place. As a vegetarian and lover of healthy and organic foods I was in my…read moreelement. When you first get in there is an abundance of brightly coloured vegetables and potatoes and carrots that are still dirty (always a good sign). I knew I was in my kind of place straight away. I love that they try to keep packaging to a minimum, using paper bags for the fresh vegetables. There is a huge range of vegetarian products (more tofu than you could ever need...if that's even a thing), seitan and tempeh in all different forms. I love how their dried foods are all packaged in simple bags with their label on....gotta love no fuss packaging. There is also a deli counter ranging from olives, onion bhajis and daals. I tried an onion bhaji and it was amazing. Although pricier than most supermarkets, I thought the prices were reasonable (being used to Wholefoods etc. in London) for organic, fresh produce and I love that it is a co-operative. I would definitely rather pay more for local produce that isn't mass-produced. I will definitely be shopping here regularly.

Amazed by this place…read more I haven't seen anywhere like it since my travels to Portland. It has a real community atmosphere. Everyone involved, from the growers to the staff to the people shopping, care and it really shows. It's honest. It's exactly where you want to buy your vegetables. There's soil on the fresh produce. Actual soil. No cellophane, no unnecessary packaging, no nonsense - just tasty, local food. The shelves are clearly labelled and well stocked with interesting offerings. They have your staples - potatoes, all the usual veg, cereals, spices, fruits as well as some more unusual choices when/if it's in season. Prices are reasonable and when you pay you feel like you're contributing - something you never experience in a chain supermarket. There's a play area for kids and free apples to keep them occupied - with a little compost bin for the cores. A big green thumbs up.

You won't find fresher or faster food anywhere in Manchester than Market Street Fruit Stall. Have…read moreyour £1 at the ready for a bag of five pieces of fruit - banana, pear, apple, plum, orange - a punnet of strawberries or a bunch of seedless grapes. I had a really good chat with the owner of Market Street Fruit Stall who is a really warm, friendly character. He told me has been running a fruit stall from this location (beside Carphone Warehouse) for the past twelve years. During these recessionary times, he told me that people are still buying fruit, but not as much of it as they used to. But I do hope these types of stalls can keep going as they seem to me part of the soul of the city. This small stall in particular with their focus on fruit only is a great example of the strengths of specialist businesses - their citrus display is by far the brightest thing on Market Street. Fellow Yelpers, I would like to propose a toast - let us raise our glasses of freshly-squeezed apple or orange juice - 'For the Health and Prosperity of the Market Street Fruit Stall.' Thank you.

Unfortunately I can not count sometimes I buy cassava in this place, perhaps a mistake on my part…read moreto insist because 50% of the time is not good for consumption, and I keep buying from the same place, more this time I decided to complain here, because I have spoken For the clerk and he said it's not normal

Since finding an innovative way to navigate the record-breakingly narrow aisles here, in the words…read moreof REO Speedwagon, I can't fight this feeling anymore. I adore Strawberry Garden. It is indeed as good as it gets. Since spending more time here and actually having a browse rather than doing the whole, "I need this, that and this," I've grown even fonder. I had absolutely no idea that you could get so many exotic fruits and vegetables here. I've picked up plantains for my forthcoming Jerk chicken recipe, I grabbed some 'custard apples' because they were on special offer, and a bag of chestnuts to roast for 79p. Not that they're particularly exotic... but special offers are the name of the game here. Hankering to make a batch of banana bread? They'll sell their overripe bananas at reduced prices to get rid of them rather than waste them. This goes for many fruits. I gathered several soups' worth of ingredients on my last visit, as well as the aforementioned, plus grapes, mango, bananas... the whole thing came to around a measly £11, and I had a ridiculous amount. Like two full bags. I mean, beyond five a day. I asked them to keep the change, because another thing I've noticed is that the staff are ridiculously nice. Offering to double-bag your fruit, chatting away to you - I felt like I ought to do *something*. Occasionally you'll need a late night fix or you might not be able to get to the Arndale, but goodness me, you should always shop here when you can. It's epic.

This little shop is a time capsule of days gone by... not the fake specifically marketed goods…read moreideally placed on faux vintage grates surrounded by chic cool organic products but honest to goodness basic straight out of the card board box fruit and veg with either little or no plastic in sight. A very friendly honest Salford welcome greats you as you enter and the helpful, down to earth service offers fresh reasonably priced fruit and veg. Don't let the lack of over hyped marketing put you off. This is the type of local business that needs our support. If you are on the Zero Waste journey or just want to cut down your plastic consumption then give this place a go. I will be a frequent visitor for my weekly fruit and vet.

Ah, locally sourced produce. I said I'd give this shop a fair try and I must say, it is a gem…read moreamongst the grey desolation of Mocha Parade, an area which is just ASKING to be the set of an apocalyptic zombie movie... Oh great, now I've scared myself into never going there again. Anyway, while I can, or while I'm accompanied by some kind of strong ass-kicking compadre (because seriouisly, if I saw a zombie, I'd freeze and it'd probably have enough time to go ahead and eat me. Heck, it'd even have time to prepare itself a little beverage while it was waiting), this is a great place to visit. And it frequently performs too, despite its seasonal produce I've so far found what I need since starting to visit there the other week, and my friend, a veteran of the store, says in all the times she's gone there only twice has she been disappointed - once when they were out of celery, and another when she bought some carrots but they went off in four days. Otherwise the food keeps remarkably well, especially the potatoes. I'd advise all students to learn how to make soup and get the vegetables from here. Seriously, that's what I did when I gave up my cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner I'm-saving-money-but-I-look-worse-than-Jodie-Kidd-in-her-heyday routine. And it cost around the same, if not less. Student budgets are low, hey, most of our budgets are low when we're starting out in the city. So it's good to know we can get inexpensive high quality fruit and veg to actually nutrify ourselves, much as that sounds like a threatening word. Mocha Parade may not be the pleasantest of places, but it's worth the trek to bring back heavy bags of goodies from here.

The Garden of Eden is basically a green grocers but kind of a fancy one, with local chutneys and…read morecheeses and some useful store cupboard ingredients (including Patak's tandoori paste, which I had ended up taking a BUS to get from Sainsburys). They do some more unusual vegetables like pak choi and yam as well as a great range of fresh herbs, which is useful for recipes. There's also an extensive pet food selection! The only negative point is it shuts at 5pm, which means I don't get to shop here nearly as much as I'd like.

Good variety of meat at reasonable prices. Was hoping to find some offal, alas not much on offer…read more Probably not much demand in this day and age. Bought some Welsh lamb chops and a couple of small black pudding rings. The sausages looked a bit tired, the British beef selection looked appealing.

The Arndale's saving grace is some of the food stalls tucked away in its market area. The High St…read moreMeat Market is decked out in red and is two or three times the size of a normal butchers shop. There's so much meat here! Also, weirdly, loads of eggs. Back to the meat. If you'd like something a bit better than those tired bits of packaged meat you buy in your local supermarket, then this butchers is a good place to start. Alongside your normal buys like chicken breast and sausages you can also get Welsh lamb chops and Scotch beef fillet. And the eggs. Six free range eggs for 99p. Good times.

Born from the genius and success of The Biospheric Project, 78 Steps is just around the corner…read more(well, 78 steps away) from the urban farming project which has taken Salford and Manchester by storm. The idea behind the shop is local food on a micro-scale, bringing the community in the area locally grown, ethically sourced and high quality produce. Stocking fresh fruit, veg & eggs from local farms, bread from the Barbakan deli in Chortlon and eco-friendly cupboard fillers from companies like Suma and Ecover, 78 Steps has a great range of British products, championing fresh local items and seasonal produce. As well at the shop itself, 78 Steps offer a Wholebox service, delivering fresh food to local people on a regular basis. Boxes start at as little as £5 and contain at least eight varieties of fruit and vegetables, making healthy eating cheap and accessible. Some of the fruits and vegetables have been grown at the Biospheric Project itself - just 78 steps away - making this a truly carbon efficient enterprise.

Manchester is one of the best market towns in the country. If it isn't the weekly farmer's markets…read moreor the Sunday carboot and flea markets, it's the specialist markets that take place around the calendar. Apart from the now very famous Christmas market, my next favourite annual event has to be the Fine Food Market, usually held between September and October every year in St Ann's Square. This is one event that no epicurean in their right mind would miss. Bringing together some of the biggest talents and producers in the North, expect to be fed by the best restaurants in town and offered some of the best home grown produce in the country. According to the government website, 'speciality meats, smoked foods (fish, cheese, meats and poultry) cheeses, chutneys, pickles, black puddings, ice cream, specialist ales and sloe gin' are just a very few items on sale here.

If you're a fan of hog roasts, paella, wood-fired pizza and vintage-style tea shops, head to the…read moreManchester Markets on St Anne's Square before it disappears again. A mooch around the market is the perfect way to liven up an otherwise dull day at the office (or living room, if you work from home, like me), so as soon as the clock strikes 1pm, get yourself there. You're going to spend, on average, about a fiver for takeaway food from one of the stalls but portions are good - especially at the Hog Roast stall, where they'll ram your baguette so full of pork and apple sauce you won't know where to start. As well as food, you'll find a number of stalls selling art and hand-crafted decor for the home, plus vintage furniture and clothing in the market's main indoor area; The Orangery, where you can also see/hear live music at certain times throughout the day (check the signage outside for more details). I'm really impressed with this little market. It's brought a much-needed injection of 'quaint' to the city centre. I wish it was here all the time!

A bulb of garlic, a stick of ginger, a couple of onions, a bunch spring onions, a juicy red pepper,…read morea few red and green chillies, a huge bunch of fresh coriander.......£2.36? The first time I went in there and bought a similar amount of fresh veg I found it hard to conceal my delight at the price. So hard in fact that one of the brothers asked me if I had expected it to cost me more! I have never bought my veg from Morrisons since. For a relatively small store they sell a wide range of produce (about 8 different types of mushrooms, 10 different types of potatoes etc) and I have never been disappointed with the quality. OK, so I definitely wouldn't eat any of the veg without giving it a good wash first, as it is often a bit grubby and has been sitting outside on a main road all day, and the shelf life isn't as good as supermarket veg. But give me a grubby misshapen apple over a polished supermarket apple any day! The brothers themselves are friendly and hard-working. My housemates often used to chat to them, and they seem to know their regular customers really well. Inside the shop there is a well-priced selection of herbs and spices, rice, couscous and pulses as well as the not so well-priced English essentials such as boxes of PG Tips and cans of Coke. To every Chorltonite's delight the opening of a brand new Tesco Express opposite the store doesn't seem to have harmed their business in the slightest. Long live Khawaja Brothers! PS - there is even a facebook group for fans of the brothers and their shop.

Have you read this? http://www.yelp.com/weekly?editorial_id=zGMtxe-XYdLx73faQYnikw Well there's one…read morepretty serious omission, and that, my friends, is the Mini Market of the Khawaja Brothers. Whether you're concocting a katsu curry or just seeking out some seasonal salad, you can do no wrong by making a beeline for this little place because it's fresh, it changes with the seasons, it has more ethnic ingredients than you can possibly pile into your plastic bag, and perhaps given the first three the most appealing factor... it's almost obscenely inexpensive. I was introduced to this spot by a good friend who waxed lyrical about Pakistani mangoes, also known as 'honey' mangoes. These are orbs of pure deliciousness, sold in handy boxes of 6 for £4.50. They taste like they should be twice that price. Keep them in your fridge and peel them at breakfast time, you shan't be disappointed. In other bargainous news, a recent offer had me reeling with incredulity - surely they weren't selling entire crate-like boxes of tomatoes on the vine? Check my pictures. Yes indeedy they were. Also, their giant dates are just exquisite. Once inside you can get tons of dry ingredients for any kind of world cooking you can imagine, loads of types of flour, rice, pulses... the list is endless. And on top of all that there are exotic fruit drinks and Halal Haribo. Yes, it exists! I'm more than happy to make the journey to Chorlton to grab some essentials (and indulgences) from here, the service is friendly and the location can't be beaten - right near Unicorn? It's a veritable shop-local bonanza!