Even stepping foot into this place makes me feel healthy enough to justify cake for supper…read more I'm not going to lie - i'm not a healthy eater. But hailing from the city of all things organic (Vancouver), I like to play the part that I am. Somehow, having an open bag of chia seeds in the house, that I occasionally remember to throw into smoothies when I occasionally remember to MAKE smoothies, makes me feel less guilty about eating Corn Flakes for dinner while I'm slogging through emails. This makes me an adult right? That doesn't mean that the act of buying a meal that doesn't look like it was constructed by a five year old, doesn't tickle my fancy - I love nothing more then following up a Corn Flakeian dinner with a good ol' fashioned organic almond yogurt. Life is about the balance. I also have a deep seeded belief in only using biodegradable and clean house hold products. So when i'm not doing the best in my personal well being - at least i'm looking after the planet as a whole. This place ticks off a few major factors in my strange collaborative idea of "healthy living". First off, it stocks an impressive array of house hold items and is one of the first places i've found that carries multiple lines of personal care items - from Burts Bees to good for ya toothpaste - it was a one stop shop for both my washroom & under the sink. Secondly - it stocks pretty much everything you need to justify future unhealthy meals. From organic quinoa to virgin, cold pressed coconut oil, it's simply screaming: look how healthy you are?! Why yes, you can eat ice cream for dinner! But as many a person as said - living healthy (or in my case, buying excuses) can be pricey. What I will note, is as a newly landed expat, this place IS cheaper than the haunts back home and for that i'm thankful, but compared to the digs you can pick up elsewhere - yes, it's going to cost you an extra dollar. My tip if you fear the price tag? This funky little blue and green ball we're living on needs all the help it can get. If you can't stomach the whole nine yards of good food organic, pare it down. Spend the extra £1 for your dish soap, laundry & shampoo and keep the nasty stuff out of the drains. Then stock up on the hard to find items, or the ones you use frequently and leave the bits & bobs for a cheaper place. Nothing is better than proper, virgin, organic, cold pressed olive oil. Nothing. Will definitely be popping in here time to time to stock up on the must haves. If I could track down a spot to buy E3Live in town, i'd have all my cake justifying staples back in place.

Real Foods is a fab store to shop at if you want to eat natural and ethically sourced products…read more They sell everything under the one roof - absolutely amazing! Situated just off from the busy Lothian Road, Real Foods is just a short walk from the city centre so it is a convenient place to reach. The quality of the food is always top notch and the fruit and veg are always fresh - there is no out of date food sold here. Real Foods sell lots of health foods such as a huge range of different dried fruits and pulses. There is also a vitamin area in the shop which sells every vitamin and mineral required to cure any ailment , as well as a range of herbal remedies. The staff are incredibly friendly and are knowledgeable about the stores products so you feel quite at ease with them over asking which remedy does what. Real foods also has a section in its shop selling natural beauty products, soaps, shampoos etc. I love the mascara which they sell here as it is nice and cheap at around four pounds and makes my eyelashes look super long. Real Foods is a fantastic shop which sells a vast range of amazing tasting food, and best of all the food is healthy! What more could you want?!!

This place is on my walk to and from uni. At both these times I'm hungry. At both these times my…read moremouth waters when I walk by the New Leaf. You see, ripe fruit's kinda hard to find in Edinburgh. I'm from Brazil. Fruit in Brazil looks like it does in photos. Big, bright and juicy. It is not the same in Scotland. Not by far. But the New Leaf sells only organic produce. And it seems that this reflects on having ripe fruit. Really delicious ripe fruit. The New Leaf doesn't only sell food, though. They also sell a range of eco-friendly detergents and cleaning supplies such as Ecoleaf. You can buy yourself some Ecoleaf washing up liquid and then go back when you've gone through it and get it re-filled for cheaper. You might even feel like you're being a good person. The possibilities are infinite. But on their food front: they get fresh bread delivered most days. They get delectable baked goods delivered from the Engine Shed on Wednesdays and Fridays, too. I got kind of addicted to this parmesan-herb-bread-twirl thing once upon a time, so I know when the deliveries happen. They also sell sun-dried tomatoes that aren't marinated and are much cheaper than buying the marinated ones. Here's a secret: marinating your own sun-dried tomatoes is dead easy. And you'll also save yourself a lotta moolah. So yeah, if you're veggie, or feel like you kind of care about the environment, stop by the New Leaf. They're always really helpful in there. Downside, of course, is that it's really pricey. But it's just as pricey as any other shop that sells organic produce.

If you have specific dietary requirements then this place is worth four stars, but if you don't…read morethen it's probably only worth three in my view. Virtually all the food is very expensive and a lot of it isn't even specialist stuff. For example, why would you buy a packet of porridge oats from here when you can buy them from somewhere else two minutes away for half the price? However, this is missing the point as all their fruit and vegetables are organic, fresh and ripe. Further, if you're lactose, wheat, gluten or anything else intolerant then it sells great, healthy alternatives to many foods for you to enjoy. If you've got specific dietary needs then this is the place. Unfortunately, it comes at a price.

Expensive but excellent quality food items. I really enjoyed the coconut milk kefir. Store man…read morewelcoming, helpful.

One thing that Edinburgh has no shortage off is health food/vitamin shops and Hanover Health Foods…read morehas rivals such as Napiers, Holland & Barratt, Jan De Vries, Julian Graves, Real Foods and countless other shops that have healthy products at top of their agenda. What makes Hanover stand out are the friendly staff who are very knowledgeable about all the products and very approachable too. So whether it's herbal teas, remedies, beauty products of organic foods you're looking for, you're in good company here.

My go to for those little healthy bits and pieces you just can't find in mainstream grocery stores…read more Theres a good selection of just about any health food you can think of for a reasonable price. I know some of my fellow reviewers might note it's pricey, but I think you pay for what you get. High end and (usually) organic healthy food. Also good for herbs and spices, some fresh foods and buying in bulk. I love the layout of the store and whilst it's quite small, it's easy to navigate by section and I could spend hours going up and down discovering new foods to cook with. Helpful and friendly service too.

A review a long time in the making! Sorry Real Foods; I've been so busy meandering through your…read moreaisles and going home and making healthy delights, that I haven't had time to write a review! This place is an absolute Aladdin's cave of healthy ingredients. Yes, INGREDIENTS! Many health food stores sell healthy food products (and there are those here as well), but Real Foods has all the raw ingredients you could ever need to make healthy foods at home. That means you can tailor the recipes to fit your eating needs - without having to read labels and pay a premium for someone else to prepare and package the foods. So, if you've bought that healthy 'Raw, Vegan or the lastest Superfood cookbook and need to 'google' half the ingredients - don't worry; they'll be here! You may need to do some searching up and down the narrow aisles; sucking in your tummy as you squeeze past other shoppers - but it's all part of the fun - and if that's not your thing - go online and place an order - they even deliver! Some of my top tips: -most ingredients (such as nuts, seeds, dried fruit) have a regular or organic option - organic labels are green -The Real Food packaged goods come in small, medium an large packs. The price per kilo usually is less for the bigger packs - so if you know you'll use it up - go for the bigger bags -If you love coconut oil - look out for their 2 for £10 special on organic coconut oil! -Missed the Saturday market at Castle Terrace? Real Foods gets their organic veg from the same farmers - available all week long! -also great place to get herbal tea, healthy toiletries, eco friendly cleaning products, supplements, organic wine and beer. There is also a smaller Real Foods near Tollcross.

Love shopping at Jordan's, great for all my needs, love herbal tea( chamomile and elderflower…read moreloose), spices and herbs abundant and always good to try something i have never tried, the owner and staff always freindly and helpful. Only issue i have is the phone number contact details are no longer valid, need to be updated as i would like to know in advance if the shop has items in stock before i travel ! Thank you Jordan's your awesome

On my sister's last day in Edinburgh and on her way to the airport, I took her to visit this tea…read morestore this morning at 10:00 sharp. Since it seemed to be not open yet (although the working hours are from 10:00) we lightly knocked on the door to attract the attention of the people inside. What happened next was a very young man with a long hair, obviously a worker of this place, opening the door, blocking our way inside and yelling at us in a disrespectful and unfriendly manner. He screamed something along the lines of "don't you dare touch the door again, we are not open yet" and when we asked when will the store be open because we were on our way to the airport and wanted to buy a lot of tea gifts for our friends and family, he started raising his voice again. He continued repeating "you can go inside only when I tell you to go inside, don't touch the door yourselves", nudging us to leave the store's door front, which we eventually did. We don't usually leave negative reviews but this was a really unpleasant and embarrassing situation, especially because she was my guest in Edinburgh and her experience was an amazing one before this morning. Prior to this situation I was a very loyal buyer at the Jordan Valley tea shop and I had enjoyed many times the hospitality of an elderly and a very friendly person working there. However, the young man's behavior this morning was odd to say the least and this is definitely not the way people should be treated where they want to spend their money. For all the reasons mentioned above, I will not buy tea in this store anymore. The purpose of this review was to warn others of how disrespectful unfortunately they are and suggest you go to some other tea shop.

A good range of product here! Like, I'm actually quite impressed. Walking around the store reminded…read moreof all those little bits and pieces I've been meaning to buy for a while but never had to go out of my way for (sunflower seeds, anyone?) I like that it goes further than just food and supplements, there is also a really decent range of natural beauty products and candles for the home which made the protein section smell very appealing. Service was good, staff seemed friendly enough and the shelves were well stocked with product- none of that empty shelf business. I'd probably come back to this store if in need of anything further since I'm happy with the product available.

If you go to the gym and drink protein, casein, creatine, amino energy or whatever else to help you…read morestay lean and tone or big and muscular than this is a good place to buy em all. One half of the store sells a lot of different types of fitness related products. It sells many different type of protein (whey protein, diet protein), energy supplements, diet related supplements, and vitamin supplements... From vitamin A to vitamin Z! They also sell products natural products for the skin- body and face wash as well as essential oils. The other half of the store sell natural foods- many different healthy snacks. You can buy all sorts of snacks: dried fruits, various types of nuts, chocolates, crisps, and prepared frozen food. A small section of the store sell spices. What I like about this store is the constant deals they have. Sure the store can be pretty pricey but a lot of these products are pricey in the first place... Being healthy is expensive unfortunately. So I appreciate the store's regular sale offers ... It's either buy one pay .1p for the second or 2 for 1 deals. I also like that this store sell things you normally can't get anywhere. They have a loyalty card but truthfully I haven't used it or know how to use it but apparently you get points every time you buy something. The staff are pretty friendly and some are pretty knowledgeable about the products since they use it themselves. Id say just go check out what they have sometimes and maybe you'll discover something you've been searching for all along!

Amazing! We found everything we needed! It was a bit of a hike getting there fromwbere we were,…read morebut they had everything we were looking for and we were able to bypass Big Pharma! A win for the little guys!

I was really apprehensive about going into Good Food. It's a 'health food' store, and I hate…read more'health food'. Fat means flavour and all that. How wrong I was. It's a tiny little room, with a counter running to one side and shelves down the other. I've never seen so many types of honey in my life. They're well aware this - there's a sign next to it telling you to ask for help about honey, which amused me a little bit. They also sell dried pulses, tinned pulses, oats, flour (gluten free), loads of different teas and some really nice drinks. In fact, I was so charmed with the place I ended up leaving with a box of Jasmine tea (oooh errr). The lady who runs Good Food is extremely pleasant and helpful. It's a great little shop. Not sure why they sell moisturiser though, but I'm willing to overlook.

Hello! When did this wee gem spring up?…read more It's not really wee, and it looks new - I'm guessing it's only been on Cockburn Street under a month. Old Town Context is a refreshing, traditional store on Cockburn Street, steering away from the style of the tourist traps on the Royal Mile to offer alternative gift ideas. They have some old English, French and American advert poster art, cards, stationery, gifts, mugs with pin ups on them, clocks made out of recycled glass drinks bottles - a very eclectic and classy selection. Its inspiration is clearly from bygone era's, and I was very impressed with their postcard range. They also have some cracking cards and original prints with cats on them. These cats are wearing kilts and rugby shifrts, quoting Burns and other Scottish poets within the print. It's a very odd idea but entirely up my alley. Overall a very enjoyable shop for the family. It's difficult to walk out of here without buying anything.

I am glad that my 200th review is on this hidden gem... actually it isn't that hidden, but I have a…read morefeeling that lots of people just walk right on by. In a very different and almost vintage way, it is a souvenir shop. I say that because there were lots of prints, cards, coffee mugs of the city and various British 'things', but they are not the types of souvenirs that you would find in the every single store on the Royal Mile... yeah, you know what I mean. I loved the different prints of the city, my favourite was a very art deco-ish print highlighting the castle in a yellowy-orangish hue against a dark background. They had it as a large print, a card, and a coffee mug. I am now kicking myself that I did not buy it. If you love globes or tin signs, they have loads of them! If you are looking for a different kind of souvenir for someone... or just something for yourself, stop in here because they have some really wonderful items.