It's been a while since I worked in city centre and the Centra used to be a quick reliable stop for…read morea nice fresh chicken tikka sandwich at lunch. My only problem was that it was tired and dated and a little dingy inside, trying to compete with a multitude of other retailers and cafe's that were fresher and in the same walking distance. That's all changed as this store has had a massive refit, and I must say the change is astounding. From the outside you are greeted with a much more stylish white and silver lettering Centra sign and a glimpse through the window of a comfortable tidy little seating area. Yes I know, seats in a shop! But that all makes sense when you go inside. The whole shop seems to have been refocused on catering to tea/coffee/lunch crowd of Belfast coffee culture. The whole shop is brighter and airier and is finished with crisp white tiling giving it the feel of a modern delicatessan. There is a service area for all your tea coffee and soup needs, and I mean all. The coffee machine itself is like something from the future. Finally at the back they have kept the trusty deli counter, but even that's been jigged up a bit. The whole disign is superb and if this is the future of Centra I'd say that high end retailers and the coffee shops of Belfast had better beware!

This Centra has recently been refurbished and is looking much, much better than it used to. It's…read moresuper busy however, which can occasionally mean queues. Nonetheless it's getting a full 5 star rating from me because of the new look interior as I really like the purple-pink and blue-green colour scheme. Also this Centra serves one veggie/vegan hot meal option per day over the in-store food counter. I tried the veggie homemade stew today and it was delicious. Great value too at only £4.00 for a meal deal consisting of a 500ml drink and huge tub of stew. I'm completely impressed as it was pure scrumptiousness in a tub! As few convenience stores offer vegan food it's fabulous to see one which does. Would highly recommend.

Late night, I stopped in here for some drinks and snacks for the hotel room. I'm staying next door…read moreso this is certainly convenient. It is a huge convenience store with grab-and-go sandwiches and snacks, candy, salty snacks, lots of drink options including beer and wine. A bakery section (nothing in it at 10pm though) and a deli counter (closed this late). The store was clean and the self-checkout worked well. [Review 1874 of 2024 - 857 in United Kingdom - 22896 overall]

This Centra is the future of convenience stores. It has everything you could ever want and more!…read more There's a hot deli, with a pick your own meat session serving wings (of three varieties) and ribs. There's also a salad bar with all sorts of delights you can put together yourself. I actually purchased a pre made Ceaser salad and it was every bit as fresh as the food at the pick your own stations and relatively cheap at £4. They also have a dedicated barista serving coffee. There's four contactless tills in action meaning you can pop in for a quick bite and be on your way. But if you don't want to buy and run you can also sit in and take advantage of the free wifi and comfortable seating. Location wise it's great, just at the edge of The Cathedral Quarter and within walking distance to Belfast Met. Top marks from me.

Lots of health stuff to eat at slimmed down prices, sure you couldn't be bad to that! Really…read morethere's always something on offer in this shop and every now and then they have an across the board bogoff promotion. It's great for all you nut lovers!

Great selection of fruit, nuts and seeds. Small range of organic foods. Usually have a selection…read morefor you to try and some great offers. Staff are very friendly.

As far as local convenience stores go this is a really good one in most respects, with only one…read moremain flaw which I will say before going on to praise the place! The forecourt is too small and parking is hard and quite frankly frustrating at times. The shop has grown and expanded over the years but the forecourt hasn't which makes it gridlock at times! Onto the shop though, and it is great. There is a surprisingly large of items in all the different areas: it is more like a mini supermarket than a convenience store. There are great selections of fruit and veg and baked goods, and there is a delicious deli counter, with a delicious old lady called Eleanor who works behind it ! ;D The staff here are really bubbly and friendly, which can't be said of a lot of shops of this nature. The prices are surprisingly competitive compared to other stores like spar etc, only the Big 3 stores can really defeat it! Oh I forgot another criticism. The name. It is a joke. That is all!

Petrol is more expensive but you have to pay for convenience when your driving and the red lights…read morelit up like a Christmas tree for fuel. Expensive but good service, ideal spot to stop and check your tyres for damage as the surface of the moon would be smoother than the roads around ballygowan. There's a coffee shop/cafe above and hot food counter downstairs. There's a much better selection of groceries in ballygowan thanks to the garage, before it was there all you could get was spuds. For anything remotely different you had to drive to comber or ards. Now there's any amount of choices.

I'm quite keen on the Centra chain generally and particularly like this one as it somehow seems a…read morelittle bit more umarket than others. It's a good size and also includes a Post Office so you can grab a few last minute groceries once you have done your Post Office stuff. All boxes ticked. You wouln't do your weekly shop in this store, but the that's not the aim of Centras. What you will get is freshly baked bread, pastries and croissants, fruit and vegetables (although nothing too exotic as I know from the time I stupidly tried to get passion fruit here - I really need to manage my expectations). You can also pick up nice coleslaws, dips, cooked meats and basic groceries. Prices are higher than Asda or Tesco but then you're paying for speed and convenience. There are also frequent 'two for one' type offers too. At the back is a hot food bar where you can get very nice panninis, stew and chips in super quick time. There is some frozen food too and a good range of papers and magazines. All in all this is a good one stop shop when you're in a hurry and need to tick off a few jobs in one place.

Love all Centras - especially the deli and hot food counter. I have in fact just polished off a…read moresmall salad made up myself with the generous carton and a selection of curried coleslaw, cherry tomatoes, two types of rice, cheese, potato salad and lettuce for £2.00. There was plenty of it and I got to pick exactly what went in - I even sampled the pasta as I wasn't sure about the sauce, I don't know if you are allowed to do that but sure, you won't tell anyone! I like this Centra as it is more spacious than some of the other branches, the shop is bigger and the queues are smaller. I also love the fact that the post office is just off to the side of it as it saves on two trips - the lovely girl there today helped me send my wedding invites and arrange postage etc for me as I having a mild panic attack! This is a good Centra providing all the basics we come to expect with centra such as great sandwiches and hot food as well as a massive selection. I Heart Centra.

One of my favourite little grocery shops opened again, nicer, with more fresh products!…read more The best news; they are doing a promotion day, so if youre walking in or even just past it, they are handing out goodies, like sandwiches, sauces, and fruits for FREE, spiced up with a lovely smile! :D

I couldn't live without Co-Op. The amount of days/nights we had chocolate/cake/biscuit cravings and…read moreTesco seemed just that little bit too far away, we always ahd Co-Op. The staff are lovely and very helpful, especially when one discussed with me at length why I was buying tinned hotdogs... in fairness I haven't bought them since but they were on offer. The shop is late opening which is good if you run out of electric and don't really fancy fumbling your way up the stairs. Great shop, some great offers and great staff!

Chiefly a Marks food hall on a very busy main city road; it's filled with coffee bars - a great mix…read moreof small independent places as well as the international chain coffee places. It has a lot of Indian restaurants (actually the majority are Bangladeshi folks and not Indian people) with lots of expensive residential properties and student housing around the surrounding streets. The surrounding area has Queens university, private clinics a private hospital and 3 major NHS hospitals. I was in around 4pm and it was so very quiet, not even a handful of shoppers. It's located off the main Lisburn road with a private parking lot. I walked in to do some shopping (teriyaki salmon, Alaskan wild red sockeye salmon, Bao buns and a few other other goodies). It's hard to believe that they have already begun stocking the shelves with Christmas goodies. I'm quite sure it's a pay to park place, but as long as you are parked for under two hours and spend I think £10 in M&S your parking charges are waived. I prefer the M&S food hall about 10 minutes drive away on Boucher road but only because it has an M&S cafe.

I am a big fan of M&S food and so regularly frequent these simply food outlets. This one is a has a…read morefew things going for it that makes it slightly better. It has ample parking out the front which is handy when you are in a hurry. It is also one of the larger simply food establishments I have been in and seems to be kept very well stocked, sometimes when you go to M&S for lunch after about 1pm there is very little to choose from. It has self-service tills, I like these the last thing I want to be doing on my lunch break is making small talk about the weather. I would definitely recommend this over the Boucher Road which often sells out of 'food on the move' and is a total nightmare to park at.

I love this shop its nice and bright and well laid out. Staff are helpful and there is a great deli…read morecounter with a good big selection. They stock some basics but there are a few downsides. Where it's located means it's very student organised, so quick lunches and sweets and crisps, don't expect to do your weekly shop there. Also the isles are very narrow so I'd invisage pram pushers having a problem. Nice shop but limited stock for anything big.

Not a bad shop at all. This Centra is pretty standard and sells all the usual sandwiches, crisps,…read moreconfectionary and magazines you would expect. Has a deli counter too. Can be ultra busy over lunchtime with students and kids from the nearby schools and Queen's University. If you need to visit I'd recommend doing so outside of lunchtime. A-OK for a small convenience store...