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.

I used to work right by this place and lots and lots of my friends have even worked here and it has…read morenever had a good reputation. Firstly, the place is always cold and never seems that nice or bright on the inside. It isn't a particularly nice place to be. The staff are all young, which means you can kind of tell that they don't really care about the service and that kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth. There are always wee hoods hanging about outside, smoking and drinking and generally milling about which just adds to this place not being up to much whatsoever. It would be ok if there was a particularly good stock or service but this place is just average, when you add in the bad environment it means it gets a low score.

The Spar is located in the centre of Ashbury in Bangor and provides local residents with real…read moreconvenience. It stocks everything that a supermarket does as well as a few miscellaneous items. For instance I was at a party and it was lacking a little something so I went to Ashbury shops and found the perfect mood lifter....Crazy Straws! They got the party going alright before I knew it I was dancing on the sofa with my shoes on! But what I am trying to say is that The Spar is the king of convenience and the crazy straws are the jewel in its crown. It has an ATM on site and you can pay by card so never fear. From the outside it looks like some sort of gated community but I think this is only in place to prevent teenagers loitering, which can only be a good thing. My advice is get down to the Spar and get some Crazy Straws. Your mates will go wild for them.

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.

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...

I appreciated this convenience store. For American reference think Q-T combined with a smaller…read moreALDI. They had a huge variety of prepared sandwiches for a quick bite, soda and bottles of liquor for a wee sip. Hot cups of coffee, lattes and tea on tap from a clean vending area all day. And snacks galore! Any junk food you had a taste for, and new ones to try, you could get it here. The store is bright and the aisle were wide. They didn't have my favorite Volcanic Unflavored Water here, but they had many other items to try.

The best and also busiest Centra in town, in my humble opinion. This may be due to it's proximity…read moreto City Hall and local offices. It is definitely king of convenience offering a full deli, a new Mexican burrito counter (Called Spice - Inventive), baked good, snacks, drinks and a wall of sandwiches and salads. Be aware - at lunchtime you can expect to queue here for 10 minutes for the deli and for the normal checkouts. There's an ATM on site and they take card at the cash register so don't worry if your pockets aren't jingling. There's a nice wee seated area out the front but it's not enclosed so I wouldn't be eating your lunch here - perfect for a smoke break and a snack.

They have a good range of stock on offer and it is super handy for me. They have parking directly…read moreoutside, and a cash machine inside. They also take payment by card. They do good deals on items such as soft drinks and crisps. The store is well laid out, bright, clean and tidy and the staff are pleasant. Very happy to recommend to anyone, and it's always great to support small local businesses!

Great wee convenience store if you need to grab some biccies, sweets or other goodies. There is…read morefresh milk and a small selection of bread products available every day as well as a small aisle of tinned items etc. Prices are very reasonable especially for a convenience store, plenty of parking available and a cash machine in store. There is a butchers a couple of doors down, chippy next door, and a chinese, so handy if you need to go to one of those also.

Very handy little corner shop, small but has all the basics. Very little stuff is priced and the…read moretill operators know all the prices off the top of their heads. There's not many proper little corner shops left. Still nice to have one in the area.

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.