Maybe I'd been looking in all the wrong places but I'd struggled to find a wicker basket anywhere…read more It broke my heart when, during a visit to Krakow, I realised that I just wasn't going to fit one in my suitcase back. Heart-breakingly, it seemed like we were in the city of wicker baskets; there were hundreds of them at markets, just waiting to be bought. But, alas, it just wasn't meant to be. Fast forward to today and I pop into the new Polish Goods and Bakery Shop and, after browsing for a while, I come across several wicker baskets. Are these for sale or display purposes? Turns out they're for display but can also be purchased. YES! My wicker basket dreams have come true. Now I just need a flowing summer dress, a ribbon in my hair, some fresh raspberries and half a dozen eggs. How whimsical. I will certainly look the part with my wicker basket. Yes, I will. I have searched high and low for it; so naturally I'm going to pull out all the stops. Now, I know what you're thinking. - Enough about that damned wicker basket and more about the shop and the Polish produce, lady! And yes, it's all very good. I genuinely felt like I was in Poland. - It feels very authentic. I was even welcomed with a friendly 'dzień dobry!' and many Polish shoppers popped in and out during my time in the shop, which was nice to see. I particularly loved the tea selection. So many flavours! I left with some interesting varieties. My favourite being the mulled wine and honey. - Mmm mmm mmm. And it soothes the throat like nobody's business. I also left with some delicious seeded bread (NO ONE does bread like the Poles do! NO ONE!) and a jar of bigos. If you don't know about bigos, it's a Polish staple and MEGA YUM. I recommend. The only thing I would say is that it didn't look like there were any cakes or breads baked on the premises. Hopefully, this is something that comes with time as I'd love to pop by and get some fresh cakes or pastries. Everything is so reasonably priced. I left with quite the bag full, having spent not very much at all. The lovely Polish man who served me was excited about the new business, and keen to tell me about all of the products on offer and a little about how he came to Scotland. Also, I now know the traditional Polish use of the wicker basket at Easter time. Thank you, lovely man. I left with a smile. And I will be back.

Superb little cake shop in the Stirling Arcade with great value cakes and sandwiches. Nice setting…read moreto sit and enjoy tea and cakes.

Formally know as Olivers, the bakers oven sell a variety of sandwiches, baguettes, pastries and…read morecakes as well as fresh bread and rolls. This branch has a take away section downstairs which opens out on to the street. The food is of a high quality though sometimes the pastries could do with being a bit hotter. Upstairs is a sit down restaurant which offers a similar selection of foods as well as hot and cold drinks. The service is fast and both the food and eating areas are cleaned and tidied regularly.

This is a very new store that opened in 2008, taking the place of the 'Auld Brig Store'. Baynes has…read morebeen a fixture is Stirling for years and I can remember they had a shop in Raploch when I was a child. The food is great and always fresh. The store is always spotless and looks very clean but this is to be expected from a store that is less than 6 months old. The staff are very helpful and service is very quick, but the staff also take the time to talk to people too. They stock a wide variety of stuff sausage rolls, pies, pasties, cakes. They also do hot & cold rolls, soup and other stuff can be bought hot too.

I and my colleagues utilise a number of Baynes shops in and around Stirling but we are now finding…read morethat the filled rolls, which are on display, which we all think look great are not really as good as they look! The fillings are set out as follows:- Base covered with chopped lettuce pieces Sliced tomato (two pieces placed side by side on open edge Tuna/Egg Mayonnaise etc then placed along open side of roll. The finished product when displayed gives impression of well filled roll when in fact when you examine it, it only has filling/tomato in the front half of the roll with the remainder merely being lettuce. Wonder if this contravenes the trade description act? It certainly gives a very false impression of the contents Come on Baynes you can do better than this as some of your larger offerings are very good. Stop kidding your customers on.

Card factory is really good for buying cards all year round, It is a tiny shop but the cards are…read moreamazing prices. The prices of the cards range from 29p, 59p, 89p and 99p for most cards to some cards that are slightly more expensive. They also sell gifts at reasonable prices and gift bags, wrapping paper, invitations and other stuff. Be prepared for a queue if you are planning on buying anything. It is a difficult shop to get into if you are able-bodied but will be very hard to get in if you have a buggy or are in a wheelchair. Be prepared for queues out the door in the run up to Chrismas.

This place was amazing. We were a little skeptical at first, but only because we found through yelp…read moreand at the time only had 1 5-star review. As soon as we pulled in, we knew it was a gold mine of good food. The place was packed but with a more mature demographic. Enjoying a long lunch. The food was perfect. The shops and bakery were great! Would love to go back. We enjoyed the mince and tatties as well as the bacon and Brie sandwich with the soup of the day. They were delicious.

Had a lovely lunch here today. Firstly staff couldn't do enough to accommodate us a group of 5 for…read morelunch when the place was busy. They were polite, welcoming and friendly! Non of us could fault our food all very tasty plates which included Nacho chicken panini, ham and lentil soup, chicken mayo sandwich, haggis and cheese sandwich and cheddar and chutney sandwich. All sandwiches came with either crisps or salad and the soup had plenty of fresh bread on the side. A selection of drinks from hot chocolate, coffee, chocolate milkshake and tea was lovely too. As always the stroll around the farm shop afterwards is always full of lovely local produce and I always find something tasty to buy :-)