There are plenty of arguments for and against the social impact of segregated communities in…read moreManchester. One of the overwhelming advantages of such communities however, which I'm sure will gain universal approval is their complete immunity from being threatened by giant retail food chains. You know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that've been driving out small independents outta business across across the country. I LOVE the fact that the communities remain militantly loyal to local foodstores like Madina. Upon close inspection, turns out the reason is a little more complex than just cultural affiliation. One of the main one reasons? This place is AWESOME!! There's literally a library of spices to buy (at BARGAIN prices) and experiment at home with. Any foodie/charlie out there who's sick of the monotonous nature of the shopping experience, will find this to be their culinary/chocolate factory. True, London probably bigger volume of such establishments, but they probably cant beat us for sheer quality. So next time you're stuck in traffic driving to town on Stockport road (through Levenshulme) have a break, and instead of having a kitkat, park up and have a cheeky gander.

Despite having a deceptively small storefront, once inside Madina Superstore turns out to be…read moreanother Desi supermarket easily on a par with branches of Worldwide Foods or Manchester Superstore. With the UK 'hungry gap' upon us, I bagged a box of lychees plus sundry Desi vegetable and fresh herbs. Freshness of the produce was very good, although a bit of banter with a Desi customer revealed that he was passing up on the tinda as being too big - although this is no doubt an out-of-season issue. For the mobile cosmopolitan foodie such as myself, the aim is to know where all the ethnic food stores are so that ethnic food shopping can be done with a minimum of detour from other city business and pleasure. Although there is nothing really oustanding about Madina Superstore to make you travel beyond your nearest Desi superstore, it is nice to have a proper Desi supermarket in Levenshulme to save Levy locals a trip up Stockport Road to Longsight. And visitors such as myself can combine a visit to Madina Superstore with a trip to the monthly Levy Market, or else the permanent Trove café bakery or POD deli.

A large Tesco Extra store in Stockport town centre, being one of three large, major supermarkets in…read moresuch a small area for a town of a population just under 300,000 (I don't really understand it), this location is more important than most to compete due to direct competition, and I do think they're doing a fairly good job. While it isn't the most modern of locations in terms of the interior and did seem to require a small refurb to match some of their newer branches, I always enjoy driving past this store on the motorway, it stands out and looks good. The product range in-store is generally pretty good, they have a great range of bottled sauces/dressings, Tesco Finest ready meals an average gluten-free selection. The staff seemed friendly enough. 4* - Pretty good Tesco store with a good selection and parking.

Good service and the size of the store is honestly really impressive and great customer careread more

Yep - I'm a fan, big style! Mainly because even though I spent £100 here in one go, I probably do…read morenow have enough food to last my wife, self and 2 kids (and nappies) for the next 2 weeks! The aisles are jam packed with fresh fruit and veg at super low prices meaning you can live healthily on a budget. Throw in quality fresh fish, meat and snacks and you have yourself a winner. Ok there's a few gaps in specialist stuff which mean you still need to go to another supermarket too but overall 95% is available here. Loads of free onsite parking, just make sure you register your vehicle on the monitors before leaving or you may get a fine.

Our regular Aldi, another go-to supermarket of ours. Local and pretty much always got what we need…read more Fruit and veg is always a fresh and cheaper in bulk (which is sometimes a great thing and sometimes not...) What is great about Aldi is that their seasonal stuff is always great value and quality, for example their Christmas food is to die for while their Halloween costumes are cheap and available in kids and adult sizes. The only thing about this one is the way to get out is over a busy road and at rush hour is extremely difficult to get out of (though not Aldi's fault!)

When I first started university this building was an empty shell. My student life involved long…read morewalks to Asda which seemed especially long on the way back after I decided it was a good idea to buy 12 cans of beer, 3 litres of orange squash, 4 cans of beans etc. Thank God for those Germans and their wonderful supermarkets. Lidl arrived. It seems to have inadvertently brought along its own accordionist who is always outside come rain or shine - she's actually pretty good. I disagree with Alfie about Lidl not being the best place for a weekly shop. I often did my weekly shop here, even if it was sometimes necessary to supplement it with items from Worldwide and Tesco. The best things to buy: fruit and veg (really good deals like 29p for an aubergine, 19p for a cucumber), pesto (half the price of Tesco pesto), gin, cloudy lemonade, German beer, frozen pizzas (often half price), mozzarella, frozen Indian snacks, tortellini, antipasti, ice cream... I challenge you to carry more than £15's worth of Lidl's goods home with you.

Omg Lidl is the best shopping place to ever go to, most of the time it has everything i need and…read morethe workers always are kind and ask politely, "Do u need anything Ma'am or Sir?" Best shopping place ever.. Cheap stuff aswell the quality of the stuff are amazing..