Over the summer I gave up (tried to give up) processed foods stuffed with preservatives and…read morechemical substitutes. On the hunt for natural foods I was delighted to find (read: finally notice) how close Nourish was to my usual shopping route. Here a jar of all-natural, salt, oil and sugar free skins-on smooth peanut butter is just €2.50! Here, cold-milled organic flax meal sells for less than €8 per bag. Then there's the soy, tofu, vitamins and wholesome beauty products -including hair dyes -all lining Nourish's shelves right to the ceiling. While on shopping trips I've noticed the staff leave shoppers to themselves, it took a few minutes for the lady stocking the shelf next to me to say hello. I realise it sounds a bit snobby, but I do expect to be greeted as the only customer in the shop mid-afternoon. I can't fault the selection or prices, but I do wish I felt a little more welcome when visiting.

Nourish on Liffey Street remains one of my favourite places to shop when I need to detox…read more Everything that it sells is good for you so you don't need to feel guilty about spending money here. If you're sick and you can't be bothered to go to the doctor and pay a hefty fee, then Nourish will help you get back on your feet with their vitamins, organic food and herbal remedies. I once got these magic tablets for hay fever and allergies. Nourish also stocks great cosmetic and beauty supplies from popular brands like Burt's Bees to lesser known ones like Dr. Hauschka. The shop assistants are never too busy so they're always on-hand for questions and advise. I went in today and a kind worker took the time to show me five different cleansers. She even gave me free samples with my purchase.

I stumbled across this place yesterday and I love it! A fairly good selection of fresh fruit &…read morevegetables - and plenty of quite posh pantry staples that you would otherwise have to travel into town for. For example, I picked up organic polenta for a batch of cornbread I'm hoping to make today, and I spotted a box of turmeric root... I didn't even know you could buy such a thing. And there was a selection of Sheridan's cheeses In the fridge. That all makes it sound very 'foodie' - but it's great to find a place where you can buy a nice hostess gift locally!

Vegan cheese in Cabra! Good selection of produce and healthy foods. Some items were a bit pricey,…read morebut I suppose that is expected. Very friendly and helpful staff. I will definitely be back!

Restore is a lovely health food store packed with goodies that are good for you and your body…read more The staff are wonderfully helpful and seem to know a lot about the products in store, of which there are very very many! They're really good at explaining what each remedy does and really seem to care about their clients. They even have taste testers in store - something you don't find in most health food stores! The other day it was a tartlet with mushroom in it - ewww sounds weird, but it looked nice enough. I declined to try...

I just love me a good health food store. When I stumbled upon Restore I was pretty delighted. I try…read morereally hard to take care with what I put in or on my body. Restore not only carries food but also vitamins, supplements, and personal care items. Sweet! There is an obvious focus on natural and/or organic products and while these can sometime cost a pretty penny, Restore has a lot of options to pick and choose from. Their selection of healthy food items rivals the best. If you ever wondered where people by hemp oil and wheat grass, this is the place. When I went in the woman working was a little in my face - meaning she asked several times if I needed help or if I was looking for anything in particular even though I said I was just looking around. I know she was just doing her job but come on. I bought a load of stuff anyway, and managed to do it all by myself!

Came here hopping to get some ingredients with a mate, and didn't find all we needed…read more Not a larger selection as promised, but overall a great place to buy some good food. All the vendors are super friendly and love to make conversation! Great way to spend a morning! The ambiance is very quaint and friendly! Overall a great atmosphere and way to buy. Will come here for certain vegetables and lunch when I'm in the city

Thank you for the recommendation, Fodor's! (yes, I bought their travel guide like a true tourist.)…read more My friends and I wanted to try some Ireland oysters because we heard they were supposedly super fresh. We were running out of time on our hunt to find them when I realized, 'I've got my trusty guidebook!!' And that's how we ended up here. It was 12 Euros for 6 oysters and a glass of wine. Since there were four of us, the lady was nice enough to give us 4 cups of wine (yes, plastic cups - it's a farmer's market, what do you expect!) They even threw in an extra oyster! SO FRESH! SO BIG! (cue that's-what-she-said joke). Compared to NYC oysters, these babies looked like they were on steroids! They also have this dipping sauce (had onions and was really vinegar-y, but good. But if you don't like the sour, you should just take the oyster straight.) Didn't eat anything else from other stands because we just had lunch. However, I believe they had shish kebabs, crepes, and bread. Oh and FYI - Sheridans Cheesemongers was there (saw this place on Anthony Bourdain when he went to Dublin so thought this might be worth mentioning). Definitely check out this farmer's market!

There's no shortage of health food and natural supplement shops in this city, and I'll be looking…read moreto those before revisiting Health Matters. On a hunt for L-Glucosamine (or something like it) I dropped in here on a weekday morning looking for a small bottle of the stuff. Puzzling over the shelves for a minute, I asked a saleswoman for help... and have regretted it ever since. Brusque and condescending, she rolled out a long list of why my choice was wrong, asking me sharply what *was* I thinking and clearly whoever suggested it to me was uneducated in supplements (I wasn't winning any points, either). I was shocked to be spoken to this way in a shop, and numbly accepted whatever bottle of stuff she gave me instead (it's been put in the hall closet should I ever need... what IS that stuff, anyway?). €12 lighter and feeling quite harangued I walked out of the shop, vowing never to return. Worked out well so far.

Very good selection of natural products. No dyes, perfumes or sulfates. Or animal testing…read more Have a lot of nutritional supplements. Cary protein bars and some food products. Gluten-free, wheat free... Staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. Not the cheapest place in town but good quality.

A newcomer to Fairview Strand, I worried that it wasn't going to survive the night - after all, how…read moremany bottles of vitamins can the residents of Dublin 3 buy? However, it has cleverly concentrated on food, offering options for the coeliacs, the allergics, and the just plain fussy. I was particularly taken with the egg-free garlic mayonnaise and the organic coconut milk. It also stocks a range of baby products, environmentally kind detergents and healthy sweets for when your children are being particularly tiresome. "Right, I warned you, now I'm going to get out the liquorice!"

I like to try the whole healthy living once and a while. When the urge hit me again I checked out…read morethis store. I was really impressed by the selection of products in here. They really cover the whole range, from environmentally friendly detergent to healthy sweets for children. A wide variety of soya milk and seeds. Mmm soya milk and seeds, fun-times indeed. I know you want to eat at my place now, and more importantly I know you are jealous of how exciting I must be, soya milk and seeds... Rockstar living baby. It was pricey to me, but as I have learnt health food stores are never on the cheap side. Excellent resource for people with dietary or perhaps skin conditions.

Serving people who care about their impact as consumers (5/5 green stars)…read moreWhen I first became vegetarian back in the 1987, this store was my go-to place and I think it deserves a lot of credit for being such a long-lived provider of healthy and ethical food and household items. From vegan meat substitutes to dried foods, organic teas, cruelty-free cosmetics, and alternative remedies, the store has a wide selection of items. Some of their prices seem reasonable - I compared a few prices for brand-name items and they are fairly competitive with even Amazon. However, others are a bit steep - especially some of their herbs and dried ingredients. This is strange as they are buying these in bulk and you'd imagine they could provide more competitive prices for these items than for the brand name products. However, even some of their bulk food items are reasonably-priced (organic brown risotto rice, an item I've never seen before, was €4.50 for 500 grams) so I think it's a case of making sure you shop prudently. I'm giving them 5/5 "green stars" for social and environmental impact. They stock some of the most ethical brands in each category - for example, Dr. Bronner's for soap and Avalon Organics for shampoo. They also support a good number of Irish products such as Yogandha's ethically sourced oils, Iswari organic foods, and Moodley Manor vegan protein products. It's nice (and rare) to be able to walk into a store and find that most of the items are stocked because they have a positive social or environmental impact. This only tends to happen in small, independent health food stores and one or two chain stores like Whole Foods. It would be nice if they allowed you to use your own bag or container for bulk items - I'll ask if this is possible on my next visit. Interested in writing green star reviews? If so, contact me or check out greenstarsproject.

I stepped into Down to Earth and was literally blown away by the breadth of their selection. The…read morefirst thing I looked at was a box of quinoa. Maybe it was fate, because I had just been complaining that Dublin doesn't have the kind of delicious and healthy "natural" things easily obtained in the States, where I am from. I did a little internal dance of joy and grabbed the box. Warily of the insane prices in this city, I searched the box for a price... hold the PHONE. €5. €5!! I put that box right where I found it and proceeded to pick up and put down just about everything I found in there. People talk about how eating healthy isn't prohibitively expensive. Those people have never been to Down to Earth. Granted, they are a small independent shop but WTF. On the plus side, the selection is awesome and they have tons of stuff, including fake meat (which I love), tofu, all kind sof soy milk, grains, beans, vitamins, beauty products and more. But boo to the prices.

The tell tale signs began to appear last night: sniffling, lethargy, a mild hazy feeling in my…read morehead. I reached for my Wellness Formula® ("a powerful combination of herbs, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals") to discover that only five capsules remained in the bottle. During "imbalance" you're meant to take six every three hours. I did what I always do in times of minor crisis while on the road, I turned to Yelp. Turns out, Nourish was nearby and open on a Sunday so I headed there (and actually found it thanks to directions from Yelp for iPhone!) While the employees there were not holistic gurus, after showing them my empty bottle of Wellness Formula® they were able to find me the closest available item in the store. I also picked up some zinc lozenges for good measure. Nourish's selection doesn't come close to my beloved Whole Body in Manhattan, nor really any location of Whole Foods in terms of vitamins and the like. And in future I will always travel with plenty of my own holistic remedies but I'm glad this shop was here for me in a pinch.

Nourish are chain of Irish owned and operated Health food shops. This store on Wicklow street is a…read morebit on the small side but features Nourish's range of whole foods. Homeopathic goods, herbal remedies and the like. They're a little on the pricey side and i'm generally only in here to buy stuff like soy Milk, so not the most exciting of customers but like most health food shops if your allergic to pretty much anything or a coeliac you'll probably find food here you can eat.

There are three categories of customers in Holland and Barrett in my book: The hypochondriac…read morestuffing omega 3, vitamin c and calcium tablets into their trolley, the crazy health nut with fists full of dried fruit and the enormous dude who has been pumping himself full of protein shakes leading to some poorly concealed moobs in his tank top. But crazies and voluptuous male bosoms aside, Holland and Barrett is fairly decent if you're looking for healthy goods. Their stuff is cheap and they have great offers on. I got a box of nettle tea for a quid recently. Tastes a bit like wee.

Healthy food dream! Such a huge range of healthy supplements and vitamins!…read moreI usually pop in there for some Omega Fish Oil and Spirulina food supplements, they often have specials on these products. They also have loyalty cards in place, I always use mine, sure why not to save a few bob!