Pretty stoked to have found this terrific Asian grocer int eh heart of the city. With a huge sake…read morecollection, snacks from Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia and lots of other places, it's a great way to stock up on interesting bits and pieces and recreate dishes from your favourite restaurants in town. I was really happy to see that the veggies were super fresh, and will be heading here next time I miss a market day up the road at Queen Vic.

Craving some instant noodles at 11pm on a Sunday night? This is your place!…read more Couldn't believe the range of Asian groceries they had in this store! Everything from Fresh Vegetables and Soy Milk to Instant anything and Beer and Spirits as well! The shop is well lit and one of the cleanest on the street! Pop in and see what you find!

I stopped by Casa Iberia Deli to find Oaxaca cheese and was so pleasantly surprised by how many…read morethings they had! This store is packed! The selection is incredible -- so many unique and authentic products. The lady behind the counter was super friendly and helpful. I ended up buying way more than I planned....in the best way! I can't wait to go back to try even more.

Today I was schooled in the intricacies of chorizo by a jaded but very informative ten-year-old boy…read morein Casa Iberica. It was a humbling - and exceedingly educational - experience. From the outside Casa Iberica may look like a jazzy Mexican restaurant but inside lies Spanish/Portuguese/Latin American foodie heaven; all row upon row of different preserved peppers, more dried spices than you can shake a - cinnamon - stick at and the kind of deli section that would make Coles verde with envy. But today I was looking for one thing: chorizo. Glorious Spanish sausage. It turns out that in a shop as well stocked and specialist as Casa Iberica the choice is not that simple. Firstly there was a decision to be made between soft, semi cured and dry chorizo. Once that was made there was an option of mild or hot. In fact there were so many chorizo variables that I had to sequester said small child working behind the deli counter to seek his advice. Which was excellent. Amazingly knowledgable service, an excellent selection of specialist food, and great spices all conspire to make Casa Iberica my new favourite Melbourne grocery store.

The name says it all - Great Asian Food Store!…read more Clean, organized, well stocked with weird and unusual food delights. Looks a little less welcoming from the outside, but it is very modern inside. Its built into the first floor of a parking lot. Its fairly new, it appeared in mid 2017. You have to try their salted egg potato chips, they are amazing. If you are feeling even more game, give the salted egg fish skin a try, you won't regret it. They are awesome!

What an awesome little place to pick up a couple of burger chocolates, doughnut chips and peanut…read moredrinks. Yes, this place is full of tasty products you won't find elsewhere.

Wonderful cheese selection in the cheese cave that is downstairs with a knowledgeable cheese…read moremonger. I went to cheese stores all through Melbourne and around Brisbane and this was where I found the greatest selection of cheese made in Australia. Upstairs has a variety of boutique products from granola to chocolate. Also, there is a gelato counter and espresso bar as you enter the store.

This place looks like nothing more than a gelato shop from the front, so you'd be forgiven for not…read morerealising there's a whole specialty grocery inside -- and they also do delicious made-to-order artisan sandwiches to take away. To get a sandwich, bypass the gelato out front and go inside, then bypass the groceries and head straight to the back. There's a cashier here who will take your order and bring your sandwich out to you after about a 10-15 minute wait. I love this place because of their four vegan sandwich options: a tofu salad open sandwich with sesame and lime dressing; a bagel sandwich with a tofu and corn fritter and curried cashews, cucumber, and coriander; a tempeh burger on focaccia with kimchi and ABC sauce; and an eggplant, pumpkin, spinach, white bean, and basil pesto on focaccia. If these descriptions don't have you drooling right now, I don't know what's wrong with you. All vegan sandwiches are $11.50 and come with potato chips. This is a fair price for a delicious and rather filling lunch. Their non-vegan sandwiches aren't much more expensive either. My favorite is the tempeh burger with ABC sauce -- it's like an Indonesian sweet soy sauce -- oh man. Just the right mix of unusual but awesome flavours. There's no seating here -- it's take-away only, unless you're out front having a gelato. While you wait for your sandwich, you can peruse the specialty grocery items. They have a small but impressive collection of hard-to-find and locally-made items, such as La Tortilleria tortillas, local hand-made chocolates, jars of refrigerated kimchi, and chips made from all manner of non-potato things -- kale chips, bean chips, turnip chips.... Just be prepared for some sticker shock. These specialty groceries don't come cheap. (One of the chocolate bars was $14!!! It better be chocolate CRACK, at that price.) All in all, a great place to come for an awesome take-away sandwich with fresh and often unusual ingredients at lunchtime, and a fun place to peruse if you like your exotic, organic, hand-made/hand-dipped/hand-chopped/hand-crafted/hand-tooled/hand-whatever fancy-pants specialty grocery items. You know who you are. (Note the sandwiches are a Monday-Friday lunchtime thing only. I came once on the weekend and they weren't making sandwiches. The gelato is available all the time, but I admit I haven't sampled it yet.)