The ideal spot to grab a meal's worth of vegetables…read more PRICE: Inexpensive. SERVICE: Not unhelpful. QUALITY: Pretty standard for a greengrocer. CHOICE: Plenty. Fruit and vegetables outside, and plenty more inside. Argyll Place is probably one of my favourite shopping streets in Edinburgh. Odd, I know, but it contains three of my most frequented shops: the Bike Works, Al Haj's and Nadia's Fruit and Vegetables. This place is smaller than its next door neighbour, but has a much wider vegetables selection at a much lower price. It is perfect (indeed, this is what I do nine out of ten times) for nipping to on the bike, grabbing a few different vegetables and then heading back to cook dinner, having spent perhaps a quid without the prospect of vegetables then going to waste at the bottom of the fridge. It is open until an ideal time too: 8pm everyday (usually), and this of course means that even a late night dinner can be created using vegetables from here. Their wide selection caters for most, if not all, meal types, and are never in too bad shape. Of course, unlike supermarkets, fruit from here tends to be ripe and ready to eat... Overall a winner then? Definitely. Though not as smart as its next door neighbour, Nadia's is the perfect greengrocers.

Fresh veg and inexpensive with some hard to find items. This is one of my day to day places to pick…read moreup vegetables. Service is functional and the place is well kept. Not sure what else to say on this as it is a veg shop other than thumbs up from me. Tip: They have reduced items in bags outside which is normally 8 - 10 peppers for 79 pence or on occassion bags for 49 pence of items that need used that day. If you are making soup or similiar that day its ideal.

The fruit and veg from here isn't always at its best and I did once buy a bag of plums from here on…read morethe cheap just to find they'd gone off, but it was on the cheap and luckily for this review I know to slow cook them and they turned out to be delicious. This means there is a risk if you are buying the really cheap or out of season items, but other than that you should be okay. In general I don't want to put you off because there are some nice items on offer here, but you do want to keep your eye out for something that's simply too far gone.

It is a shop filled with an array of unusual ingredients that I wouldn't have a clue how to use but…read moreits handy to know its there and you feel good giving money to a local business. However make sure you inspect what you are buying very carefully. I was in a rush and that was my first mistake. I came home to find that my celery was hollow, my pepper had hole and my bag of potatoes was sprouting. But other times everything has been fine. I think inspecting your fruit and veg very is the key to being a happy shopper. Also its the one place i have seen where you can buy a fresh Guava fruit.

Small one-lane Farmers market but the walk here was amazing and there is nothing like having…read moreEdinburgh Castle as your backdrop early in the morning. There are fresh produce vendors as well as food, snacks, honey, candles, and coffee mixed in. I really wanted to try the pasties guy, the rows and rows of savory baked good looked amazing but we let our kids choose and they went for something else. Most places do accept credit cards and we came mainly to pick up some fresh fruit to balance out all the heavy food we would be eating. The climate in Scotland is cold and rainy this time of year and the oranges and raspberries we got tasted different that the ones we get in the Bay Area. There is also meat and seafood, I loved seeing the fresh caught crab on a bed of seaweed and hard to find meat like venison for sale.

Came here to buy their fresh produce and try what they are selling. They are open every Saturday…read morefrom 9-2pm. They have area sourced produce, meats & cheeses, and baked goods and sweets. Small outdoor markets that seem to have quite a bit foot traffic. Service from each stall was friendly and welcoming. My son was looking for ice cream and found this Churn & Thistle ice cream place. He got raspberry, but they offered different flavors. It was very creamy and good and their waffle cone was excellent. Tasted almost caramelized and nicely crunchy. My favorite was their egg custard. It was very flaky and crunchy with a creamy center. It was very good. I've had some egg custards in Portugal as well, and these tasted authentic.

Tariq's is a tiny TINY shop and if you don't live in the area, probably only one you'll venture…read moreinto for a pack of smokes or a juice. But for those of us who call Stockbridge home, Tariq's is another one of those "diamond in the rough" grocers along this street. Between this and the Cost Cutter - I don't think there's a spice in the world that you wouldn't be able to find. It's not my go-to for everyday groceries, but when I happen upon something in a recipe that I don't recognize or can't find at Waitrose, this is one of my first places to poke my head in. Bonus: again, like Cost Cutter, the produce here is surprisingly great - very fresh - and you can pick up interesting seasonal produce that you might not find if you shop primarily at the bigger shops down the road. It doesn't look like much, but it's a solid neighbourhood shop and i'm glad to have it around!

Greengrocers ticks all the boxes in its criteria. It is packed full of good fruit and veg, smells…read moregood, seems fresh, hosts some exotic fruit, it's clean, it's fairly cheap for organic produce, and it stocks various herbs and spices. The staff are very attentive and interested in your custom. What's more, greengrocers like this deserve your attention because they have a wider selection than the supermarket. If you've ever been to local fruit shops abroad, you'll see the fruit is oddly shaped and a bit earthy - that's what it's meant to look like. The supermarket has warped our perception of what good food should look like, to the point that we're not arsed if the nutrients have been zapped out of them through pesticides and whatnot. If you have ever watched a documentary on it, you'll see the waste is sickening. Luckily for locals, Greengrocers gives us good fruit, and the slight increase on the cost is a fine price to pay for fruit and veg that is less tampered with than what you'll get from Tesco.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Royal Mile Market is the building in which it is housed;…read moreTron Kirk was built in the 17th century & was used as a church until the 1950s. Today, vendors sell their modern goods in the centuries-old building with high ceilings & exquisite stained-glass windows. I had a fantastic time browsing each table, & especially enjoyed the many paper products -- cards, small & medium sized prints, stickers -- for sale. Good way to support Scottish artists & bring home portable souvenirs.

literally at the start of the Royal Mile, Tron Market used to be an old church so vines are…read morethereee. Super cute local artists and vendors (go small business!). Ended up getting some beautiful art pieces, can't wait to hang them up when we get home!

I left India in 1983 to study in the States, having grown up in Madras, now Chennai, in the South…read more For all the years in between, I've only on rare occasions been able to find South Indian food - In Brooklyn Heights on one occasion, and of course in London. One or two restaurants in Edinburgh have purported to offer South Indian fare (they shall remain nameless!), and it was, quite frankly, appalling. So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Janatha Stores. I simply wanted some cellotape and happened to be in a pub round the corner and popped into what looks like any other convenience store, but in side has three rows of shelves of South Indian provisions. The owner, Jaidas, told me he was from Kanyakumari, which is the tip of the Indian peninsula and so he stocks food provisions from both Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The supplies range from frozen seafood, especially fish that is typically used in our South Indian Curries, to base materials to make a whole range of starchy foods like idlis (steamed rice cakes - for which you will need to buy an idli maker as well, unfortunately), dosais, vadas, iddi appams, appams and much more. Don't know what these are? Hey, try them, you'll like them, I promise. I love their instant Uppuma - a kind of savoury cream of wheat like dish. It's a great filler dish if I'm too lazy to make something properly. Even their tinned curries are excellent - I tried two - Kerala Kaalan Curry and another - expected them to be dire as most tinned curries are, but they were really good. A whole range of pickles and other spicy additives like Sambols - that lie outside of the more mundane offerings of other asian food stockists. Two of my favourites are Gonkura and Chilly pickle and something that is likened to a Gooseberry but is slightly different. Can't remember the original name, I'm afraid. They also have South Indian curries and rice dishes that are sterilised and vacuum packed so contain no preservatives. 2 minutes in the micro and they are yours - but I have to confess some of these are good but some were not to my taste. Try and see - they are all of £1.49 if memory serves, and many of the things I mention above are even cheaper. Last and definitely not least, my beloved Murrukku can be found here, however they do have two brands and one I found too hard - rice murrukkus seem to be the best here but they are often sold out of them. Am on my way right now to try and see if they have fresh stock! See you there?

Great for south indian shopping. they got a website too visit…read morehttp://www.janathaindianstoreedinburgh.co.uk

My go to for those little healthy bits and pieces you just can't find in mainstream grocery stores…read more Theres a good selection of just about any health food you can think of for a reasonable price. I know some of my fellow reviewers might note it's pricey, but I think you pay for what you get. High end and (usually) organic healthy food. Also good for herbs and spices, some fresh foods and buying in bulk. I love the layout of the store and whilst it's quite small, it's easy to navigate by section and I could spend hours going up and down discovering new foods to cook with. Helpful and friendly service too.

A review a long time in the making! Sorry Real Foods; I've been so busy meandering through your…read moreaisles and going home and making healthy delights, that I haven't had time to write a review! This place is an absolute Aladdin's cave of healthy ingredients. Yes, INGREDIENTS! Many health food stores sell healthy food products (and there are those here as well), but Real Foods has all the raw ingredients you could ever need to make healthy foods at home. That means you can tailor the recipes to fit your eating needs - without having to read labels and pay a premium for someone else to prepare and package the foods. So, if you've bought that healthy 'Raw, Vegan or the lastest Superfood cookbook and need to 'google' half the ingredients - don't worry; they'll be here! You may need to do some searching up and down the narrow aisles; sucking in your tummy as you squeeze past other shoppers - but it's all part of the fun - and if that's not your thing - go online and place an order - they even deliver! Some of my top tips: -most ingredients (such as nuts, seeds, dried fruit) have a regular or organic option - organic labels are green -The Real Food packaged goods come in small, medium an large packs. The price per kilo usually is less for the bigger packs - so if you know you'll use it up - go for the bigger bags -If you love coconut oil - look out for their 2 for £10 special on organic coconut oil! -Missed the Saturday market at Castle Terrace? Real Foods gets their organic veg from the same farmers - available all week long! -also great place to get herbal tea, healthy toiletries, eco friendly cleaning products, supplements, organic wine and beer. There is also a smaller Real Foods near Tollcross.

Two red onions, a chilli, a few new potatoes and a few sprigs of rosemary. Guess how much? Wrong!…read more78 pence for all that! I kid you not, this is one of the cheapest places to get your fruit and veg in the whole of Edinburgh. They also stock a small range of local delicacies, cheese, cakes and they make sandwiches at lunch time. The staff are incredibly friendly too. They will, as Anne C. said, greet you on the street. They're always happy to have a conversation when you go in too. And they'll even knock a few pence off if you're short or you've no change. Brilliant. There is another thing - they, like Fruit-A-Licious in Morningside, sell ripe bananas! Just when they're perfect, they sell them off cheap. This place was a godsend when I was living on Strathern Road, but it's worth a trip even if you live a little further away.

I'm a big fan of this fruit and veg shop, not only because it is an independent grocers making a…read morestand against all the corporate supermarkets, but also because it offers good value and high quality. Take a trip to Sainsbury's or any other supermarket chain to buy your fruit and veg and the quality in general falls wide of the mark - here that simply isn't the case. You can't even argue that supermarkets have an advantage over these independent grocers in their deals and special offers - out front there's always a deal to be had from here and I should know because I pass here every day. Even today as I headed down to find out the opening hours (just a note these should be taken with a pinch of salt as they are by no means set in stone) I picked up a bag of 8 of the largest and tastiest oranges I've had in a long time and all for just a pound. A marvellous fruit and veg shop.

If variety is the spice of life then this shop will really spice your life up. There is an…read moreunbelievable amount of high quality fruit and veg on offer here. One of the things I like about this shop is also that it doesn't feel as cramped as other shops so it's easier to look around which is great considering how much range there is to look at here. Indeed it will be a challenge just to decide what it is you want. There are a lot of fruit and veg shops in this area, but this one really does hold its own and is a place I would recommend.

This is one of the shops that catches me on my hungry way home from the library. I know it's time…read morefor me to leave the library when I'm so hungry I start looking up recipes, and minutely going through the contents of my fridge and how I could put them together to make something delicious. Alhaj, which, honestly, I've always called the big expensive shop on Argyle Place, tends to cater to my every needs. But, oh boy, does it make a dent in my pocket. Calling all veggies out there: they have an amazing selection of tofu. Marinated tofu, smoked tofu, olive tofu... For some reason, once upon a time, I used to get tofu cravings when I was hungover. So this is where I went to indulge. One thing I will warn you about is that their sale section is generally really past the sell-by date. Though, this is handy to know: where the sell fruit and vegetables outside, they normally have an unmarked box full of goods all the way on the far right end of the stalls: if it's unmarked, it probably means they'll sell you the whole contents of the box for a pound or two. I mean, it may be expensive, but to be able to save in Edinburgh, you have to know how to shop.

This Marks and Spencer Simply Food location is in a good location, inside Edinburgh Waverley…read moreStation, so it can be a useful stop to grab a quick to-go food or drink item before getting on a train, or essentials while passing through the station or city centre, with the larger, main Marks and Spencer store on Princess Street nearby shutting rather early at 7 pm, the fact this store is open until 10 pm adds a couple of hours to get essentials in the evening. The store is reasonably small, and the stock isn't great, I wasn't able to find the particular type of milk I was looking for but was able to seek a reasonable alternative. The checkout area was straightforward and easy, with a staff member on hand to help at the many self-service checkouts, it is disappointing that this store does not support Marks and Spencer's mobile scanning and payment, which would be particularly useful, due to being a travel location, where shoppers would want to get in and out quickly to catch a train. 3* - The location and service are both good, while the stock is the bare minimum and could be better, but still one of the better places to get a small selection of groceries in the evening compared to alternatives nearby.

When you're cold and wet and you have a 4 hour long train ride ahead of you... The last thing you…read morecan think about is WHERE TO GET DINNER... Which is how I ended up at Marks & Spencer's... I was anticipating just getting a premade salad and then adding cans of fish to the leafy greens but I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find that they offered pre-grilled/poached/cooked meats and fun anti-pasti toppings! I grabbed a clean, and huge, bowl of mixed greens that also included radish, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and large leaves of romaine lettuce... And then I also selected a package of plain poached salmon and a package of lemon her grilled salmon (2 fillets per package)... On top of that I also got some marinated artichoke hearts and more cherry tomatoes... Hey what else am I going to do on the train, right? Well, even though I wasn't all that hungry when our train finally left the station, I still chowed down, finishing every little bit. The amount of food I could certainly could have fed four people, but ha, not when my chompers are in the picture! I wound up finishing this meal in about 25 minutes and I have to say, it did help the train ride go by a bit faster! (Or maybe it was thanks to the rather entertaining drunk people?)... Any who... A lot of people don't realize that a GROCERY STORE can offer just as fast, if not faster, FAST FOODS than say... The Burger King next door... And might I add 80000x healthier?!? I highly recommend you get CREATIVE with your dining options! Oh and BY THE WAY... Fiancé got 2 portions of marinated and grilled chicken and he didn't put a stink at all, in fact, I do believe he quite liked what he got. Perhaps he's FINALLY REALIZING my BRILLIANCE when it comes to "fast food"?! Well, maybe not but I can only hope! LOL. PS: don't forget to ask for utensils if you plan on eating the food right away... PSS: I'm not a smoked fish fan, but there is a hint of smokiness on the salmon... Which can easily be hidden by adding a little salt (grab some salt packets from Burger King if you're a salt lover like myself!)