Marks and Spencer recently opened their Piccadilly Station location, it is a useful store if you…read moreare looking to pick up some essentials before your train, I do find it a little frustrating that this store seems to be hidden away, tucked in the corner of the upper level of the station, compared to Sainsbury's Local and WHSmith, two similar stores located right on the concourse. This is a small store, so it is pretty much only for essentials, if you are looking for a larger store, you may wish to head to Piccadilly Gardens or Market Street. The store had a good-to-go food and drink section, as well as stocking basic staples like milk/bread/meats. The staff seemed friendly enough and the store had a nice enough feel to it. There is a fridge that is broken so the overall stock in the store was reduced, which considering the stock is already reduced compared to other locations around the store anyway, is a little frustrating. 3*

What's a girl to do when she arrives in Manchester and has the munchies?…read moreHead to M&S of course and stock up on their divine chocolate covered brazil nuts and chocolate covered raisins. I would offer to share them but alas, they've already gone!

Look...... I'm getting a bit bored of this..."oh its so expensive malarky". People need to get…read moretheir heads around the fact that in society there is always gonna be a disposable income gap. Now I understood that when I was a student for example. I never bothered going into Harvey Nichols or any other shop for that matter where I knew it was too expensive for me. There was no point!!!!! So DONT bother going in if its too expensive and whinging about the price!!!!!!! Harvey Nick's Second Floor Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie is actually great, especially with Head Chef Stuart Thomson's award-winning menu. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop everytime I am there, they stock stuff you just can't buy in most other places. Get some food fro the deli and sit and watch the exchange square world go by....ahhhh bliss!!! Right next door is a massive wine colleciton for you should you decide to sample some while you're there. Apparently it's one of the most extensive wine lists in Manchester. So if you do have a disposable income and don't mind spending a few extra pennies on some pistachios from brazil or something, check it....innit!!!

Can anyone spare a few pounds? I wouldn't usually ask but there's no way I can stretch to buying a…read moreloaf of sourdough, a block of Lancashire cheese, a handful of vine tomatoes and a bottle of champagne from Harvey Nichols otherwise! Located on the second floor of the posh department store, the Foodmarket is packed floor to ceiling with thousands of the company's own products packaged in their iconic silver tins and bottles with slick black and white photos. There's everything you could want from whole hampers to tea, coffee, shortbread, pickles and chutneys. At the back of the store, there's a small deli counter that stocks fresh cheese, parma ham, pasta and other delicacies, a luxury wine and champagne counter, a tiny bakery section with freshly baked bread and a wee grocery section selling organic fruit and veg. If they extended these sections I'd probably visit more but as it is, the Foodmarket is too limited and too damn eXpensive.

This Tesco Express (formerly Tesco Metro) location is over two floors on Market Street, on the…read morecorner going onto Brown Street, right opposite the Arndale. It is probably the largest convenience store in the city centre, stocking a range of essentials and a little bit more over two floors, you can get between the floors using an escalator, but there also is lift access (the lift is super slow though and has been for years!). There is a decent selection of to-go food and drinks, including a Costa Express coffee machine, you can also find the occasional item on the small yet useful hot food counter, but that does tend to go fast. The layout of the store is easy to follow, I personally dislike the two-floor format for a store like this, as it means having to spend more time going up/down escalators and searching around the store, this is the type of store you want to get in and out quickly, and being over two floors and a lack of supporting mobile payment similar to Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer nearby, there are drawbacks. Most of the staff seem friendly and helpful, but there are a couple of bad apples. There are plenty of self-service checkouts, and a couple of manned checkouts too, there always seems to be a handful of machines either not in use or broken down, so there's always a wait at the checkout for some reason. The prices are much higher now than they were under the Tesco Metro brand, so you are paying a good bit more than you would in a regular Tesco store, which is annoying! 4* - A good and large store in the city centre, yet could be far better.

We all know by know that I'm not down with Tesco. I understand most corporations are intent on…read moremaking as much profit as possible regardless of other businesses. I think what distinguishes Tesco from their peers and contemporaries however, is the limits they're willing to go to get an extra slice of the cake. Speaking of which, the reason I loathe this Tesco Metro more than the company's other stores is for the truly bad produce. I've accompanied friends shopping here and can honestly say both the bakery and ready meal section are truly disappointing. As is the dairy and meat selection downstairs. On the positive side, the wine and liquor section appears well stocked and the fruit and veg appear fresh and reasonably priced. The worst thing about this particular Tesco Metro is the atmosphere and the dodgy characters. The staff always seem harassed and it's usually so busy it's impossible to walk round without feeling stressed or like you should be on guard.

When Chris M and I ducked in here on the way back to his in need of some milk, who'd have thought…read morewe'd be grabbing amazing bargains by the armful. Our first introduction to Lakeland Groceries involved giant bags of Barbecue Doritos for less than a quid, and huge quantities of eggs at criminally low prices (free range before you start finger-wagging!). Wow, where had this place been all our lives? Situated right near Castlefield Gallery, it seems to be operated by one or two friendly staff, and it's a lovely hotch-potch corner-shop-like offering with a surprising range of products. Anything from a stonkingly generous variety of cheeses to pretty much a whole deli counter, snacks and store cupboard essentials and bits and bobs. You can even buy a bit of booze here if you've had a hard day at the office. So, The Southern Gateway eh. Sarah-Anne M's right, this residential area doesn't have a single recognisable retail outlet less than a ten minute walk away. Well forget hopping all the way to Whitworth Street West's Sainsbury's and Oxford Road's Tesco for your essentials and forgottens, if you're in need of a bit of milk, juice or even some cold cuts and nibbles to lay out for guests, here's your spot!

This little grocery store is genuinely worth a visit. I went in today for primarily yelping…read morepurposes and for the first time I was delighted with a convenience store. Not only do they have a really impressive range of everything you could expect, from chocolate and crisps to newspapers to necessities such as ketchup and tobasco, but they also have a cold meat and cheese counter! It's a little mini version of the Cheese Hamlet in Didsbury, with a great selection of different cheeses and cold meats that are much much cheaper than your usual cheese shop prices. A really nice little surprise find. Check it out!

I've been on a mission to discover more of north Manchester recently. Cheetham Hill is one of the…read morereas which holds a lot of interest for me as a foodie with Cheetham hill road being a great example of multi-cultural Manchester. As well as being another central hub of Manchester's south Asian community it's also adjacent to Manchester's Jewish community. This Superstore sits inbetween the two communities and is buzzing with activity all week long. It's probably one of the biggest stores of its kind in the city. The summertime is a perfect time to visit, for me at least because it's mango season! Honey mangos are shipped in all the way from Pakistan and are priced very reasonably considering they are HEAVENLY! There's also a butchers in house and the store houses a library of herbs and spices. In short there are stores like this littered aross the city in smaller denominations. And in all honesty they probably cater for all the things that are available here. But if you want that remote spice from a youtube recipe or want a faluda flavour ice cream like I do, this is the only place to go.

Wow, no review for the largest branch of Manchester Superstore - says a lot about the current…read moredemographic of Yelp reviewers in Manchester! There are actually two large premises of Manchester Superstore directly opposite each other on either side of Cheetham Hill Road, and if you are into these kind of stores then you will need to check them both out! It may be the case that the one on the left as you travel out of town is more for a quick shop, but it also has a bunch of stuff upstairs - cookware, and kebab shop consumables! Across the road - on the right hand side of the road as you travel out of town - is a building of impressive architecture, which seems to be the wholesale premises, although it is open to the general public, no problem, and this is where I will be shopping from now on. I go for fresh produce, and freshness was above average plus I think Cheetham Hill prices are a bit lower. Just the usual routine for me - stocked up with okra, drumstick, karela, fresh chickpeas, plus fresh herbs which are the bargain of the century at 2 huge bunches for £1. Always good for a bit of ethnic atmosphere. Not quite as much of a feeling of a well-oiled machine as say Worldwide in Rusholme and not as busy at the tills, but the manager is a bit more friendly here on my visit, and opened up another till to get me through quickly. Really love my Desi supermarkets!

Co-Op Food on Corporation Street is in a good location within Manchester city centre, it is in…read morebetween Manchester Arndale and Victoria Station, which makes it a useful stop-off to grab essentials before/after a train, or while shopping in the city centre. The store is a decent size and has the products/facilities you'd expect to find in a Co-Op Food store, of which there are of course many around the city, the product range remains good and includes a satisfactory selection of categories including bread, canned soups and condiments, dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables. The checkout area is a mix of self-service tills and manned checkouts, unlike other convenience stores around the city, including M&S Food and Sainsbury's Local, there is no mobile payment/scanning app on offer here. I do find the prices of certain items to be very high, even when compared to similar stores nearby for certain items, including milk. 4* - One of the larger convenience stores in the city centre, in a good location, far from perfect but a useful store.

Staying on a fairtrade tip, The Co-Operative Group have always made a conscious effort to make all…read moretheir business strands as ethical and people-orientated as possible. In recent years, they've followed up the success of their bank and travel companies with the emergence of dozens of Co-Op Food stores. As you'd expect, the emphasis is on organic and ethically sourced products from exclusively free range eggs and higher welfare standard chicken to fruit and vegetables grown on their own farms. Housed next door to The Co-Op's biggest Manchester bank, this branch is open early to late seven days a week. Ironically, it's close proximity to Victoria Train station also makes it ideal for commuters.

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.

I have started shopping here for my "weekly" shop. I used to go to Sainsburys but the Nectars…read morepoints deal changed. They halved the number of points you would get for amount you spend. I was also thinking of changing as I think Tesco is overall cheaper. One other reason I now go to Tesco is this one has one of those Self scan things - called Scan as you Go. Basically you get your a scanner which you use as you go round the store, scanning barcodes. The idea is to make things quicker. I use it because its a gadget! But it is quicker as packing bag at same time and the Scan as you go queue tends to be much quieter. This store has a lot of the Tesco facilities like Click+Collect, Petrol, Pharmacy, Wifi and clothing.Its also got a wide range of food such as Polish, Halal, and Afro Caribbean. But at the end of the day, its a supermarket!

ok choice however design is awkward as can take 5 minutes just to get into from the outside pavementread more

Sadly, I've never got the hype about Aldi, they might be associated with "bargains" and "low…read moreprices" however I don't really agree, I always find that in ALDI you are paying less for a decreased level of quality, service and in-store experience and this branch here in the Manchester Arndale sums up my scepticism completely. This branch is in quite an unusual condition, it is located on the upper floor of the Manchester Arndale, with enterences from street level from Market Street and from Shopping centre level, where the actual only floor of the store is. The store just didn't feel nice, and it felt like a Pound shop in certain areas, it just felt cheap with the poor level of shelving etc, it just wasn't very nice at all. ALDI and LIDL are very similar in this approach across most of their branches, which are two very similar "discount" brands however another problem with the brand that this branch is a prime example of is the queuing, the queuing system was really badly handled, there are no self service tills, customer service desks or anything like that here, there is just a very low number of tills which don't cope well with queues, I eventually decided to leave and buy my products from somewhere else because of this. I did notice the store manager too who basically stared at me at a comment I made about the poor quality feel of the store and the cheap shelving and layout, he basically rudely stared at me before walking off, he didn't even acknowledge me or try to speak about the problem. Sadly this ALDI branch at the Manchester Arndale is a prime example of all things wrong with the brand especially with the poor, cheap layout and the awful queuing which isn't handled very well at all, so sadly deserves a single one star. which is a shame to start off on a negative foot as this is my first review for an ALDI store.

I'm not prone to depression but spending five minutes in this Aldi definitely made me feel like I…read morewas sliding down a long and bleak hillside. For starters, this store is about ten times bigger than any Aldi I've seen before and looks and feels like a gigantic Iceland. There's no attempt at seducing customers or displaying goods in an attractive manner - everything is just stacked up as easily as possible with horrible signage. The lights look like interrogation strip-lights and there's no music or ambience. In short, the whole focus is on the products and what a mixed bunch they are! One minute you're walking past an aisle of cheap biscuits, crackers and crisps, the next cheap cheap DVD players, walkmans and sat navigation systems. At the back of the store there's an even cheaper fresh and frozen section with perfect looking fruit and veg, meat, fish, cheese, butter, pizzas, puddings and ready meals. Strangely, Aldi seem to sell odd bits and bobs of clothing too from cheap fishing gloves and hats to wool scarves. I'm sure you could pick up some good things if you looked hard enough but frankly, I can't imagine having the time or the inclination to return.