On the 4th Sunday of every month the Lark Lane Farmers Market takes place. It is set up at the…read moreAigburth Road end of Lark Lane and curves round onto the paved area of Aigburth Road. There is always an excellent mix of stall here selling produce such as sweets, plants, coffee, cheeses, specialist sausages, specialist meats, beers, smoothies, cakes, black & white pudding and much much more. Many of the stalls have free samples to try and the smell that emits from the market is delicious. The produce on sale is often more expensive than you would find in supermarkets but this is to be expected. The produce is of an excellent quality and you wont find many of the specialist items in supermarkets at all. This is a great addition to the Lark Lane community.

The bohemian chic of Lark Lane, which is littered with bars, eateries and quirky stores selling…read moreretro interior accessories. Drinkers mill about with students - presuming there's a difference between the two - and "dedicated followers of fashion". What a perfect place for a farmers market. This market, held on the last Saturday of every month, is bigger than its counterpart in Woolton Village, although it does suffer slightly in comparison as half of it is on the edge of busy Aigburth road. A great plant stall selling lovely and unusual bushes at very decent prices greets those who enter the market from Lark Lane. The kind of stall Woolton is missing out on. There's myriad cake and bakery stalls selling pasties, pies, pastries and bread and the ever present Savin Hill Farm meat stall, which sells sausages presumably butchered in Heaven. Last time I went, today (28 August), there was a fantastic flower stall with some of the sunniest sunflower bouquets I've ever seen for a mere £3. A very good place to visit every now and again, but it rarely changes, which is a shame.

Amongst the fast food mayhem which inhabits Smithdown road it was really refreshing to see a store…read morewhich was comitted to providing people with fresh and healthy organic food products. As a student you can begin to feel bogged down by the constant fast food fare and beans on toast so to be able to visit somewhere which gave a good healthy option and was so close to my halls was brilliant. The shop itself is green outside which is apt and it really feels light and refreshing when you enter. The staff are fantastic they really are committed to providing good quality food and good quality service to the customers. On one of my excursions here I has numerous questions about the varied produce all of which were answered swiftly, informatively and most of all friendly and this made me feel a real affinity with the place. They give you so many options in here and the website even suggests healthy recipes you can make yourself such as deserts which are suitable for vegans. This really impressed me as it shows the amount of care these people put into what they do. The prices are good and the food is always ridiculously fresh as every day there are deliveries of spanking new produce.. So if your feeling fed up with fast food and fatty meals then try out Windmill you will feel like a new person.

There are organic shops and then there are ORGANIC shops. I didn't stop long enough to chat with…read morethe staff as they were very busy stocking the shelves and unpacking deliveries but having looked at the extensive selection of items and range of organic goods I could tell they were very passionate and dedicated people - I have never seen anywhere that has organic tampons! Yes a selection of organic tampons, I mean I could have misread but I didnt really want to pick up the packet and really take in what I had just seen. It certainly wouldn't surprise me as they have gone to great lengths to stock only the most envrionmentally sound products here in a range of foods and household products - frozen organic meals? Ah even the morally sound are lazy and lonely. And I have never seen such a range of pastas in so many shades of brown and green. They even have ochra in tomato sauce - must be the equivalent of tinned sardines in tommy k, not sure what that's like on toast?!

This is the BIGGEST Tesco I went to while in the UK! It is huge! 2 levels, a huge car park (parking…read morelot/garage) and aisles of deals. If I had to compare this to a store in the U.S., it's definitely a Super Target. There's a clothing section, as well as household, office, and seasonal items in stock now. You would be in trouble if you're not able to control yourself with impulse buying. They offer the convenience of Scan, Shop & Pay, so you can scan items and pay for them as you shop. You'd need to check out one of the scanners in the front of the store, and probably download the app on your phone. Another feature offered here is the Click + Collect option (think Target Drive-Up). The store and car park are very well kept up. They are well lit and clean. I didn't see any shopping carts stranded in anywhere. The employees are friendly and helpful. You can bring in your own reusable bags, or purchase theirs at 30p ($.38) each. I highly recommend coming here for all of your grocery and miscellaneous needs. Locals can also sign up to be a rewards member for extra savings. Be extra and get your shop on at Tesco Extra!!

During my time in the UK, I knew absolutely nothing about where to shop. That changed quickly when…read morethe homie Shay M. was hooking it up with the hints on where to go for some of the good stuff you can only find out here! Enter... ASDA!! It's a grocery store, but this particular location has 2 stores under 1 roof. The Home Bargains store houses "hardline" items as well as a few food and drinks options. It's here at this location that I was able to find and snag the well-known English cookies (or "biscuits" as they're locally called) which are branded as "Digestives." I do believe these can be found in San Diego's Shakespeare restaurant and store, but they're probably limited on flavors and guaranteed to cost more. While here, I found some of the hot sauces Shay told me about. I have a friend who loves hot sauce, so I'll be gifting that to her along with other yummies. The Cadbury chocolate tub was also here, and on sale. 2 tubs for £9!! That's an unbeatable price! There's a small selection of fruits and veggies and also fresh flower bouquets. I love the prices at these grocery stores. If I lived here, I wouldn't worry too much about sales, but the ones they do have make the prices even more amazing! Gotta love it here at ASDA! Get your shop on and save a grip of money doing it! ;)

Smithdown Road ASDA, or officially Sefton Park ASDA. Everything you expect in a large supermarket…read more This branch has an extra 'string to their bow'....... the staff. Last Saturday, I approached 3 different members of staff with different enquiries I needed resolving. I can only say they went above and beyond what I expected and remedied all my requirements . Many thanks to you all. I had earlier visited the instore Opticians, my original reason for attending the store and was served by a young lady, Kia. She was obviously well informed and trained. A credit to all trainers and recruiters at the store. I have never thought this before but I left feeling as if I was a truly valued customer, due to Kia and her 3 colleagues. I can only recommend visiting this store as it makes shopping a pleasant experience and not the usual chore. I hope the store general manager and department head take note of this review.

Home Bargains is situated near the busy Lark Lane. This is a fairly big store which is clean,…read morebright, spacious, well organised and tidy. The store stocks many different types of products such as toiletries, clothing, home ware, cleaning products, toys, games, baby care items, art supplies, stationery, soft furnishings, bathroom items, gifts, pet supplies, food and alcohol. The items are always kept well stocked and well organised. The staff at Home Bargains are friendly and are happy to help you find what you want within the store. The queues at the till are sometimes quite tong, but the staff often open extra tills at these times. Once you are at the front of the queue the staff serve you quickly and will help you pack your bags if you need the help. They are happy to chat whilst doing this. Things to look out for here: cheap hair dye and bottles of wine :)

Cool Trader opened recently in place of the old Ethel Austin's branch near Lark Lane…read more The store inside is bright, spacious and clean, well organised into rows of freezers with different types of products on shelves above them, and fridge cabinets across the back of the store. The product range is limited compared to the Tesco Metro store situated right next door but the food sold is quite cheap compared to some of the alternatives next door. The cat food in particular is very cheap here, Whiska's is sold for the same price as the Tesco's own brand sold next door. I was also very pleased to spot a Baileys Cheesecake available for £1 The staff who work at cool trader are friendly and very helpful. They will happily bag up your shopping for you, and have a chat whilst doing so. This is a great little addition to the Lark Lane area.

Poor old Aldi. It enjoyed a few good years basking in the glow of being the only supermarket for…read moremiles around. That was before Asda swaggered in and parked its fat arse across the road. Now the two sit staring at each other and judging from the crush of shoppers pouring through Asda's revolving door, the Yanks won. Compared to Asda's bustling slickness and infuriating convenience, Aldi can appear a bit slapdash and sad. However, step inside and you realise it wins the lovability factor by a country fathom. More peaceful, more for your money, more German, Aldi (short for Albrecht Discount in case you were wondering) is a place where you can fill your Volkswagen boot with delicious yet unfamiliar brands and still get change from a Deutschmark. How many other places can say that?

I often thought that this Aldi (built on an old school site) would see its demise since the…read morebuilding of the Asda immediately opposite, In fact it appears to have had the exact opposite affect. The store has actually benefited from more shoppers and the discounts appear better than ever. It has just been extended in the last couple of months. It isn't actually going to give any real competition to Asda in relation to choice, but there is some really cheap products for sale. Easy parking too!

Casa De Ana is situated just round the corner from Lark Lane on a little side street. It has the…read moreusual things a newsagents stocks such as soft drinks, sweets, chocolate, milk, magazines, tobacco products, groceries and it also has a bill paying service. The other half of the shop comprises of a small cafe which stocks extremely tempting pastries and also baguettes which can be filled with yummy breakfast fillings such as bacon, egg, sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes. On occasion there will only be one member of staff on duty, who will have to run between both areas of the shop but if you have to wait to be served they are extremely apologetic.

This is a really unusual spot. It's a convenience store, run by a Portuguese owner named Luis, and…read moreprovides everything you'd expect from your local corner shop, and then some. It harbours a café and does some amazing pastries, so you can feel free to sit and chill with a coffee or catch up with friends - it's got a really relaxed, laid-back and friendly feel to it. There's plenty of free wi-fi fun to be had here and there's even some outdoor seating which if you sit on, you'd never guess you were still technically in the city. The food's great, the coffee equally so and the service comes with a warm, friendly smile. It's the ideal location for a light lunch and would be perfect for lazy weekends spent catching up with the newspapers. I've found so few places like this in cities that it's definitely worth shouting about them. If you're in the Lark Lane area do give it a try.