TESCO

These stores are most common in Belfast and you can find them at many streets. Be aware that there is a difference between „Tesco superstore“ and „Tesco express“.  There are only a few superstores in the city while there are a lot of express stores. The express stores are way smaller and can vary on their prices. So be aware and check other Tesco stores and then compare them. These stores also have their own brand like many stores in Germany have. Their own products are often the cheapest. For example a bag of toast costs 60 pence.

ASDA

ASDA Stores are pretty rare in Belfast. There are three in total. We always went to the one in the shore road. I would recommand to buy all your food there. Its the overall cheapest store in Belfast and has the biggest range of products. They also have their own brand which I also can recommend.

DUNNES

Since it is very close to our accommodation, we went there a lot. Overall the Dunnes store is slightly more expensive than ASDA and Tesco. It also has its own brand which is also cheaper than other products.  This store has more products than Tesco stores. They also have clothes, houseware and care products.

LIDL

We sadly have no one near our accommodation. We sometimes go there because they have some german products which are hard to get here (wiener and meatballs).

SPAR

If youre hungy at 1am on a sunday, SPAR stores will be your saviour. They are opened nearly the whole day even on sunday and holidays. They are more expensive tought.

Other stores 

There are also some independent stores. Often they offer exotic foods. At Ormeau rd there are some chinese and african stores for example. These stores are good if you can’t find this food in the common stores. If you eat a lot of meat, try to get it from a butcher. Often it is comparable or cheaper than meat from the store and its more fresh.

Tipps on shopping

First of, you should always watch out for offers, they can spare you a lot of money. In example, one coke costs 2,35 pounds while two cost 3 pounds. Also try to buy big sized products. The ASDA store, for example, has 3 Kg packs of noodles. We also bought a big pack of rice from a chinese store. Furthermore there is no „all cheapest“ store. All stores I have mentioned have their own top deals.

Comparison to german stores

Most of the products here are close to what you can buy in germany. They also taste the same. One exception we found out is Ketchup. It often tastes like vinegar which is quite weird. Another difference is the Cheese. Most of the cheese here is cheddar. Other cheese like emmental can be more expensive as in germany. Cheddar on the other hand is cheaper. Some products are not avaivable here, for example, jagdwurst or breadcrumbs.

tl;dr

• ASDA store is the overall cheapest
• Tesco stores are pretty common but vary on their prices
• try to always buy things that have an offer
• try to buy big sized products
• get meat from a butcher
• a lot of stores have their own brand which is often the cheapest
• there are only a few german products which are not avaivable here