First Fruits

This shop is a mystery to me! It appears that everything around it has changed and jumped into the 21^st Century whilst this place is keeping it firmly old school. The dude shouting outside telling you of all the finest deals really should be in St Georges market, not outside his shop. It adds a unique tint to the place, lost by all the other shops around it. The fruit is also amazingly cheap, just as it usually is in the fresh fruit stores. If I’m ever in the area I can walk in and pick up a very awkward shopping bag to carry home for less than a £5 note. Bargain!

First Fruits is really very refreshing, not just because it sells juicy ripe fruit but because it is a tiny wee business that seems to operate successfully in Belfast City Centre.
This is an old fashioned market shop right on Bridge Street, it even has a man with a large bellowing voice that can vocally describe the best fruit deals on offer that day.
One tip from me is to pick up a punnet of Victoria Plumbs, I ate three on the bounce on my way home on the train, my stomach didn’t thank me but my taste buds did!
5 Stars for the plums and 5 stars for First Fruits, long may it be a fixture on Bridge Street.

This is one of the very few yet best little green grocers in the city and I must have walked past it a hundred times before actually venturing.
My local butcher, Orr’s is just a couple of premises down from here and I picked up a few tasty little rib eye steaks to go along with my all protein week in an attempt to build a bit of muscle, lose a bit of weight and try and avoid starchy white carbs.
I called in here and couldn’t believe the range for such a small store. This place has a lot of the harder to get vegetables I’ve been looking for for sometime. I picked up a head of celeriac and chicory for a measly £3 total. The celeriac is still awaiting preparation but the chicory was spot on made into a home made coleslaw.
I picked up some fresh tarragon to make a superbly buttery bearnaise sauce (everyone should have a try at this at some point in their lives — fairly easy once you get the hang and one of the very best additions to steak or fish)
Brilliant little find.

I really love little vegetable shops like these and prefer them to supermarkets. If you’re looking for something slightly more obscure than carrots, spuds or onions, like asparagus, as I recently found out then you’re going to end up running around a few supermarkets trying to find the ingredient you’re after. Fruit and Veg shops like this really are your only man if you want fresh quality produce. Seriously, the fruit and veg sections in Tesco are dire these days.
This is a superb and well run little shop right in the city centre. The staff are always very warm and don’t rush you along. Recommended.

This reminds me of Whitten’s on the Lisburn Road. It all seems very home grown. Very St. George’s Market on a Saturday morning. Very natural.
It’s what I like about living in Belfast during the college months. You don’t have to have everything Tesco branded in your house. You don’t have to wait for apples to be on offer before you buy a bag of 20. If you roam around enough, you’ll stumble upon this little run down place that has absolutely no interest in fancy décor or loud p.a. systems.
Instead people shout across the shop, they chat away to you like market stall people do on Only Fools and Horses, and it’s all very nice and very friendly.
The prices I think are made up on the spot, which for me if it happened anywhere else I would be a bit miffed. However, this is somewhat acceptable for a small, family-​esque business where I would happily support the local produce.
Very natural means very good.