specialist food drink cork

It is a nifty little tuck-box of a shop, Natural Foods. Everything they have here is a delightful, special treat, with their own breads and cakes chief amongst them: the famous cherry buns; the soft pitta pouches; the apricot bakes; the fine sourdough loaves. The shelves are lined with special things: the bags of good foods such as macroom Oatmeal; Maldon salt; Puy lentils; the bunches of vegetables brought in by Joe Eats Organic; the farmhouse cheeses. This atmosphere of fun and thi...

The Ballycotton is a splendid fish shop, with an excellent assortment of wet fish. Though situated right on the main street of the boisterous town of Midleton, it takes its name from the harbour where much of Anthony Cofey-Walshe's fish is landed and where Mr Coffey-Walshe himself lives. Happily, what is for sale depends on what has been landed by the boats, and the short distance the fish travels is a guarantor of freshness. The shop also produce helpful recipe leaflets and, all in all, ma...

The shop treads a clever line between the professional - pricey Pentole pans, lethal-looking Victorinox knive - and the domestic - masses of glorious Nicky Mosse pottery, lots of furniture made by her son, a broad range of Stephen Pearse pottery, as well as glorious olive oils and many other foods. This is enough to tempt the tightest wallet, for sure, but there is much more. A splendid range of Irish woollens and other clothes, lots of good books and many other household items are irresisti...

Cork enjoys some of the best country markets in Ireland, and the Friday Afternoon Bandon Market is one of the vey best. Skibbereen and Bantry also boast fine Friday markets, all of them packed with local foods, good baking, fresh vegetables....

The breads baked in The Bakehouse have a very distinctive malty brown colour. They are light, but, because they have been properly proved, they have enough body to make them satisfying. At Easter time, be sure not to miss the Hot Cross Buns. The shop also retails flowers, both fresh and dried. There is a good range of preserves of all hues and flavours, teas and coffees and, at the back of the shop, there is a café....

Alan's is an invaluable shop, with a great brace of organic vegetables from the locality, rare cheeses such as Ballingeary, baby Organix foods for the kids, and a great range of pulses, grains and whatnots alongside the standard rigmarole of a wholefood shop....

For many people, Val Manning's Emporium is synonymous with the spirit that is West Cork. Sociable, choice, creative, it is a shop where you can loiter for hours, chatting, discovering, selecting. The shop really only blooms into its best in the summer, when the organic vegetables are at their best, the cheeses are at their best, and indeed, everything is at its best....

Hudson's Wholefoods is here all year long, selling the West Cork cheeses, the seaweeds, the necessary foods, and the best range of organic vegetables in the area. this commitment is vital, and her dedication energises Hudson's, and raises it far above the norm of a wholefood shop, making it a vital part of the local food culture....

Carrigaline enjoys one of the very greatest country markets. Calm, perfectly organised, the market has a true sense of by the community for the community and for the enjoyment of the community, and shopping here is a true pleasure....

Field's is one of the finest supermarkets in Ireland and, square foot for square foot, it may indeed be the very best. It manages this by, on the one hand, being part of the Supervalu group, which means its costs for basic items are as keen as anyone else's. But it allies this cost keenness with an array of local foods from local folk, and with the breads and cakes of its own bakery, to put together a smashing shop, terrific cornucopia of good things. so, first thing in the morning, the s...