specialist food drink around south city centre

One of the best shops in Dublin, a devoted home for true, artisan Italian foods and unmissable for the best parmesan and olive oils in the city....

The Universal is invaluable for ethnic cooks an for ethnic cooking, whether the cuisine of your dreams is African or Asian, and its slap-dash, higgledy-piggledy arrangement is truly echt, transporting you happily back in time, to those backpacking days in Lahore or Peshawar. If you can't get it anywhere else, they most likely will have it somewhere in here....

This rather old-fashioned shop is a great address for fresh fish and shellfish, and especially for game in season, which is one of their specialities. There is a second branch of the shop at the southern end of Donnybrook....

One of the great city centre delis, the Condon family's shop has just about everything your heart might desire. Good breads from Wicklow, good cheeses from all over the country, good meats from all over the country, good salads prepared by themselves, good oils and essential jars: you could shop here every week of the year and always come across something new and tempting....

The staff here produce spiced beef, using an original recipe, as well as spiced veal and venison. These can be found in supermarkets and delicatessens in the city. In his shop in Terenure, the relentless imagination and energy is really let loose, and he does a terrific range of smoked foods - pheasant, chicken and lamb amongst others. His puddings and bangers are good, and whenever possible, meat is carefully sourced from organic farmers....

Long the best fruit and vegetable shop in town, Fitzpatric's continues to be an invaluable source for organic and bio-dyn foods, as well as essential wholefoods and whatnots....

A true cornucopia of good things, shoe-horned into the smallest space imaginable, the Ow Valley has made itself an indispensable place for exotica - smoked garlic, real Turkish delight, unusual nuts, wild mushrooms - sold alongside the staples and essentials of everyday cooking....

The city centre shop has been revised recently, and now offers a smattering of deli goods alongside the familiar fruit and veg. Here Today is always a good source for the obscure and the essential, and they usually have a good range of organically grown foods....