Everyone is tempted to go to the same big Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Lidl, do all their shopping there and leave it at that. Though if you want some of the best and the cheapest food in Swansea, you’ll have to broaden your horizons.
Swansea is home to dozens of small shops and markets, specializing in many cuisines and home to some of the best food bargains in the city!
Along Bryn-y-Mor Road, in between the many bars and off-licences, there are a number of small Asian shops. These are the best places for things like huge bottles of soy sauce (I’ve had mine for a year and it’s still going), cheap sesame oil, fish sauce, sesame seeds (both black and white) and many other things, most of which you probably can’t find in any chain supermarket. Always reasonably priced and friendly, it’s always a good bet to support a small business and shop along here. Though for people with access issues, watch out as there may be some small steps in the front of some shops.
If you want amazing fruit and veg, just turn around the corner and head to the huge fruit and veg markets down St Helens Road, especially good if you live close to Singleton, or the huge fruit and veg markets in Swansea’s Indoor Market in the town centre, if you live in town, Townhill or are near Bay Campus.
Swansea’s Indoor Market is also a great place to find good quality but cheap meat (plus some places do student discounts) and in many places along St Helen’s Road you can find massive bags of basics like rice or pasta for dirt cheap. Plus a far wider and cheaper range of herbs and spices than you will get in a mainstream supermarket.
If you live near the Uplands, keep an eye out! Uplands high street is regularly home to small markets that show off some of the best food that Swansea has to offer.
By Megan Thomas
