A Tour Of The World’s Most Famous Supermarkets And Luxury Food Halls

Harrods Food Halls, London, England

Harrods Food Halls is London’s top spot for gourmet shopping, with ornate rooms and glass counters filled with caviar, cheese, and pastries. The setting feels like old-world theater meets luxury supermarket, with white-gloved staff and counters meant for browsing, not rushing. You’ll find silver-topped tea tins, chocolate pyramids, and handwritten labels that make every jar feel special.

Shopping here is a treat. Wander from seafood bar to butcher, deli, and chocolate rooms, maybe pausing for oysters and champagne before selecting a hamper or gift box. Staff gladly explain the origins of cheese or suggest caviar pairings, making the experience simple and special. Even takeaway pastries are boxed and wrapped with care, as if for a luxury hotel.

Harrods is known for extravagant treats. Whole Alba white truffles can cost hundreds of pounds, whether you eat them there or take them home. Custom hampers packed with caviar, pâtés, rare teas, and champagne can total thousands. Find limited-edition chocolates, gold-dusted desserts, vintage wines, and rare honey that can reach £1,800.

Harrods Food Halls, Ground Floor, Harrods, 87–135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7XL, +44 20 7730 1234, customer.service@harrods.com, https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/c/departments/harrods-food-halls

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Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly, London, England

Founded in 1707, Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly, holds multiple royal warrants. The store is unapologetically old-school: uniformed staff, polished wood counters, and shelves lined with eau‑de‑nil biscuit and tea tins made to outlast trends. The experience is calm and precise, as if each jar and tin was vetted for the royal pantry before the shop floor.

Drift from the ground-floor tea and biscuit emporium to claret and champagne cellars, then to glass cases of pâté en croûte, Scotch eggs, and pâtisserie. Elevators reveal new spaces: a chocolaterie, a honey-and-preserve section with single-estate jars, and a coffee-and-spice enclave. Staff, eager about provenance, explain blends or recommend chutney for your cheese.

Fortnum’s renowned hampers are portable fantasies in wicker. An extravagant picnic hamper may include vintage champagne, Oscietra caviar, smoked salmon, terrines, jars of condiments, silver-plated cutlery, and china, easily reaching several hundred pounds with added extras. Even essentials like mustard, marmalade, and hot chocolate, once wrapped under Fortnum’s name, command high prices.

Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, St. James's, London, W1A 1ER, +44 20 7734 8040, https://support.fortnumandmason.com/, https://www.fortnumandmason.com/

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Selfridges Foodhall, London, England

Selfridges Foodhall is London’s glossy, design-led answer to daily indulgence, with mirrored displays and sleek signage. The space offers patisserie counters, chocolate ateliers, specialty delis, and chef concessions. Stroll past immaculate cakes, macarons, and cheese and charcuterie in glass cabinets, with the clinking of glasses from bars and restaurants. Here, a quick snack often becomes a tasting tour.

The food hall features limited-edition collaborations, seasonal releases, and pop-ups. Staff guide you to the latest chef partnership or micro-producer. There’s always something new, from single-origin chocolate to small-batch condiments. Londoners assemble impressive spreads: truffle, pâtisserie, and a magnum from the natural wine wall.

Collaboration chocolates are collectibles. The magnums of natural wine make standard bottles seem modest. Stock up on pet-nat, rare chocolates, and bespoke cakes from guest pâtissiers. TikTok favorites: pea-mint ketchup and cucumber-lemon pickles in sleek jars. For Selfridges, nothing is too extravagant.

Selfridges Foodhall, 400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB, +44 207 160 6222, customerservices@selfridges.com, https://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/cat/foodhall/

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Borough Market, London, England

Borough Market is London’s original food playground, a historic trading hub now a maze of cheese stalls, charcuterie, bakers, and produce. Vaulted arches and cobbled walkways add drama, while blackboards list specials, and the air smells of coffee, chorizo, and fresh sourdough.

Shopping is social and hands-on. Cheesemongers offer tastings and explain origins, butchers handle rare-breed meats, and produce shines with heritage tomatoes and seasonal fruit. Clear a morning, bring a tote, and let the crowd of shoppers lead you.

British farmhouse cheese wheels, clothbound cheddar, or nutty sheep’s cheese, are carried out like trophies. Stock up on small-batch truffle honey for everything from roast figs to late-night toast. For the ambitious, haul artisan sourdough, charcuterie, chutneys, and natural wine. For viral moments, try Bread Ahead’s crème brûlée doughnut, with blow-torched sugar and custard, or Turnips’ chocolate-dipped strawberries in molten Belgian chocolate (at a premium, of course!).

Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL, +44 20 7407 1002, info@boroughmarket.org.uk, https://boroughmarket.org.uk/

Eataly, Torino, Italy

The original Eataly in Turin is built for carb and wine worshippers, set in a former vermouth factory that rewrote the rules on what a food hall could be. A maze of fresh pasta counters, in‑house mozzarella, salumi, cheese caves, and wine aisles is threaded with cafés, trattorie, and standing bars. It’s the kind of place where something as simple as picking up something for dinner becomes a full afternoon, with locals and food pilgrims tasting their way from espresso to gelato.

Flour comes in towering stacks of regional brands and specialist blends, pizza‑perfect 00, strong-bread flours, and heritage grains, ready for home bakers who take their dough very seriously. Olive oils line the shelves by region and estate, with bottles that easily reach €20–€40+ apiece, while the balsamic section has everyday IGP condiments to tiny, ornate DOP bottles running into three‑figure prices for a drizzle‑only finishing vinegar.

For something really special, take in the balsamico, from young, punchy bottles to a syrupy traditional Modena DOP worthy of strawberries and Parmigiano. Your most irresistible finds will likely be jet‑black tagliatelle dyed with cuttlefish ink, shocking‑pink or multicolored numeral pasta for kids, intensely garlicky or chili‑spiked farfalle, and anchovy paste in paint‑tube packaging that looks like it should be in your kids' pencil case. Variations on this formula now play out in other branches across Rome, Milan, New York, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, London, and beyond, each adapting the core Eataly message of eat, shop, and learn.

Eataly, Via Ermanno Fenoglietti, Torino, Italy, +39 800 975 880, infotorino@eataly.it, https://www.eataly.net/eu_en/stores/turin-lingotto

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La Grande Épicerie de Paris, Paris, France

Bon Marché’s famed food hall, La Grande Épicerie de Paris is a gastronomy delight with nearly 30,000 gourmet products displayed gallery-like. Walk through glass-and-wood aisles, see a pastry case like jewelry, and meet staff who can discuss terroir.

Shopping here is elegant. Move from the patisserie, where glossy entremets, Saint-Honoré, and special pastries by top chefs routinely cost €6–€10 each. Browse aisles of single-estate olive oils, rare salts, and jams with tasting notes. Shelves mix duck rillettes, terrines, French biscuits, and niche imports, Japanese condiments, Spanish conservas, and cult chocolate bars.

Entremets, especially the layered chocolate creations, look ready for a magazine cover. A basket of single-estate oils at €20–€40 a bottle, citrus-infused varieties, and luxe vinegars can quickly push your total into triple digits. For a French flourish, add a limited‑edition gâteau shaped like the store, or ultra‑specific nuts and chocolate snacks.

La Grande Épicerie de Paris,38, rue de Sèvres Paris, +33 1 44 39 81 00, relationsclientelegep@la-grande-epicerie.fr, https://www.lagrandeepicerie.com/en

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Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, Paris, France

Galeries Lafayette Gourmet is the fashion-adjacent cousin of La Grande Épicerie, a modern food hall decked in glass, marble, and immaculate displays. Counters are streamlined: one for patisserie, cheese, and another for global street food, each curated with the aesthetic sense that made the department store upstairs famous. It’s stylish without fuss, with locals popping in at lunch alongside food-focused visitors.

Begin with coffee and a pastry at an in-hall café, then pass vitrines of éclairs, tarts, and cakes from top pâtissiers, plus colorful salads, rotisserie meats, and ready dishes. Charcuterie and cheese counters offer everything from saucisson and jambon de Bayonne to aged Comté and chèvre. Global stands serve ramen, poké, dim sum, or Lebanese mezze, perfect for composing a chic dinner party.

A pastel‑perfect box of Pierre Hermé macarons, often priced in the €20–€30 range depending on size, suddenly feels completely reasonable when you’re standing in front of the display. Then there are the tins of ultra‑posh sardines and other conserves, dressed in graphic, collectible packaging and priced well above supermarket standards, destined to sit on the pantry shelf like art. Add a wedge or two of over‑the‑top cheese, a bottle of good Champagne, and a couple of individual haute‑patisserie desserts, L'Éclair de Génie in unexpected flavors like mango-passionfruit or yuzu-coconut marshmallow, by pastry chef Christophe Adam. To top it off, Angelina's Hot Chocolate is a must-take-home, rich Chocolat chaud à l'Africaine made with cocoa from Niger, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast.

Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, 35 boulevard Haussmann, Paris, France, +33 1 42 82 34 56, https://haussmann.galerieslafayette.com/en/category/universes/gourmet-en/

KaDeWe Food Hall, Berlin, Germany

KaDeWe’s sixth‑floor food hall is Berlin’s classic address (from 1907 to be precise) for high‑end grazing, a ring of open kitchens, deli counters, and specialty stands circling under soft lighting and polished wood. Shoppers drift between glass cases piled with cakes and chocolates, banks of cheese and charcuterie, and gleaming seafood displays, with the city skyline just visible beyond the windows. KaDeWe’s gourmet floor carries around 30,000–35,000 food products and several thousand wines and spirits, so you won’t leave empty-handed.

The experience is gloriously old‑school European department‑store luxury. You can perch at a seafood bar for oysters and prawns, slide over to a counter for schnitzel or roast pork with sauerkraut, then finish with torte and coffee without ever technically leaving the shop. Champagne and wine bars are dotted among the counters, making it dangerously easy to turn a casual browse into a slow, all‑afternoon tasting session. Service is brisk but warm; regulars clearly know their preferred counters and stick to them.

Start with a counter‑side champagne and oyster binge with flutes poured by the glass, a dozen or more oysters on ice, and a few extras from the seafood menu. Then move into souvenir mode for a suitcase‑worthy haul of German sausages and cured meats, from smoked knackwurst to delicately spiced liverwurst, plus an over‑the‑top selection of mustards in stoneware jars and gift tins. Add in a box or two of baroque German cakes or chocolates for your journey home. The creatures from the deep at the fish and crustacean counters are often borderline bizarre because of their size and appearance, rather than their actual species!

KaDeWe Food Hall, Kaufhaus des Westens, Tauentzienstraße 21-24, Berlin, Germany, +49 30 21210, kundenservice@kadewe.de, https://www.kadewe.de/en/your-visit/

Jumbo Foodmarkt, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Jumbo Foodmarkt is the Netherlands’ supersized answer to the gourmet supermarket. Flagship locations, such as those in Veghel and Utrecht, are set in big, warehouse‑style spaces with wide aisles, open kitchens, and in‑store dining areas, so you can wander from fresh produce and bakery counters straight to cooked‑to‑order meals without ever leaving the building. The emphasis is on fresh food, with pizza ovens, wok stations, salad bars, and patisserie displays running alongside conventional supermarket shelves.

Standard aisles carry a broad range of Dutch staples and international brands, while specialist corners highlight fresh fish, butcher counters, cheese, bread, and patisserie. In‑store restaurants and food‑to‑go stations offer sushi, pizza, grilled meats, and Asian dishes. You can then pick up the ingredients to recreate the same meal at home. It’s designed for one‑stop evenings: dinner now, groceries for later, and a detour through the snack and craft‑beer sections on the way out.

Think of building an all‑out Italian night by ordering a hot wood‑fired pizza from the counter while loading your trolley with fresh pasta, sauces, and antipasti from the deli. Add a graze‑fest of ready‑to‑eat dishes with Asian stir‑fries, salads, roast meats, and patisserie. Then finish with a DIY craft-beer and soft-drink mix-and-match pack, along with a slightly unnecessary haul of cheeses, breads, and desserts.

Jumbo Foodmarkt, Gedempt Hamerkanaal, Amsterdam, Netherlands, +31 800 022 01 61, https://www.jumbo.com/

Manteigaria Silva, Lisbon, Portugal

Manteigaria Silva is a classic Lisbon mercearia and charcutaria with more than 125 years of history, often described as a pearl of traditional commerce in the Baixa. The narrow shop is split in two: on one side, a bacalhoaria dedicated to salted cod; on the other, a fine‑grocery section stacked with wines, hams, sausages, cheeses, and dried fruits. Food writers and tour guides routinely flag it as a must‑visit stop for anyone serious about Portuguese products.

You walk past hanging presuntos, strings of chouriço and paios, and stacks of cod in different cuts, all cut and wrapped to order. The cheese counter is a highlight, with a long list of regional specialties honed in‑house, such as Serra da Estrela, Nisa, Serpa, Castelo Branco, São Jorge from the Azores, Odemira goat’s cheese, and more, many offered at different ages and maturations. Shelves and refrigerated cases add tinned fish from more than 20 Portuguese producers, including tuna ventresca, sardines, mackerel, octopus, and cockles, plus jams, preserves, and olive oils chosen from small traditional suppliers.

Start with an armful of tinned fish, colorful boxes of sardines, tuna fillets, mackerel, and octopus. Add a selection of aged cheeses, an extra‑gooey Serra da Estrela, a nutty São Jorge, and something long‑matured from Nisa or Serpa, wrapped for travel. Then go all in with an entire leg of presunto from Alentejo or Trás‑os‑Montes, hand‑sliced as thin as paper for tasting in‑store and sold whole or in large pieces to take away.

Manteigaria Silva, Lisbon, Portugal, Rua Dom Antão de Almada 1 C/D, Lisbon, Portugal, +351 213 424 905, geral@manteigariasilva.pt, https://manteigariasilva.pt/

El Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience, Madrid, Spain

El Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience in Madrid is for people who take their tapas seriously, with Iberian delicacies, chef‑driven stalls, and city views all folded into one compact space. Counters are tightly curated with one for jamón and embutidos, another for cheeses, others for pastries, wines, and international bites, so it’s easy to graze your way around and still leave with a very considered haul of deliciousness.

Shopping here is a mix of bar‑hopping and boutique browsing. You can slide up to a jamón counter for a plate of hand‑cut slices, move on to a seafood bar for conservas and a glass of albariño, then finish with a dessert or coffee, without ever leaving the market. Shelves nearby are stacked with neatly boxed tins, oils, and wines, making it simple to replicate your tasting at home or assemble gifts that feel refined.

A generous ración of hand‑carved jamón ibérico de bellota, nutty, silky and priced accordingly, paired with crusty bread and a very cold sherry, just because! Then there are tins of Galician seafood with cockles, razor clams, mussels, and tuna packed in sleek, design‑forward boxes that can cost many times more than standard supermarket conservas, but feel utterly irresistible. Add a couple of boutique Spanish olive oils and a bottle or two of small‑producer Rioja or albariño for a decadent snack. Take time to peruse the limited‑production Spanish wines and spirits, including cult bottles and special vintages, which are curated as some of the most exclusive items in the gourmet section.

El Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience, Club del Gourmet, El Corte Inglés Castellana, 1st Floor, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain, +34 914 188 800, clientes@elcorteingles.es, https://www.elcorteingles.com/luxe/gourmet

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Queviures Múrria, Barcelona, Spain

Also known as Colmado Múrria, Queviures Múrria, is a Modernista paradise in Barcelona’s Eixample, a 1898 grocery whose façade is still covered in stained‑glass adverts for Anís del Mono and Codorníu designed in the style of Ramon Casas. Inside, it’s like an old‑school delicatessen with original mahogany and pine shelves, the classic counter, and every inch stacked with Catalan and international gourmet products. It is officially listed as one of the city’s most historic and original shops, and routinely recommended in food and Modernisme guides.

Queviures Múrria specialises in Iberico ham, sausages, cheeses, and anchovies, along with good wines and vermut poured by the glass. Shelves are lined with conservas and olive oils, beautifully preserved with vintage‑style labels, plus Catalan and Spanish cheeses such as manchego and mató, which food tours flag as key buys. In recent years, a small gastronomic space inside has added charcuterie and cheese platters and tasting options, turning the shop into a hybrid between deli, wine bar, and museum.

Start with vermut: a bottle or two of Catalan vermouth plus a glass at the counter to test it. Add tubs or tins of olives, jars of boquerones and anchovies, and a lineup of conservas, sardines, clams, and mussels. Then go all in on olive oil, picking bottles of single‑estate Spanish oil, rounded out with wedges of cured cheese and maybe a few slices, or even an entire leg, of jamón to make the trip worthwhile.

Queviures Múrria, Carrer de Roger de Llúria, 85, Eixample, Barcelona, Spain, +34 932 15 57 89, reserva@murria.cat, https://www.murria.cat/en/

Citysuper, Hong Kong

CitySuper in Hong Kong feels like a Japanese‑inspired gourmet market dropped into the middle of the city’s busiest malls. Aisles are compact but carefully curated, with Japanese groceries, European delicacies, and US imports displayed alongside gleaming fresh sections of sashimi‑grade seafood, wagyu, produce, and a serious wine and sake wall. It is the spot Hongkongers hit when ParknShop won’t do!

Deli counters and hot food stations turn out bento‑style sets, salads, Japanese curries, pastas, and ready‑to‑eat snacks that are surprisingly elevated, while bakery corners and dessert fridges tempt with cakes, puddings, and Japanese‑style breads. Seasonal promotions are akin to Hokkaido fairs, with the Taste of Summer Japan fruit events and limited‑time sweets that keep regulars coming back to see what’s new.

CitySuper went viral for selling a single Japanese Kotoka strawberry, individually cradled in soft padding and its own presentation box, for HK$168 (about US$21.60), marketed as a once‑in‑a‑season luxury. More everyday splurges include premium Japanese strawberries and grapes in tiny padded boxes, plus beautifully packed bentos and onigiri that only get better once you add a chilled highball or a small bottle of sake.

CitySuper, various stores throughout Hong Kong, https://online.citysuper.com.hk/blogs/happenings/store-locator, https://online.citysuper.com.hk/

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Isetan Shinjuku Depachika, Tokyo, Japan

Isetan Shinjuku’s Depachika is Tokyo’s basement food culture at its sharpest, with immaculate aisles of bento, sweets, deli counters, and regional omiyage laid out with almost obsessive precision. The lighting is bright, and every display from lacquered bento sets to rows of pastel wagashi. It feels like an anthology of Japanese taste, edited for people who care about seasonality and presentation as much as flavor.

Office workers and shoppers queue neatly for pristine bentos layered with rice, grilled fish, pickles, and seasonal vegetables, while dessert hunters hover in front of patisserie counters selling everything from French‑style entremets to impossibly cute character cakes and traditional sweets. Shelves are lined with regional gifts, soy sauces, miso, teas, cookies, and rice crackers from across Japan, packaged in beautiful boxes. You come for a snack and leave with carefully wrapped parcels destined for colleagues, hosts, or your own suitcase!

Japan’s luxury fruit culture peaks in basement halls like this, where seasonal gift boxes of muskmelons, perfect strawberries, or glossed grapes are sold individually or in tiny sets at prices that can match a lavish stay in a Tokyo hotel, running into the tens or even hundreds of dollars for a single perfect specimen. Add to that assortments of wagashi, limited‑edition cakes tied to specific festivals, and lacquer‑look bento boxes designed purely for gifting, and it is easy to imagine blowing a serious chunk of travel budget on items that will be gone in a few bites! Little Steps was rather partial to the seasonal dried-persimmon mille‑feuille, layered with slabs of butter, paired with a cleverly matched sparkling wine.

Isetan Shinjuku Depachika, 3 Chome-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo, Japan, +81 3 3352 1111, https://cp.mistore.jp/global/en/shinjuku.html

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Mitsukoshi Ginza Food Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Mitsukoshi Ginza’s food hall is like stepping into a museum of Japanese taste, with an emphasis on wagashi, tea, and perfectly choreographed basement‑level service often cited in round‑ups of Tokyo’s most iconic depachika. Counters are low, lighting is soft, and every confection, rice cracker, and tea canister is lined up with such precision that browsing becomes akin to meditation! Staff wrap even modest purchases in layers of paper and ribbon, so you walk away with parcels that feel like gifts, even if they are for yourself. Bliss.

Glass cases display seasonal wagashi with delicate nerikiri shaped like blossoms, maple leaves, or tiny landscapes alongside yokan, dorayaki, and other classics from long‑established makers that Ginza regulars swear by. Nearby, tea counters offer everything from everyday sencha to carefully sourced gyokuro and matcha, with tastings and quiet guidance on flavor profiles and brewing. Gift boxes bundle sweets and tea together in limited‑edition packaging tied to festivals or Mitsukoshi anniversaries, turning them into instant omiyage.

Imagine a selection of hand‑painted wagashi, each piece a tiny work of art that takes days to design and seconds to eat, boxed up in a lacquer‑style case that you [almost] feel guilty opening. Then add a high‑end matcha set with ceremonial‑grade powder, a chawan bowl, a bamboo whisk, and a scoop, carefully nested in tissue and presented with the kind of reverence usually reserved for ceramics in a gallery. Round out the fantasy with a few tins of limited‑release Ginza‑only tea and a multi‑tiered assortment of rice crackers and sweets.

Mitsukoshi Ginza Food Hall,4 Chome-6-16 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo, Japan, +81 3 3562 1111, https://cp.mistore.jp/global/en/ginza.html

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Takashimaya Food Hall, Osaka and Tokyo, Japan

Takashimaya’s food halls in Tokyo and Osaka are a neat snapshot of how Japan does everyday luxury and classic depachika energy. Expect a particularly polished mix of Japanese staples and European‑style patisserie that food travelers obsess over. Counters are orderly and bright, with neat rows of bentos, tempura, grilled fish, salads, and wagashi on one side, and glossy fruit tarts, éclairs, and cream‑filled cakes on the other.

Bentos come with rice divided into perfect quadrants, grilled fish or karaage nestled beside pickles and vegetables, each compartment a different color and texture. Pastry counters go French with strawberry shortcake, Mont Blanc, and seasonal tartlets, but with Japanese precision: each slice identical to the next, boxed with tissue, ice packs, and impeccable care. Along the perimeter, shelves are stacked with omiyage gifts, regional cookies, castella, baumkuchen, and rice crackers in tins and boxes.

Imagine choosing an oversized, fruit tart topped with perfectly aligned strawberries, kiwis, or jewel‑like muscat grapes, the kind of dessert that easily runs into high double digits once you’ve upsized to a family‑size version. Then there are the omiyage boxes, multi‑tiered assortments of cakes or senbei wrapped in patterned paper, ribbons, and branded carrier bags. Add a hand‑picked selection of seasonal bentos and a few limited‑edition sweets tied to a holiday or anime collaboration for some extra va va vroom!

Takashimaya Food Hall, Osaka, Tokyo, and various other stores around Japan and the world, https://www.takashimaya.co.jp/store/special/stores/en/

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Dean & DeLuca, Japan And Thailand

Dean & DeLuca in Japan and Thailand takes the original New York gourmet‑grocer DNA and repackages it as a sleek café‑market for Asia’s design‑conscious food crowd. Market‑style stores in Japan, such as the large Fukuoka outpost, combine shelves of international ingredients, wine, and kitchenware with a central Market Table restaurant, while Thai branches favor a café-restaurant concept with crafted coffee, Western‑inspired comfort food, and a well-curated selection of imported retail products. The look is clean and urban with marble counters, neat stacks of branded jars and tins, and that familiar logo on tote bags and coffee cups.

In Japan, Dean & DeLuca operates as a food select shop, pulling together coffees, spices, olive oils, sauces, sweets, and deli items from around the world, alongside local meats and seafood in some locations. In Thailand, the flagship MahaNakhon Cube concept added a full-scale gourmet food hall feel, with a restaurant and wine bar upstairs and a ground floor lined with specialty ingredients, snacks, and branded housewares, including tote bags, mugs, and storage jars.

Think truffle salt, truffle oil, and other chef‑y finishing touches that can easily creep well over €10–€20 a jar once you factor in branding and import status. Add small jars of artisanal jam, honey, or nut butters, slender bottles of single‑estate olive oil, limited‑edition chocolates, and pretty tins of Italian biscuits or French sea salt, chosen mainly for the label. Round it out with a Dean & DeLuca Bangkok tote, a couple of Napa Valley-branded wines, or specialty coffee bags, and you’ll feel a sting in your purse.

Dean & DeLuca, Japan & Thailand, various locations in Bangkok, https://www.deandeluca.co.th/, various stores in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka, https://www.deandeluca.co.jp/shop/

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Culina At COMO Dempsey, Singapore

Just like a European gourmet hall reimagined for the tropics, Culina at COMO Dempsey is all pale wood, glass, and artfully lit counters tucked into a leafy former barracks compound. The space wraps a sleek bistro and wine bar around a serious grocery, so you can eye off cuts of meat, cheeses, and seafood in the chiller before sitting down to eat them cooked to order a few minutes later. It is regularly name‑checked as one of Singapore’s go‑to addresses for home cooks.

The shopping experience is intentionally slow and consultative. At the butcher’s counter, specialists walk you through marbling and provenance on Australian wagyu, grass‑fed beef, and specialty pork, with prices for premium steaks easily landing in the high double or low triple digits once you factor in weight and cooking. Nearby, a cheese room showcases European producers such as Comté, Brie de Meaux, Manchego, and blues, while the wine wall ranges from approachable bottles to serious Burgundy and Bordeaux, all curated under the COMO umbrella.

Start with a thick Australian wagyu ribeye from the chiller, destined either for the home grill or the bistro kitchen, where there is typically an additional preparation fee to have it cooked and plated for you. Add a whole wheel, or even an indulgently large wedge of imported European cheese, plus half a case of Burgundy selected with the sommelier’s help. Throw in a few jars of boutique condiments, fancy butter, and a crusty sourdough to fill up an eye-wateringly pricy basket!

Culina at COMO Dempsey, Singapore, Block 15 Dempsey Road, Singapore, +65 6474 7338, reservations@culina.com.sg, https://www.comodempsey.sg/restaurant/culina-bistro-2

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Meidi Ya Supermarket, Singapore

Meidi‑Ya in Singapore feels like a compact depachika disguised as a neighborhood supermarket, with bright, orderly aisles and that distinctly Japanese sense of calm efficiency. The focus is on quality. Explore shelves of Japanese pantry staples, a serious chilled section, and an impressive span of ready‑to‑eat meals. It is the kind of place you get lost in and somehow emerge from an hour later, arms full of very specific soy sauce and rice brands!

Counters turn out neat bento boxes, sushi sets, and sashimi platters that many regulars rate on par with their favorite restaurants, with party‑size sashimi trays loaded with salmon, tuna, and scallops. Fridges are lined with Japanese milk, tofu, natto, and desserts, while aisles are stacked with Koshihikari rice, ramen, curry roux, and an army of snacks. Seasonal fairs add Hokkaido sweets, regional noodles, and limited‑time products that keep hardcore Japanophiles coming back to see what’s new.

Imagine clearing an entire shelf of limited‑edition KitKats and other novelty sweets, strawberry, hojicha, matcha, and building a color‑coded stash! Add a pristine sashimi platter meant for sharing, piled high with otoro, salmon, sweet shrimp, and roe, plus a couple of premium sake bottles and tubs of Hokkaido ice cream. Nom!

Meidi‑Ya Supermarket, 9 Raffles Boulevard, Singapore, +65 6339 1111 and 1 Kim Seng Rd, Singapore, +65 6771 1111, https://www.meidi-ya.com.sg/en/

Family-Friendly Hotels in Singapore 2026: Luxury and Budget Options for Every Family https://www.littlestepsasia.com/singapore/play/staycations-and-travel/family-friendly-hotels-resorts/

Erewhon Market, Los Angeles, USA

Erewhon Market is a little bit special, with light-wood grocery shelves, plants, impeccably styled fridges, and a tonic bar humming with people in athleisure, ordering drinks with sea moss, collagen, and mushroom powders. It has become a bona fide celebrity pilgrimage site, frequently described as one of America’s most expensive supermarkets, where even basics like sourdough and milk can cost around US$12 and US$15, respectively.

Shelves are laden with organic, non‑GMO, and biodynamic labels, with small‑batch snacks, tonics, and supplements that often debut here before turning up anywhere else. The real gravitational pull, though, is the smoothie and tonic bar, where beauty blends, adaptogen lattes, and superfood juices routinely sit in the US$20–US$26 range once you add collagen, maca, or other boosters.

The sublime list starts with Erewhon’s most famous drink, the Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, originally created with Hailey Bieber and still on the menu at around US$21 for a 20‑ounce cup. Its at‑home smoothie kit version is sold online for roughly US$150 for four servings. Then there are the adaptogen‑packed tonics and lattes on the tonic menu, stacked with reishi, chaga, cordyceps, deer antler, shilajit, and friends, that can easily push into the mid‑US$20s once you pile on extras. For a final flourish, you can throw in a US$6 green oat‑milk latte, a bag of granola nudging US$50, and maybe a jar of vivid blue sea moss gel or even frozen camel milk!

Erewhon Market, Various locations across Los Angeles, https://erewhon.com/browse/all

Whole Foods Market, Austin And NYC, USA

The 80,000‑square‑foot Whole Foods Market Austin downtown flagship doubles as corporate HQ, offering restaurants, bars, coffee counters, and sprawling aisles of natural and organic everything. In Manhattan, multilevel stores like Manhattan West replicate the formula with extensive fresh food, specialty departments, and grab‑and‑go zones designed for office workers and health‑minded city dwellers.

Prepared‑food islands dish up hot dishes, and the salad bar spreads with customizable entrées, sides, and diet‑friendly sections; in some markets, Whole Foods even runs promos like $12 large hot pizzas, and bin deals that regulars rave about for DIY meals. Bulk bins line one side with grains, nuts, and sweets, while grind‑your‑own stations let shoppers make peanut or almond butter on the spot, plus, in some locations, pilot almond‑milk machines dispense fresh nut milk for around US$3.99 a bottle. The cold case has everything from oat and almond to hazelnut, macadamia, and pea milk, often priced in the US$3.99–US$6+ range for a 32‑ounce carton.

Start with the hot bar and salad bar: loading up a just a quick lunch container with premium proteins, sides, and add‑ons until you’ve quietly created a $20+ mountain of organic comfort food. Then there is the nut‑butter station, where grinding multiple tubs of fresh almond or peanut butter feels virtuous and vaguely unhinged if you do not actually run a smoothie bar at home. Finally, you can turn the alt‑milk aisle into a private tasting with oat, almond, hazelnut, macadamia, and pea!

Whole Foods Market, various stores in Austin and New York, https://www.wholefoodsmarket.co.uk/

Family-Friendly Guide To New York City With Kids https://www.littlestepsasia.com/travel/usa/guide-to-new-york-city/

Molinari Delicatessen, San Francisco, USA

On San Francisco’s North Beach, Molinari Delicatessen is a true old‑school Italian‑American deli, founded in 1896 and widely cited as one of the oldest delis in the United States. The narrow shop is lined with hanging salami, shelves of olive oil and pasta, and glass cases loaded with cured meats and cheeses, with a constant line of locals, tourists, and construction workers snaking toward the sandwich counter.

The menu runs from classic cold‑cut sandwiches like the Molinari Special Italian Combo to gourmet builds such as the North Beach Special and Luciano Special, stacked with prosciutto di Parma, coppa, fresh mozzarella, and sun‑dried tomatoes, typically priced around US$18.99–US$20.50 via delivery platforms. Custom sandwiches let you pick your bread, such as Dutch crunch, focaccia, ciabatta, and more, and pile on meats, cheeses, mayo, mustard, vinaigrette, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pepperoncini. In the cases, Molinari’s own dry‑cured salami, also sold nationally under the P.G. Molinari & Sons brand, sits at around US$18.89 per pound sliced at local grocers, or roughly US$9.50 for a half‑pound online.

Picture a custom sandwich built on Dutch crunch or grilled focaccia, stacked higher than your head with multiple salami, mortadella, prosciutto, provolone, and all the fixings, a US$19+ behemoth that really should be two meals. Then add a full kilo of house salami: at roughly US$18–US$19 per pound, that’s more than two pounds of Molinari’s gold‑medal dry Italian salame destined for charcuterie boards and late‑night snacks. Toss in a few wedges of cheese, a bag of good olives, and maybe a bottle of Italian wine from the shelves.

Molinari Delicatessen, 373 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, USA, +1 415 421 2337, https://www.themolinarideli.com/

Trader Joe’s, USA

Right across the USA, Trader Joe’s has a smaller footprint, hand‑drawn signs, and Hawaiian‑shirted staff, but a cult status that rivals those of far fancier chains. Everything on the shelves is private label, which lets the brand afford quirky frozen meals, global flavors, and snack‑aisle experiments without sharing space with big FMCG names. The fun is in the treasure hunt, new products appear quietly, disappear just as fast, and are dissected on TikTok, Reddit, and entire fan blogs devoted to spotting what’s new.

Stalk the new items, end caps, and seasonal displays, knowing that limited‑run products, from Sparkling Honeycrisp Apple Juice to Ube Spread or truffle hot sauce, can vanish in weeks once the internet catches on. Prices stay accessible by US standards, which only fuels the frenzy! A cult condiment or snack might sit under US$5, making impulsive cart‑filling feel entirely reasonable until you hit the checkout.

Everything But the Bagel is a category in itself: the original sesame‑garlic seasoning blend, which launched in 2017 at around US$1.99 for a 2.3‑ounce jar, quickly spawned spin‑offs like Greek‑style dips and even potato‑chip experiments, inspiring fans to sprinkle it on everything from eggs to roasted vegetables. Then there is ube‑anything, past ube spreads and ice creams have sold out fast, and the legendary pumpkin‑spice onslaught each autumn, when shelves fill with pumpkin cereals, granola bark, coffee, pasta sauces, and even pumpkin vinegar, with some fall line‑ups clocking more than 20 pumpkin products in a single season.

Trader Joe’s, well over 40 stores across the country, https://www.traderjoes.com/home

Zabar’s, New York City, USA

On the Upper West Side, Zabar’s is an appetizing institution at 80th and Broadway that has been serving smoked fish, bagels, coffee, and deli essentials for over 90 years. The ground floor is a controlled chaos of counters of smoked fish, cheese, bakery, and prepared foods, while the first floor is a surprisingly vast kitchen‑wares emporium.

At the fish counter, staff still hand‑slice nova, belly lox, and whitefish to order, with Zabar’s hand-sliced nova salmon running at about US$32 per pound (and US$64 for a 2‑pound side) on the website. On nearby shelves, hundreds of packages of chocolate babka and rugelach are stacked high. Zabar’s homestyle babka, based on a family recipe, comes in 22‑ounce loaves for about US$16.98 in chocolate or cinnamon, and the coffee section offers house‑roasted blends by the pound, typically around US$15.99–US$16.98 for 1 lb. The result is a shop that smells like smoked fish and fresh coffee in equal measure.

A whole kilo of lox (a little over two pounds) from the smoked fish counter would easily land north of US$60 at current online prices, before you even add bagels and cream cheese. Then there is the forest of babka: multiple hefty 22‑ounce loaves of chocolate-cinnamon babka, plus bags of rugelach, stacked in your tote as if you’re provisioning for a long winter. Finally, an extra suitcase just for coffee and pickles starts to feel oddly sensible when you clock how many signature blends sit around US$16 a pound and how many briny, New York‑style jars are begging to be packed for the flight home!

Zabar’s, 2245 Broadway, New York, USA, +1 212 787 2000, info@zabars.com, https://www.zabars.com/

Russ & Daughters, New York, USA

Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side is a century‑old icon, the kind of narrow, neon‑signed shop that food travelers put on their pilgrimage list alongside Katz’s and Di Fara. Founded in 1914 and still family‑run, it specializes in smoked fish, caviar, herring, bagels, and Jewish baked goods, all sold from gleaming cases where the queue moves slowly because everyone is agonizing over their order. It feels at once old‑world and very New York with no fuss, no seating in the original shop, just serious appetizing.

The counter menu features Gaspe Nova, Scottish, Norwegian, and Irish organic smoked salmon, with prices around US$29–US$30 per half‑pound for most salmon and about US$37 per half‑pound for sturgeon. Classic bagel combinations like the Daughters’ Delight (Gaspe Nova, wild Alaskan salmon roe, and cream cheese) or the Super Heebster (whitefish and baked salmon salad with wasabi roe and horseradish‑dill cream cheese) sit in the US$19–US$22 sandwich range in the Brooklyn and Midtown outposts. Behind the counter, there are tins of conserves, jars of herring, pickles, and caviar cream cheese, plus babka and rugelach for anyone who still has room.

A proper caviar moment could easily start with a Russ & Daughters caviar flight ordered online, three 50‑gram tins of different sturgeon caviars can run to several hundred dollars, and be accompanied by blini, crème fraîche, and chilled vodka. In‑store, you might ask for a full kilo of Gaspe Nova or Scottish smoked salmon (the equivalent of four half‑pound orders at roughly US$30 each) and enough bagels, bialys, and cream cheese to satisfy even the hungriest! Add a few tins of Baltic sprats, Ortiz ventresca tuna, jars of pickles, and a couple of chocolate babkas for good measure.

Russ & Daughters, various locations around New York, original shop, 179 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, New York, +1 212 475 4880, https://www.russanddaughters.com/

Pike Place Market, Seattle, USA

A city within a city, Pike Place Market and its specialty food stalls are why every food‑obsessed visitor ends up here with an empty stomach. The covered streets and arcades hide everything from old‑school fishmongers and artisan cheesemongers to bakeries, chocolatiers, spice shops, and hot‑sauce stands, many of them tiny, family‑run operations that have been in the market for decades. It is chaotic with flying fish, buskers, crowds, but under all the noise, it is a serious pantry for Seattle locals.

At Pike Place Fish Market and neighboring stalls, you can point at whole Dungeness crabs, fillets of wild salmon, and tubs of cooked crab meat, with online menus listing whole crabs and 1‑lb packs of crab meat at roughly US$49.99–US$79.99, depending on the cut. Totem Smokehouse and other long‑running smokehouses offer alderwood‑smoked wild salmon and the local cult favorite salmon candy, sweet, smoky, chewy pieces often sold by the three‑quarter‑pound pack, alongside pâtés and spreads. DeLaurenti, an Italian specialty store on the corner, has shelves of olive oils, vinegars, chocolates, and mustards, plus a deli counter that could single‑handedly stock a picnic.

Start with a fresh Dungeness crab, either cracked and cooked on the spot or carried home whole, plus a tub of crab meat that already nudges you towards three‑figure spending. Add a serious haul of smoked salmon candy from Pike Place Fish or Totem Smokehouse, the kind of thing you’ll eat straight out of the bag. Finish with a line‑up of small‑batch hot sauces and pepper jellies from stalls like Mick’s Peppourri, award‑winning jellies spiked with garlic, ginger, cherry, or cranberry feature prominently in the market’s own must‑try flavors guide.

Pike Place Market, 85 Pike Street, Seattle,+1 206 682 7453, https://www.pikeplacemarket.org/

Casa Santa Luzia, São Paulo, Brasil

Casa Santa Luzia in São Paulo is a near‑century‑old gourmet supermarket that locals describe as the city’s Whole Foods on steroids, a two‑level emporium where almost every aisle holds something you did not know you needed. Founded in 1926 and now sprawled over about 2,200 square meters in Jardins, it stocks artisanal cheeses, premium meats, imported staples, Brazilian specialties, and an extensive wine cellar, all at decisively not‑everyday prices. Food writers routinely flag it as one of Brazil’s best gourmet markets.

You move from bakery counters with house‑made breads and croissants to refrigerated cases packed with ready‑to‑eat dishes, over 250 different prepared plates, from filé à parmigiana to lasagne, a category the store pioneered locally back in the 1980s. Shelves mix high‑end imported items, including foie gras, caviar, European biscuits, teas, and jams, with Brazilian products given equal billing, along with bean‑to‑bar chocolates, regional sweets, specialty coffees, and nuts.

Imagine filling a cart with mountains of Brazilian nuts, castanha‑do‑pará, and cashews by the kilo, plus a line‑up of specialty coffees from the store’s much‑praised cafés especiais section, where dozens of single‑origin and micro‑lot beans sit shoulder‑to‑shoulder with top European roasts. Then add an entire shelf’s worth of doce de leite, small‑producer jars, baking tubs, spoonable versions, and gift tins. Throw in a few bean‑to‑bar Brazilian chocolates priced on par with imports and a bottle from the wine cellar, and you suddenly understand why Paulistanos treat a Santa Luzia trip as an indulgent splurge.

Casa Santa Luzia, Alameda Lorena, 1471 Jardim Paulista, São Paulo, Brasil, +55 11 3897 5000, sac@santaluzia.com.br, https://www.santaluzia.com.br/

El Palacio de Hierro, Mexico City, Mexico

El Palacio de Hierro’s gourmet floor in Mexico City is essentially a refined food court. Counters mix Mexican staples with European imports, think wheels of Spanish cheese, Italian pasta, French chocolates, and a serious wine and spirits wall that favors Rioja, Champagne, and mezcal.

You move between deli counters with cured meats and cheeses, stands selling pan dulce and pastries, and aisles lined with olive oils, vinegars, and tins of seafood, all positioned as easy upgrades on everyday cooking. Mexican products are given pride of place, with delicious salsas, tortillas, moles, and local sweets sitting alongside imported staples.

Start with artisanal moles in jars or pouches, black, red, and verde from small producers that turn any roast chicken into a divine dinner. Add mezcals in hand‑blown or heavily decorated bottles, then throw in chilli sauces in every shade and heat level, from smoky chipotle to eye‑watering habanero, plus a couple of good tequilas and a few Spanish tins for later.

El Palacio de Hierro, Avenida Molière 222. Col. Polanco II Secci. 11540 Ciudad de México, CDMX, México, https://www.instagram.com/elpalaciodehierro/

David Jones Food Hall, Sydney, Australia

David Jones’ Food Hall in Sydney is the city’s answer to an upscale grocery, a basement emporium in the CBD, and a flagship 2,500‑square‑meter food hall at Bondi Junction that blends retail with serious in‑store dining. Counters span fresh produce, butchery, seafood, deli, patisserie, and chocolates, while multiple cafés, an oyster and wine bar, sushi bar, and grill stations mean you can easily turn a quick look into lunch.

The shopping is clean, linear, and very Australian, with a mix of local meat and seafood, European cheeses, pantry goods, and lots of ready‑to‑eat options aimed at office workers and apartment dwellers. Seasonal desserts are divine with berry‑topped meringues and summer pavlova cakes promoted as long‑weekend treats in the food hall’s social feeds, and sit alongside tarts, slices, and puddings in the cake cases. Around the perimeter, shelves of packaged biscuits, condiments, and confectionery are curated for gift potential.

Start with pavlova‑inspired desserts: a full‑size berry pavlova or pavlova cheesecake as the centerpiece, plus a few individual mini pavs for later, easily tipping the dessert bill into the triple digits if you are feeding a crowd. Then move to the hamper section and build your own Australian epicurean moment with macadamias, fruit cake, local chocolates, and coffee, and spike it with bottles of small‑batch Aussie gin from brands like Four Pillars, which David Jones prominently stocks. Don’t forget the chocolate-dipped strawberry bar, where you will find premium strawberries that are hand-dipped in premium Callebaut milk, dark, and white chocolate.

David Jones Food Hall, 86/108 Castlereagh Street, Sydney NSW, Australia, +61 2 9266 5544, https://www.davidjones.com/blog/food/instore-restaurants-cafes-bars/

Family Friendly Guide To Sydney, Australia https://www.littlestepsasia.com/travel/australia/sydney/guide-to-sydney-australia/

Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne, Australia

Inside the heritage‑listed Dairy Produce Hall, Queen Victoria Market’s deli halls in Melbourne sit in an art‑deco space lined with long‑running family stalls that specialize in cheese, cured meats, antipasto, and smallgoods. It is one of the city’s key foodie addresses, with the deli area repeatedly singled out in local guides as the place to go for serious cheese and charcuterie, whether you are stocking the fridge or building an on‑the‑fly picnic. The vibe is busy but friendly. There are lots of tastings, lots of regulars, and traders who know many customers by name.

Bill’s Farm, Queen Vic Deli, Big Vic Deli, and The Corner Larder cover everything from local and imported cheeses to prosciutto, jamón ibérico, Greek cheeses, smoked salmon, hams, salami, antipasti, and Spanish tinned seafood. Ripe Cheese focuses purely on small‑batch Australian cheeses, claiming to be the only all‑Australian artisanal cheese shop in the world, with more than 50 cheeses from Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and New South Wales. Other stalls specialize in homemade dips, Greek and Italian antipasto, and extensive olive selections, including Sicilian nocellara and marinated mixed olives sold by weight.

Start with a whole wheel of something showy from Bill’s Farm or Ripe Cheese, or at least an absurdly large wedge backed up by slices of jamón serrano, Italian salami, and Victorian free‑range ham from the deli counters. Add tubs of marinated olives, peppers, artichokes, and house dips from Dianne’s Delights or The Epicurean, plus a few hunks of fresh bread from long‑time bakery stalls. Throw in a bottle from one of the market’s wine merchants or nearby shops, and you essentially have a pop‑up wine bar!

Queen Victoria Market, corner ofElizabeth Street and Victoria Street, Melbourne, Australia, +61 3 9320 5822, info@qvm.com.au, https://qvm.com.au/

Melbourne With Kids: The Ultimate Family Travel Guide  https://www.littlestepsasia.com/travel/australia/melbourne/guide-melbourne-with-kids/

Spinneys, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Spinneys in Dubai is the archetypal upmarket expat supermarket, bright, orderly stores where the produce looks photo‑ready, and the shelves are bursting with imported goods. Across its 60‑plus UAE branches, it has a reputation for good, fresh fruit and veg, strong meat and seafood counters, and a big selection of European and UK brands, making it a comfort stop for British and European shoppers in particular. Each store regularly has ‘tastings’ from new or staple brands. It is rarely the cheapest option, but it is consistently ranked among Dubai’s best for quality and convenience.

You get neatly merchandised fresh sections, in‑store bakeries, decent ready‑meal ranges, and lots of own‑brand Spinneysfood lines sitting alongside familiar imports. Online listings show categories full of European cheeses, from Waitrose Brie at about AED 26.50–30.50 per 200 g to various Cheddars and specialty blocks, and biscuit aisles that mix UK classics with Gulf staples. Expect the butchery to offer chilled lamb from Australia and New Zealand, priced at roughly AED 77–99 per kilo for carcasses and premium cuts.

Imagine an all‑import shop with a magnificent run of European cheeses, Brie, Comté, Cheddar, maybe some Roquefort, multi‑packs of UK biscuits and chocolate digestives, and a big leg or rack of New Zealand lamb from the chiller, all tossed into the cart without once looking at the price per kilo. Add a few bags of niche British crisps, breakfast cereals, proper tea, and some fancy Spinneysfood ice cream for good measure. Oh, and they also have their own magazine, Nourish by Spinneys, featuring recipes, health tips, chef interviews, restaurant reviews, and travel inspiration, focusing on quality ingredients and healthy living, and reflecting Spinneys' premium grocery brand.

Spinneys, Branches throughout Dubai and the rest of the Emirates, +971 600 57 57 56, support@spinneys.com, https://www.spinneys.com/en-ae/

Ultimate Family-Friendly Guide To Dubai With Kids https://www.littlestepsasia.com/travel/middle-east/dubai/dubai-with-kids/

Carrefour Hypermarket, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Carrefour’s hypermarkets in Dubai’s mega‑malls like Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall have brightly lit floors where groceries sit alongside electronics, clothing, and homeware under one very big roof. Food sections feature long runs of fresh produce, butchery, fish counters, bakeries, and chillers stocked with imported brands from across Europe and the Middle East.

Date and Arabic‑sweet sections carry multiple brands and formats, including loose dates, gift boxes, stuffed dates, and basbousa, kunafa, and baklava trays. Carrefour’s online store lists items like 770 g baklava boxes at around AED 64.99 and assorted mamoul and basbousa packs at similar mid‑double‑digit prices. The cheese and bakery areas explore Carrefour’s French DNA, with counters of Brie, Camembert, and other European cheeses, along with croissants, baguettes, and packaged French pastries and palmier cheese palms under the Carrefour Bio and other in‑house labels.

One trolley devoted entirely to dates and local sweets with multiple kilo‑boxes of Medjools, stuffed dates, and a couple of 700–800 g baklava or mixed Arabic sweets boxes in the AED 60–130 range. A second trolley could go full Francophile in the Gulf with wheels and wedges of French cheeses, viral strawberry cream cheeses highlighted on local social feeds, and boxes of French pastries and croissants, all bought in a UAE hypermarket a few steps from a ski slope and fountain show! Only in Dubai!

Carrefour Hypermarket, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, +971 44 094 753, https://www.malloftheemirates.com/en/find-a-store/carrefour or https://www.carrefouruae.com/

Grandiose Supermarket, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

At the boutique end of Dubai’s grocery scene, Grandiose Supermarket is pitched as a premium, health‑forward alternative to the big hypermarkets. Stores are smaller and design‑driven, with neat produce displays, attractive signage, and clearly carved‑out zones for organic, gourmet, and diet‑specific products. It targets shoppers who care as much about labels and provenance as they do about price.

Grandiose highlights organic fruit and veg, a respectable cheese and deli selection, dry‑aged meats in some locations, and lots of global gourmet items alongside gluten‑free, keto, vegan, and other free‑from lines. Their own Grandiose Life and food‑hall concepts add chef demos, wellness workshops, and pop‑ups, reinforcing the idea that this is an upscale neighborhood hub as well as a functional supermarket. Online and delivery listings feature a broad range of premium breads, nuts, healthy snacks, and international brands at firmly mid‑to‑high price points.

Start with an all‑organic brunch basket with farm‑style eggs, organic berries, avocados, smoked salmon, artisanal sourdough, fancy butter, and maybe a bottle of cold‑pressed juice or kombucha, all grabbed from the organic and fresh sections. Then sweep the healthy‑snacks aisle for granola and flapjack bars from The Beginnings, Canadian organic Made Good granola, UK Nakd bars at about AED 7.95 each, sugar‑free nut‑and‑fruit bars from Lebanese brand Castania, and assorted keto brownies and protein bars. Add a couple of small‑batch nut butters and plant‑based milks on the way out, and you won’t want to leave the house (or your Airbnb for the rest of the weekend!).

Grandiose Supermarket, various locations across Dubai, support@grandiose.ae, https://www.grandiose.ae/

Manuel Market, Riyadh And Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Founded in 1929, Manuel Market in Riyadh and Jeddah is a Gulf‑style gourmet supermarket, with displays of patisserie, dates, and imported European groceries. The vibe is mall-like, with separate zones for fresh produce, butchery, bakery, and sweets, plus long runs of international brands that make it a magnet for expats and Saudi food‑obsessives. It is the sort of place where you can pick up everyday basics and, three steps later, stumble into something that looks straight off a Parisian shelf.

One moment, you are staring at pyramids of dates, trays of baklava, and kunafa dripping with clarified butter and pistachios; the next, you are in front of refrigerated sections lined with French butter, European cream, and Japanese or Australian wagyu, all packaged with the same meticulous attention to branding. Along the way, there are patisserie counters with cakes and pastries, plus aisles of imported snacks, sauces, and chocolates.

Imagine loading an oversized tray or two of syrup‑soaked kunafa into the trolley, and then rolling straight over to pick up pristine French butter and a couple of marbled Japanese wagyu steaks for a lazy steak night at home. Add in a few luxury extras like single‑origin chocolate bars, high‑end olive oils, premium European yogurts, and maybe a box of Arabic sweets. You might even be tempted by camel meat and milk products (fresh milk, chocolate, possibly ice cream), which are among the more unusual items for non‑Gulf visitors, even though they are regionally traditional.

Manuel Market, Qurtubah, Riyadh, and various stores in Jeddah, +966 12 658 1555, https://www.manuelsfoodmarket.com/

Discover The Top 32 New Hotel & Resort Openings In Saudi Arabia https://www.littlestepsasia.com/travel/middle-east/saudi-arabia/top-hotel-resort-openings/