Some weeks only the food you grew up with will do, and the big supermarkets will not have it. Aberdeen is better stocked than a city this size has any right to be, and most of it is on one street.
Every shop below was checked as trading before this page went up. Anything that could not be confirmed was left out rather than guessed at — a wasted bus journey to a closed shop is exactly what a guide like this is supposed to prevent.
The everyday shops, closest first
Holburn Street runs south from the end of Willowbank Road and has the two you will use most:
- Sainsbury's Local, 124–130 Holburn Street
- Tesco Express, 207 Holburn Street
There is another Tesco Express at 499–501 Union Street and a Co-op at 204 Union Street, both a short walk up towards the centre. For a full shop, Asda on Garthdee Road is beside the RGU campus, so it pairs neatly with a day on campus, and there are larger Morrisons and Sainsbury's stores on King Street and Berryden Road.
George Street is the one to know
If you want African, Caribbean, South Asian, Middle Eastern or Polish food, George Street is where Aberdeen keeps it. Five of the city's international grocers sit along one stretch:
- Ajwa Halal Supermarket, 371 George Street — African, Indian, Pakistani and Mediterranean groceries, a halal-certified butcher and a Kurdish bakery making Kurdish and Turkish breads and pastries. Open seven days. ajwasupermarket.co.uk
- Africentre Foods, 214 George Street
- African Food Hub, 119 George Street
- De-Glory, 542 George Street
- Grosik Aro Scotland, 489 George Street — Polish and wider European
Doing one trip along George Street gets you most of what a big supermarket cannot.
Elsewhere in the city
- Spice of Asia, 54 John Street — the largest Asian grocer in the city by some distance, judging by how many people review it
- Rice n Spice 2, 182 King Street — African and Caribbean
- Alee Spice, 72 Hutcheon Street
- Złoty Supermarket, 2 School Road — Polish
- AFRIMARTUK, Unit 48 Bankhead Drive — further out, towards Bucksburn
RGU also keeps its own list of international food stores on its cost of living pages, and notes that halal and kosher food is sold both in specialist shops and in some of the larger supermarkets.
Cooking it is the point
En-suite flats here share a full kitchen and studios have their own, which is the argument for buying the proper ingredients rather than eating the same three things until Christmas.
It is also the cheapest social life available. A shared kitchen and a bag from George Street does more for a flat than any organised icebreaker — swap a jollof night for a pierogi night and you will learn more about the people you live with in an evening than in a week of Welcome Week.
See the rooms and kitchensIf food budgeting is the real question, the cost of living guide has RGU's own weekly estimates and the free meals the Union runs during term time.