Real Foods

The wholemeal couscous is really tasty and I'm happy that they sell vegpud and a number of other items that I can't find elsewhere - but they are very expensive so be warned not to get too carried away.

A life-saver - love this place.

It's packed with all manner of goodies, including the marvellous 'green drink' (check the fridge in the back for the 'superfood' drinks) which I didn't even know was available in this country. What else - fresh fruit and veg, dairy, treats, cereals, more types of tea than you could possibly imagine, Eco cosmetics, shelf upon shelf of snacks and treats (some more healthy than others) and larder essentials. Real Foods and Tattie Shaws combine to make trips to soulless supermarkets unnecessary. And for that, we can all be glad.

They stock Moo free chocolate, the best dairy free chocolate available. It can be hard to find in shops. There's also a range of vegan and gluten and wheat free foods as well as the organic stuff. Not to mention the huge selection of teas.  

A shop for the healthy person in you! Organic, fresh and good-for-you produce. Excellent selection of tea.

Right, really the onie place tae get yer healthy essentials in Edinburgh thats worth goan tae.

yummy organic stuff! Love the Ellas' kitchen for kids on the go.

I was another attendee at the Qype event at Real Foods. A FREE evening of wine and chocolate tasting? A thousand times YES! Although delighted to step up from my reserve placing to participate in this event at the last minute, I did have visions of a short session of shovelling dusty chocolate and insipid wine into my pie hole, whilst nodding my head in agreement as I got spoken at about dull stuff. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be surrounded by such exquisite chocolates, sample some fabulous wines (another shout out for their excellent Prosecco), engage in a vibrant chat with some lovely people I met that evening and then stumble home (there was a lot of wine to be drunk and I’m too polite to leave it!) a lot later than anticipated as with all the jollity, time just flew by!

What an excellent shop too. I live nearby and although I’ve popped in once, I’d not really taken in the extent of what they offer in there. I was particularly impressed with their range of fancy dairy-free products (the booja booja range of chocolates and ice cream really is tasty) as I’m often entertaining a dairy-intolerant acquaintance and never quite find the right non life-threatening reaction inducing sweet offering. So hosanna for that!

Whilst touring the shop, I took the opportunity to purchase some coffee beans as I’d just bought Mr Allthecheeses a coffee grinder for his birthday and wanted to get him a sample to try out his present. They weighed me out an amount of my choice and popped it in a bag or, had I been thoughtful enough, my own container if I wished. Love the idea of encouraging less waste in food production.

So a big heart-felt thanks to super-friendly Ben and Tasha from Real Foods for a really great event. And for that goodie bag – treats galore!

I was also here for the Qype event and to be honest, I didn't have much expectations as I didn't really think that this style of shop would be my kind of thing.

I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW WRONG I WAS.

Ben and Tash (aka "the caped crusaders" as I like to think of them) were supremely well prepared, uber-friendly and very, very knowledgeable. Quite simply, they are both a wonderful asset to Real Foods and I must admit that it was extremely satisfying to receive such world-class customer service. Yes, Tesco/Asda/Morrisons (delete as appropriate) I am thinking of you...

I digress.

When I first went into the store I was, quite frankly, a little bit overwhelmed by the amounts, and range, of stock they had on offer. I think I recall (although my memory is behaving like a fuzzy little man peach) that we were told they had something like 10,000 lines. Wow.

We were then met by Ben, who may actually be the happiest person I know, who then also introduced us to Tash. So, after being led upstairs into a cosy little room, we proceeded to taste some of the finest bio-dynamically farmed wine (see, I was listening =D) that these bonny shores had to offer. Alongside the wines, we were presented with some of the most interesting, willy wonka-esque chocolates which were of course, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Both Ben and Tash initiated insightful and interesting discussions about both the wines and the chocolates, without ever acting like a mainframe computer purely spitting out data at us. Very refreshing, and actually, more helpful (alas!). In fact, the conversation was flowing so much that we ended up talking for hours!

To round off a fantastic evening, we were all then presented with a goody bag and allowed to select one of the wines that we had sampled. Did I mention that all of this was FREE?

Finally, Ben and Tash walked us around the store and gave us a general outline about the type, range of products they have in store and explained what their hopes were for the future direction of the store. I was particularly impressed with their selections of coffee, muesli and Scottish ales. Their fresh fruit and vegetables also looked really tasty and well worth a punt.

In summary, and as a better man than I said, "I'll be back"

I attended a Qype event here on Thursday and I have to say it was amazing! Ben and Tash from Real Foods were super friendly and great fun. They knew so much about their products and demonstrated how important customer service is to them. The event was relaxed and informal which made it even better as it gave everyone a chance to socialise, I did still learn a lot though like red wine isn't just made from red grapes. Also that cocoa nibs contain 4000% more antioxidants than blueberries! It spurred me on to try new foods.

The wine and chocolate we tasted was so well chosen, the proscecco is definitely a favourite of mine (it's the one with the brown cloth on the top) it's well recommended. I will definitely be going back here to shop as the range of products and knowledge was top notch. If you have any dietary requirements or allergies I would recommend talking to them as they know their stuff.

Thanks Ben and Tash and fellow Qypers for a great event and you have definitely gained a fan here! The goody bag was also so nice, I have loved everything in it (coconut juice - reminded me of being in Malaysia, great when the weather's miserable)!

This is a brilliant vegetarian supermarket that i was fortunate enough to visit for great night of wine and chocolate tasting organised by real foods and qype. In the store you can get all the stuff you would expect as well as a lot of things you can't find in your big name supermarkets.
The wine and chocolate tasting event was hosted by the very friendly Ben and Tash. First Ben spoke to us about real foods and the amazing work they do with the local community. We then started on 3 courses of wine and chocolate - Ben explained each one without making it sound like a lecture which was pretty refreshing for this sort of event. I'm not really a wine drinker but each one we had was very easy to drink and the accompanying chocolates were all delicious with my favourites being the sicillian red wine and the citrus/bergamot/cinnamon chocolate. Overall it was a great relaxed night with friendly hosts and fellow qypers and i'd like to thank those involved in organising it and especially real foods for the goody bags!

I cannot believe I have never been in here before and its kind of difficult to know where to start even.. Say your cooking and the recipie asks for some herb or spice that you’ve never heard of – they have it! I went in with my husband recently and found 4 different things we searched Edinburgh for and they were there right in front of me!

They specialise in food of the healthy variety – I guess you kind of get that by the name… They also sell things like organic wines and ginger beers, real chocolate and proper teas.. You know the kind of tea bags that are 100% pure and don’t contain the dust and leftover rubbish that normal tea bags contain. They also sell a lot of substitutes for things you know gluten free, wheat free, vegan, vegetarian, its brilliant!

It really is a lovely store and makes you want to begin to start eating properly.. Every herb and spice you can imagine lines the walls, as well as things like goji berries, dried fruits, breakfast cereals and different breads. They pride themselves in being the largest retailer in Scotland to sell organic, fair trade and special diet foods, with a branch also in Tollcross…

It’s a good sized store and the staff are friendly so it’s a nice place to pop in and have a browse.. Its really like a little supermarket but with much better stock than the usual fare... even the cordials are packaged in such beautiful bottles you wouldnt want to use them - and the flavours - ginger, dandelion, elderflower... lovely.. I couldn’t resist some of the teas peppermint and popcorn flavoured – yep you read that right and some spices I had been unable to find anywhere else ..

Another cool thing they offer is if your looking for things like muesli or coffee you can take in your own container and they fill it and you just pay for what you need - BRILLIANT! no packaging! Who does that?

These guys are SO commited to keeping the environment and your body healthy. We had a qype event here and the enthusiasm from all the staff just radiates from them, they dont just work there they live the real foods ethos and are really commited. Which I find absolutely inspiring as there arent many businesses with staff this motivated and enthusiastic!

Ok Im raving a lot about my new found Real foods love here, but before I go I HAVE GOT to mention the wines... Such lovely proseco's and light reds - really easy to drink and my other love Ginger beers - they have about 8 different types - alcoholic and non alcoholic! it looks like a small speciality food store but its so much bigger inside and I dare you - Yes DARE you to go into real foods and leave with nothing... it simply will not happen!

Love it. What a great choice! Wish their was one in Morningside though.

Being a vegetarian and a big foodie (yes it is possible) I was delighted to discover Real Foods when I first moved to the area. Specialising in vegan produce and health foods, you’re bound to be inspired to cook up something different from visiting this shop. They also sell a good selection of unusual organic toiletries such a soaps and shampoos, some of which would make really nice gifts.

My only complaint about this store is their pricing- I do think they take advantage of those trying to be healthy with money to spend, when sometimes you can get the same product elsewhere for much cheaper. I think I’ll keep buying lentils in Tescos...

Wonderful quality items. Friendly staff. Vegetarian and vegan heaven. Great for vitamins and remedies and staff are very good at giving advice on products if you are uncertain.

Real Foods is an Edinburgh institution and a great resource ( also at another location near Tollcross ). Even in the days when a lot of “health foods ” were hard to track down you could get them here. These days they have maintained their low frills eco vibe. A lot of produce is available by weight from sacks, minimising waste. Many otherwise hard to find organic, vegan or raw products are sold here. Also a good range of all types of dried fruits and more unsual foreign items. There is a very good range of high cocoa content chocolate from the likes of Montezuma’s And also a section with all kinds of “natural” cosmetics, shampoos etc as well as vitamins and similar items.

I really like the vibes of this place, it’s low-key and friendly, and the music is good. It reminds me of the co-operative stores I used to patronise when I lived in America. It’s nice to shop somewhere knowing that you’re not patronising a huge corporation and causing harm to the earth just by picking up your weekly groceries.

I’ve been able to find some unusual things here as well, including alfalfa sprouts, wasabi, and various cereals and products in bulk. Also lovely carob products, which are difficult to find elsewhere.

So to feel happy about where you’re shopping and the quality of what you get, I say shop here!

Real foods is an excellent wholefood, healthfood and organic produce store. They stock probably the widest range of produce locally and the staff are friendly and helpful.

Don’t expect meat as unless you are willing to eat their pet food, this shop is strictly vegetarian and some staff will glare at you if you walk in with a Crombies butchers carrier bag!

Also a handy molecular gastronomy supplier as they stock many gelling agents, gums, lecithin etc as they are often required to main texture in specialist diets

Real foods is the most fantastic store, a little cramped when busy. It sells so many items that are suitable for people with food intolerances. There is a great range of organic items - fruit, veg, pasta etc. Dried fruits, nuts & grains in different sized packs at really reasonable prices. A great range of vitamins & minerals and fresh produce.

Eco friendly toiletries are great, although the prices are quite high here compared to supermarkets.

The staff are quite friendly but not as knowledgeable as you would have hoped. It can sometimes be quite hard to find someone to help you.

All in all this is a brilliant little shop, full of exciting things that are health to eat.

Real Foods has everthing you need for that tricky recipie with the unusual ingredient that you never get round to making because the supermarket will not have that unusual ingredient. It’s a good place to check the small ads for a flatshare.

Real foods is great for wholegrains, pulses and cereal mixes, which you can buy by weight. This kinds of stuff is cheap and has plenty of variety. Also good for eco toiletries and cosmetics. However also good for the noticeboard of eco and hippy groups and events/