Where to buy food and equipment

Find food from all over the world in Leeds; order deliveries of food and essential shopping; buy things for your accommodation; and get a sim card or phone if you're new to the UK. 

Shopping on campus and in the city 

Although the city centre is only a short walk from campus, the Leeds University Union building has a Co-op supermarket and range of shops where you can buy many of your essential items. There’s also an optician, hairdresser and beauty salon, plus a variety of places to eat and drink. 

Across the road from campus, on Woodhouse Lane, there are a number of other shops, banks and cafés. Other shops can be found in the city centre, Headingley and surrounding areas: 

  • Morrisons is a large supermarket and a 10-minute walk from the University on Woodhouse Lane. This store sells a wide range of food and household items. 

  • Sainsbury's have supermarkets in the city centre and Headingley and sell most items. There is a smaller store on Woodhouse Lane and a larger store on The Headrow. 

  • Tesco Express is next to Central Village accommodation, just on the edge of campus. This store sells a selection of food and is open until 11pm every day. 

  • Wilko can be found on Woodhouse Lane and sells most household items. A larger store with a bigger selection of household items is on Albion Street. 

  • Kirkgate Market is located near the city bus station and is one of the largest undercover markets in Europe. It sells groceries and other items on market stalls and many are very good value for money. 

  • Argos is a store where you choose household and electrical items from a catalogue or online. To collect items, visit the city centre store on The Headrow. 

Online shopping and home delivery from supermarkets  

You can order your shopping online from supermarkets’ websites or through supermarkets’ apps – check for available apps on Apple App store or Google Play store. To order food online, you’ll have to:

  1. Create an account before you can make an order.
    You’ll be asked for your personal details and you could also be asked to provide a UK telephone number you can be contact on in case of any problems with your delivery. 
    If you’ve recently arrived in the UK, find out how to get a UK phone number.

  2. Shop online
    All major supermarkets allow you to order food, toiletries, cleaning products and basic medicines online for home delivery. Some have homeware (like plates, cutlery, towels). Supermarkets will accept Mastercard or Visa but some supermarkets also offer the option to pay with Paypal. 
    If you don’t have a UK bank account and would like to set one up, find out what you’ll need to do to open a bank account in the UK.

  3. Arrange a delivery time 
    Before you check out and place your order, you’ll be given the option to choose at which time you’d like your shopping to be delivered at home.

Next-day delivery of food and essential supplies

There are some services which allow you to get items delivered to you the next day. These include Amazon, as well as some supermarkets who sell ‘food boxes’. These are pre-packaged boxes that contain a variety of ‘essential’ items. You can pay for these using debit/credit card. 

You can order a food box from Morrisons, ASDA and Co-op. You can also order groceries and essential supplies from Amazon. If you have an Amazon prime account, most items can be ordered to arrive the next day.  

Take-away delivery apps (fast-food)  

You can use these platforms to order from a variety of local restaurants. You can order online or using apps available from the Apple App store or Google Play store. You can pay using a variety of method including cards and, if ordering from your phone, using Apple pay or Google pay. 

Services include Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat and Hungry Panda. You can also use these apps to order from some supermarkets for express delivery, however the items on offer can be very limited. 

Specialist international, Kosher and Halal food shops 

You can buy a very wide variety of international food ingredients in Leeds. Here are just some of them: 

Kirkgate Market 
34 George Street 
Sells a wide range of British and international foods including fish, meat, fruit and vegetables 

Hang Sing Hong 
117-119 Vicar Lane 
Sells food from South East Asia 

Sing-kee Supermarket 
26-28 Woodhouse Lane and 30-36 Cross Stamford Street 
Sells food from East Asia 

Various Thai and Chinese supermarkets 
China Town area, from Vicar Lane to Templar Lane 

Mahmood Halal Butchers 
23 Alexandra Road, Hyde Park 

Gourmet Foods – Kosher Butcher and Bakery
584 Harrogate Road, Leeds LS17 8DP

Abu Bakar International Supermarket 
37 Queens Road, Hyde Park 
Sells good quality fruit and vegetables and Halal food 

Harehills area including Roundhay Road and Harehills Road 
Has many small shops that sell Halal food 

Medina Costcutter 
199-203 Chapeltown Road (Bus Number: 2, 3, 3A, 48, 36 from Vicar Lane, Leeds City Centre) 
Afro-Caribbean food 

Chapeltown Road area 
(Bus Number: 2, 3, 3A, 48, 36 from Vicar Lane, Leeds city centre) 
Many shops specialising in Afro-Caribbean food 

Sultan Halal Market 
Opposite engineering buildings below Eldon Court accommodation. 
Small grocery store providing essential groceries and halal meat 

Noshi Food Store 
Hyde Park Road, opposite Leeds Grand Mosque 
Grocery and continental store with a Halal butchers next door 

 

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