Centra Quick Stop

As mentioned before there’s loads of choice in the Botanic area, especially for lunch! But sometimes you don’t have time to sit down and enjoy a coffee and a sandwich, this is where the Centra comes in handy.
If you’re looking for something fresh on the go they have a deli counter at the back of the shop. I recommend the southern fried chicken baguette. Although be aware there’s loads of extra wee charges for things like cheese and other premium salad.
If you don’t even want to queue for the deli (you must really be in a rush) then they have a made up sandwiches near the door as well as some hot sausage rolls. There’s also a good fruit and veg section for those of you on a health kick.
One thing I’d say is that queues can be long at peak times but they have plenty of tills and the staff are masters at dealing with hungry students and office workers so you shouldn’t be hanging about too long.

Great spot for sandwich at lunch. Big queues but plenty of friendly staff to beat the mad rush. Good variety of hot and cold food at a reasonable price.
I generally go for a baguette with ham cheese and the vital ingredient of beet root. Give it a go!

Here, what a shop! It’s name suggests that yes it may not contain all the items you have ever wanted from a store but it brings shopping back to basics. The HUGE selection of sweets has me there for days pondering over which calorie coated sugar lump I’ll choose next. As well as this for those healthy eaters out there, Centra’s fresh selection of fruit and veg is not only mouth watering but eye popping too. The fruit has been efficiently packed into ready to go containers so its the perfect choice for lunch time snacks. The deli counter at the back of the shop has a great array of filling for sandwiches. To prove it’s mastery of the humble sandwich the deli counter has actually won numerous awards. However, be aware, if you head down at lunch time expect a queue and a big one at that!

It’s kind of weird to get all over-​enthusiastic about a small supermarket, but when I tell you it’s the Centra on Botanic Avenue, those of you who have been will be nodding in agreement while you’re reading this.
This small, but perfectly stocked shop has won awards. They have a salad and food counter to die for and efficient, helpful staff — always (there’s no students chewing gum and staring into space in this retail environment!).
Fresh produce galore, meat and all the ranges of ethnic ingredients you could want, whether you’re calling in first thing in the morning for papers and lunch or stumbling in at the end of the working day, trying to decide what to make for dinner.
You should be warned though, there are no calorie police on duty at the food counter. You may have perfectly good intentions about ordering a chicken sandwich, brown bread, salad and find yourself outside a few minutes later with breaded chicken breast in a soft white roll with butter AND mayo. This is just a ‘for instance’, though — it’s not like it’s ever happened to me!

The main reason that I am writing this review is not to review the store itself. To give a brief summary of that there is the usual range of food stuffs you would expect in a local convenience store at fairly inflated prices. Centra don’t really seem to do very good special offers, so this is better avoided.
No, what deserves attention is the deli counter here. This place kept me well fed at the vast majority of lunchtimes for my three years at queens. The shop is always very busy and this is the main reason. They do a wide range of the usual type of hot food stuffs, but its in sandwiches that they excel. They serve baps, sandwiches, rolls, baguettes, wraps and salad boxes, with the baguettes being prepared fresh on site.
There is a wide range of fillings that can be customised to whatever you like with all the garnishes and sauces you could ever want. Most importantly everything is reasonably priced, with an expensive sandwich coming in around £3.50 which is a wonderfully keen price. Portions are always generous and the service is fast.
Full marks to the store for making the shop relevant and useful via the deli section. God I want a baguette with chicken, bacon, cheese and BBQ sauce so bad right now

Just like Brian C, I’m here to review not the ice lollies or newspaper stand of this chain grocery store, but the deli. Oh dear god, the deli. Alway fully stocked, with plenty of staff so that even the lunchtime queue moves along quickly enough (if not, I’ve found that a gentle prod with your baguette to the guy in front often helps. Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write).
Unlike loads of other sandwich counters (Spar on Bradbury Place, for example), the food is always as fresh as possible and topped up reguarly — no scraping the end of some crusted and unwrapped tuna out of the tub here. And the best thing — they really pile the toppings onto your sandwich. I usually get the chicken sweetcorn mix baguette with tomato, red onion and cheese — it does me for two meals (unless I’m dying) and is only a teeny £2.70. Love it.

This is one of many Centra’s around Belfast, which usually means I wouldn’t review, but due to this ones location in one of Belfast’s largest student communities I think it needs a Unilocalin. The staff here are all or predominantly students which gives the place a bit more a fresher feel compared to other corner shops. It does all the usual corner shop fare, but also has a hot food counter. Here, there are regular specials and you can get a pretty vast meal for around £3. It won’t be anything close to the nice3st food you’ve ever tasted but for that price you can’t complain.

My first experience of this place was when I was about 14 or 15 and my summer job was delivering milk and cheese to shops and hotels all aroudn Belfast and this was one of the places I dreaded going to because it meant I had a lot of lifting ahead of me. The place is so busy and popular that I always had a lot of work to do.
Now that I am a grown up, sort of, you can see why it is so busy due to its handy location as well as helpful staff. The deli is excellent here with the hot food definitely getting an honourable mention. The sandwiches here are nice and big, but are just a wee bit pricey. The shop itself and is big enough to do a decent size shop and has plenty of stuff if you need to pick up a few things at short notice and can’t get to a larger shop.

I know that this is a Centra. I’m not going to praise the offers or the ice lolly selection or the position of the newspaper stand. What I want to give 5 stars to is the serveover sandwich and hot food that I have visited way too many times for my own good. The selection is bigger than quite a lot of sandwich shops, the hot food is all really nice (not the rubbery «well it tastes like food» rubbish you get in some shops) and the staff are so pleasent. It says something about a shop where they need more staff in the sandwich-​making area than they do on the checkouts. I cannot praise this place enough. If you want a sandwich made to a high standard but not at the over-​priced end you pay in ‘professional’ sandwich shops, go here. Really really good.