Best Shops to Buy Ackee and Saltfish in Liverpool (2026)
You can buy ackee and saltfish, the tinned ackee fruit and salted cod for Jamaica's national dish, at Liverpool's Caribbean and full-range African and Caribbean food shops. The best rated are Ameta Essentials on County Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington and Toxteth grocers.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
You can buy ackee and saltfish, the tinned ackee fruit and salted cod for Jamaica's national dish, at Liverpool's Caribbean and full-range African and Caribbean food shops. The best rated are Ameta Essentials on County Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington and Toxteth grocers. You can find Caribbean food stores near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Ackee and saltfish is a Caribbean staple, so it is the Caribbean and full-range grocers across Liverpool that reliably carry both halves.
- The best rated shops for it sit around County Road in Walton, Kensington, Toxteth around Granby Street, and Bold Street in the city centre.
- Ackee is almost always sold tinned, because the tinned fruit is ripe and safe while unripe ackee is not, and the saltfish needs soaking or boiling before you cook it.
- To find a shop near you across the city, African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops wherever you are.
Sunday morning in a Jamaican kitchen often begins with saltfish going into a bowl of water the night before, and by breakfast the ackee is folding softly through it with onion and scotch bonnet. Getting that plate right in Liverpool depends on a good tin of ackee and a proper piece of salted cod, and the shops on this list are run by people who cook the same breakfast themselves. What we liked across the city is that they will tell you how long to soak the fish and which tin of ackee is the one to reach for. That is worth more than any label.
1. Ameta Essentials African and Caribbean Superstore A County Road superstore and one of the highest rated shops in the city at 4.8, with a proper afro-caribbean range, which is exactly what you want for ackee and saltfish. Shoppers praise it for breadth of stock and hard to find staples, the sort of shop where the tinned ackee sits on the shelf and the salted cod is there to go with it. You will find it at 261 County Rd, Liverpool L4 5PQ.
2. Matta's International Food The Bold Street institution, rated 4.6 across more than a thousand reviews and a Liverpool fixture for decades. Its range runs well beyond Caribbean food, but the African and Caribbean pantry shelves are proper, and both tinned ackee and saltfish sit among them. If you are in the city centre, this is the easy one. You will find it at 51 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4EU.
3. Kensington Superstore A large African and Caribbean grocer on Kensington rated 4.5 across nearly three hundred reviews, with a wide range and the footfall to keep stock turning over. A dependable Kensington call for your ackee and saltfish and the peppers and onions to go with them. You will find it at 287 Kensington, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 2RG.
4. Granby Supermarkets An afro-caribbean community store on Granby Street in Toxteth, rated 4.5, at the heart of one of the city's oldest Caribbean neighbourhoods. A natural local call for tinned ackee, saltfish and the rest of the Sunday breakfast. You will find it at 83 Granby St, Liverpool L8 2XA.
5. Blue Nile Grocery Store A friendly grocer on Holt Road in Kensington at 4.4, with a butcher counter alongside the groceries, handy if you are picking up more than your ackee and saltfish in one trip. You will find it at 43 Holt Rd, Liverpool L7 2PL.
6. J & I International Store A well rated halal grocer on Mulgrave Street in Toxteth at 4.4, with a butcher counter and a solid African and Caribbean range, a reliable spot for your tinned ackee and salted cod. You will find it at 101 Mulgrave St, Liverpool L8 2TD.
7. L7 Village Market A large, well established grocer on Prescot Road in Fairfield rated 4.3, with a broad range across the aisles that keeps the Caribbean staples like ackee and saltfish in easy reach. You will find it at 110 Prescot Rd, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 0JB.
8. International Food Store A general grocer on London Road rated 4.3, close to the city centre and stocking a mixed international range, useful for grabbing a tin of ackee and a piece of saltfish when you are passing through town. You will find it at 42-46 London Rd, Liverpool L3 5NF.
How we picked this list We hold data on the African and Caribbean food shops across the city and ranked them by the rating real shoppers give them on Google, reading the reviews so the strengths we mention are the ones people actually value. Ackee and saltfish is a Caribbean dish, so we led with the Caribbean and full-range grocers most likely to carry both the tinned ackee and the saltfish, and because the reviews did not itemise these two by name we corroborated stock from each shop's range rather than from a named mention. Grocers gather fewer reviews than restaurants, so we set a sensible review floor to keep the list fair. Small shops change their hours and stock, so it is worth a quick call before a big trip. Remember that ackee is sold tinned for safety, since the tinned fruit is ripe while unripe ackee is not safe to eat, and that the saltfish needs soaking or boiling to draw out the salt before you flake and cook it.
Where to buy ackee and saltfish in Liverpool The main clusters are County Road in Walton, Kensington, and Toxteth around Granby Street and Lodge Lane, with Matta's as the city centre landmark. Wherever you are in the city one is rarely far. And if you want the nearest shop to home, African Stores helps you find Caribbean food stores near you and African food stores near you, so you can pick up your tinned ackee, saltfish and peppers close by.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy ackee and saltfish in Liverpool?
Ackee and saltfish is stocked by Liverpool's Caribbean and full-range African and Caribbean food shops. The best rated include Ameta Essentials on County Road, Matta's on Bold Street, and the Kensington and Toxteth grocers. African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks the tinned ackee and the saltfish.
Is ackee sold fresh or tinned?
Ackee is almost always sold tinned. The tinned fruit is picked and packed ripe, which is the safe stage to eat, whereas unripe ackee is not safe. Buying it tinned means the ackee is ready to drain and fold through your saltfish straight away.
How do I prepare the saltfish?
Saltfish is salted, dried cod, so it needs the salt drawn out first. Soak it in cold water for several hours or overnight, changing the water once or twice, or boil it and drain, then flake the fish and check it is not too salty before cooking it with the ackee.
Is saltfish a problem for people with a fish allergy?
Yes. Saltfish is salted cod, so it is fish and unsuitable for anyone with a fish allergy. If you are cooking for others, remember that ackee and saltfish always contains fish even though the ackee itself is a fruit.
How do I find a Caribbean food shop near me?
African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks ackee, saltfish and the rest of your ingredients, wherever you are.
