Best Shops to Buy Egusi in Liverpool (2026)
Where to buy egusi in Liverpool, the ground melon seed for egusi soup, from the best rated African and West African food shops in the city.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
You can buy egusi, the ground melon seed used for egusi soup, at most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated are Harvestfield Store and Temmy African Store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington shops. You can find African food stores near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Egusi is a pantry staple in Liverpool's Nigerian and West African food shops, so it is easy to find once you know where to look.
- The best rated shops for it sit around County Road in Walton, Breck Road in Everton and Anfield, Kensington, and Bold Street in the city centre.
- You can buy it whole or ready ground, and the shops that grind their own tend to be freshest.
- Ask whether a shop grinds its own egusi if you want it freshly milled.
- To find a shop near you across the city, African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops wherever you are.
A pot of egusi soup carries a whole Sunday in it, the melon seed toasting in the pot, the smell building on the hob, the swallow waiting on the side. For many Nigerian and West African families in Liverpool, tracking down properly ground egusi is one of the first tasks of settling in, and finding a shop that grinds it fresh is a small triumph.
Liverpool makes that easier than you might expect. The city's African and West African grocers nearly all carry egusi, whole or ground, and several grind their own, so a good pot of soup is rarely far away.
What we liked going through the city's shops is how many are run by people who cook the same food themselves and will tell you which seed is best this week. That is worth more than any label, and it is where this list begins.
1. Harvestfield Store A County Road favourite and one of the highest rated African shops in the city at 4.8, run with a clear Nigerian and West African focus, which is exactly what you want for egusi. Shoppers praise it for fresh stock and hard to find staples, the sort of shop where the melon seed is good and the soup ingredients to go with it are all on the same shelf. You will find it at 165-169 County Rd, Liverpool L4 5PB.
2. Minara Farm A busy meat and fish market on Prescot Road in Old Swan with a strong 4.7, handy if you are buying the goat, tripe or fish for the pot at the same time as your egusi. Reviewers rate it for freshness and value, so it is a natural one stop for the whole soup. You will find it at 4-10 Stanley Building, Prescot Rd, Old Swan, Liverpool L13 3AS.
3. Temmy African Store A well loved Nigerian shop on Breck Road at 4.7, the kind of neighbourhood grocer where regulars come for their egusi, ogbono and dried fish. Shoppers mention friendly service and a good, reliable range of Nigerian staples. You will find it at 292 Breck Rd, Liverpool L5 6QB.
4. Mj Unique Ventures A West African shop just along Breck Road in Anfield, rated 4.7, small but well stocked and rated highly by the people who use it. A good local call for egusi and the greens and seasonings that go with it. You will find it at 82 Breck Rd, Anfield, Liverpool L4 2RD.
5. Matta's International Food The Liverpool institution, on Bold Street for around forty years and rated 4.6 across more than a thousand reviews. Its range runs well beyond African food, but the African and Caribbean pantry shelves are proper, and egusi sits 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.
6. Kensington Superstore A large, busy store on Kensington rated 4.5 across nearly three hundred reviews, with a wide African and Caribbean grocery range and the footfall to keep stock turning over. A dependable Kensington choice for egusi and the rest of the soup. You will find it at 287 Kensington, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 2RG.
7. Blue Nile Grocery Store A friendly grocer on Holt Road in Kensington at 4.4, with a butcher counter alongside the groceries, so you can pick up your meat and your egusi in one trip. You will find it at 43 Holt Rd, Liverpool L7 2PL.
8. 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, useful if you want your soup meat halal. You will find it at 101 Mulgrave St, Liverpool L8 2TD.
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. For egusi we leaned toward the Nigerian and West African shops, where the seed sells fast and tends to be freshest, and we included the well rated general African and Caribbean grocers that stock it too. One shop worth a mention outside the top eight is African Caribbean Food store on Townsend Lane in Anfield, whose shoppers name egusi and other Nigerian staples directly in their reviews. 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, and if you want ready ground egusi ask whether they grind their own.
Where to buy egusi in Liverpool The main clusters are County Road in Walton, Breck Road across Everton and Anfield, Kensington and Toxteth around Lodge Lane and Granby Street, 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 African food stores near you, so you can pick up your egusi, dried fish and greens close by.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy egusi in Liverpool?
Egusi is stocked by most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated include Harvestfield Store and Temmy African Store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street, and the Kensington shops. African Stores lists African food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks egusi.
What is egusi?
Egusi is the seed of a melon in the gourd family, dried and usually ground to a coarse meal. It is used to make egusi soup, a thick West African soup where the ground seed cooks down into a rich, nutty base with greens, meat and fish.
Should I buy egusi whole or ground?
Both are sold. Ground egusi is ready to cook and convenient, while whole seed keeps longer and can be ground when you need it. Shops that grind their own tend to have the freshest ground egusi, so it is worth asking.
Is egusi safe for people with nut allergies?
Egusi is a melon seed, not a tree nut or peanut, but African shops often store and grind seeds and nuts close together, so cross contact is possible. If you have a serious allergy, ask the shop how it is stored and ground.
How do I find an African food shop near me?
African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks egusi and the rest of your soup ingredients, wherever you are.
