Shopping and Eating in Lerwick

Is Lerwick a good destination for shopping and lunching? You may be wondering this if you are travelling around Shetland or if you are just visiting for a few hours on one of the many cruise ships that now make a stop in Shetland each summer.

You won’t find many high-street names in Lerwick – no Starbucks or Costa, no M&S or WHSmiths and no Top Shop or Primark. There’s not even a McDonald’s.

This is a good thing.

What it means is that instead you have one of those ever rarer places where the high street is full of independent shops and eateries and you can actually enjoy a shopping or eating out experience different to the one you can have every day at home.

The main shopping street in Lerwick, Shetland’s capital, is officially called Commercial Street, but is more commonly referred to as Da Street. In case you haven’t figured it out, this is dialect for ‘the street’.

For a taste of what to expect when you visit Da Street, read on. A note of caution first though – businesses can and do change. One of the things I like most about visiting Lerwick is checking out all the new places that have opened since my last visit. When you visit you may discover shops and eateries different to the ones I’m going to mention here. But nevertheless, this post will give you a good idea of what to expect from your time shopping and eating in Lerwick.

Da Street is narrow and mostly pedestrianised (do watch out for the occasional vehicle though) with tiny lanes running down to the waterfront and up to the more residential areas on the hill. These lanes are pretty interesting and worth checking out if you have time.

But for now, let’s have a look at the places for shopping and eating in Lerwick.

Eating in Lerwick

Peerie Cafe

This is on the waterfront down a few narrow, steep steps from Da Street. It’s housed in one of the old lodberries and has a shop (Peerie Shop – see below) at the front and the cafe at the back. Lodberries are traditional houses with their own warehouse attached usually with a pier leading directly to the sea. If you’ve ever watched Ann Cleeves’s Shetland on BBC then you’ll have seen a lodberry because the character Jimmy Perez lives in one. The Peerie Cafe lodberry doesn’t have a pier as there’s a road running between it and the sea, but I wonder if the sea once came up this far?

The cafe is small (peerie is the Shetlandic word for small) and frequently crowded so try to avoid the main lunchtime hours if possible. There is some seating downstairs and quite a bit more upstairs.

The food is simple, but amazing. I always have soup and cheesecake. They make two soups every day and always have at least one that is vegetarian. This is a place to come if you want to try traditional reestit mutton soup as they often have this as their meat variety (reestit is mutton that’s been soaked in brine and then dried – traditionally it was dried in the smoky rafters or reest of croft cottages). The cheesecakes are different each day too – white chocolate is my favourite, but they’ve only ever had this on a few occasions when I’ve been there. If soup and cheesecake doesn’t float your boat then they also have a range of sandwiches, cakes, cookies and freshly baked scones. They make and bake most things themselves and it’s always really fresh.

A claim to fame is that Great British Bake Off semi-finalist, James Morton, used to work here during his student summer holidays.

C’est la Vie

This is a new kid on the block. It’s down at the Fort end of Da Street and was opened a few months ago by a French couple who after holidaying for years in Shetland decided to make the move.

The food is a mix of French and Spanish tapas style snacks. I had a Croque-Veg Mam which is a vegetarian toasted sandwich with a fried egg on top. It was huge and really filling – a full meal rather than a snack. The filling was a mix of black olive tapenade, tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus and Emmenthal cheese. I’m going to try to make this myself at home, but I’m sure it won’t be anywhere near as good.

I loved the decor in this small cafe. The walls are covered in artefacts, pictures and maps from around the world. The owners, Didier and Valerie, told me about where they had acquired some of them – China, Japan, markets in France …

Definitely my kind of place.

Fort Cafe and Take Away

The Fort doesn’t look much from the outside, but if you want to try traditional fish and chips this is the chippy for you. There’s always a queue for the take-away part of the shop, but the fact that so many locals are willing to queue has got to be a good sign. I haven’t tried the fish, but I can recommend the chips. And they do mushy peas and curry sauce which is always a plus in my book.

There is a small eat-in section to the side of the take-away and I assume it’s the same food served in there.

Island Larder

This is a tiny shop with an even tinier eating area. Although it sells some deli-style groceries, I’m including it in places to eat as you could sit in at one of the two tables or, more likely, grab something to take out and eat.

It’s owned by the couple who run the Shetland Fudge Company (see below). When I went in the first thing I spotted, wasn’t the fudge, but the trays of scoop ice-cream in the front counter. One of them had what seemed to be grated Leicester cheese on top. Now that would be different I thought. Not really Shetlandic, but different enough to make it worth trying. It turned out to be orange chocolate though. It still sounded nice, but as I was already full from lunch I resisted.

As you would expect from an eatery connected to a fudge company this is a good place for those of you with a sweet tooth. They serve crêpes and hot chocolate as well as fudge and ice cream. However, if you fancy something a bit less sweet they also have a selection of pies and sausage rolls. Their mission is to try to use as much local produce as possible with the aim of one day having bigger premises and being a place you can go to do your food shopping as well as getting something to eat straight away.

The Dowry

This is another new kid on the block. I can’t say too much about it as I haven’t actually eaten there myself. I tried to go for lunch on my last day, but people were queuing for tables and I didn’t have much time. As with the Fort and Peerie Cafe I’m going to assume that busy = good.

As far as I could see they serve sandwiches and soups and deli-type foods. And there were some very tasty looking cakes on the counter. They have a licence so you can also have a drink (of the alcoholic sort) with your lunch. The decor is light and Scandinavian in style and looks suitable for hipsters. Even though I’m not a hipster I’m hoping this place will still be open when I’m next in Lerwick so I can try it out for myself.

Shopping in Lerwick

Peerie Shop

This narrow shop is to the front of the Peerie Cafe (see above) and there is a connecting door between the two. It’s a bit of an Aladdin’s cave with all kinds of curiosities and knick-knacks that would make great gifts. It also has a good selection of cards and wrapping paper and a small selection of books and notebooks.

The Shetland Fudge Company

This is next door to the Peerie Cafe facing the waterfront. It’s only a small shop, but has a huge selection of fudge and other sweet-treats like sticks of rock and Puffin Poo. The Puffin Poo bags are filled with small white balls of white chocolate, crisped rice, marshmallow and coconut.

Funny story: On a previous visit, I bought a bag of Puffin Poo as a gift for a friend. She didn’t read the label and assumed it was something to put in the bath. Only when her bath water turned rather strange did she read the packet and realise she’d just wasted some really good chocolate!

As well as the expected flavours of fudge, you can also find some more unexpected ones here: Gin & Lime or Chilli Vodka fudge anyone?

Love from Shetland

This shop opened last year at the other end of Da Street. Now it’s housed in new premises next door but one to C’est la Vie.

Esther who owns the shop makes all her own soap and bath products from goat’s milk she gets from her own goats. Occasionally the goats spend a day in the shop where they hold celebrity status and pose for photos, though sadly never when I’ve been there.

She explained to me that goat’s milk is the closest pH you can get to our skin and also that her soaps have recently been certified palm oil free. They’ve always been made with vegetable oils that don’t include palm oil, but to get the certification is quite a big deal because examples of the products have to be sent off to a lab and chemically tested. Of course this all takes time.

Something I didn’t know was that palm oil doesn’t have to be listed on the ingredients of a product. It can be hidden away as a generic ‘vegetable oil’. I try to avoid palm oil where possible, but it is quite hard to do. Now I realise that even when I’ve bought something that doesn’t mention palm oil, unless it has the certification, then it likely contains it anyway.

Taste of Shetland

This is a pop-up shop that opened at the Fort end of Da Street for the first time this year. It’s only open until September, but they’re hoping to do the same thing next year although it may not be in exactly the same place.

The shop showcases food and drink products from all over Shetland. Oatcakes from Skibhoul in Unst, bread from the Walls Bakery, local fish, meat and butter. The displays look so inviting and are laid out on old sideboards and tables borrowed from people in the islands. A line of old hand-knitted Fair Isle jumpers hangs from the ceiling.

If you want to try a selection of food and drink products from around Shetland, but don’t have time to visit all the locations (or wish you’d bought more when you were actually there like usually happens to me), then this is a great one-stop shop for them all.

Harry’s Department Store

I love this department store. Harry’s is spread over three floors, but if you think it’s going to be like Debenhams then think again. This is a place to buy kitchen utensils, greetings cards, gifts, toys, hardware, candles, bedding, toilet brushes, pots and pans, towels …. everything except clothes and food really.

I usually find at least one thing to buy in here – the orange wok I use in the van as my basic pan for everything came from here as did my all-in-one cafetiere/themal mug. This year they let me down though – I wanted to buy an oatcake cutter (I’ve seen pictures of them – they are a largish round cutter with a cross so you cut your oatcakes into the traditional round-edged triangles before baking them) and I really thought I’d find one in here. But as I said, they let me down. Still it’s taken me eight years of visiting to find something they don’t stock so they’ll probably have whatever it is you need.

Ninian

Ninian is an up-market gift/souvenir shop. You’ll find beautiful knits and jewellery along with unusual pots and mugs, greetings cards, notebooks and designer knick-knacks. I love browsing in here though the prices are usually out of my range. But if you want something a bit special for a gift or to remember Shetland by then this is a good place to look.

High Level Music Centre

I’m convinced I’m tone-deaf though I do like listening to music in the background and I always find myself tapping along when I hear traditional Shetland or Scottish music. If you find yourself tapping away whilst walking near the market cross on Da Street and realise the sound of music is all around you, this is the place it’s coming from.

They don’t just sell CDs and sheet music, but also a range of instruments too. Apparently they also do classes particularly for the younger generation to help keep the traditions going.

Shetland Soap Company

The Shetland Soap Company is run by local charity, COPE, and provides a workplace for people with disabilities as well as raising money. If this wasn’t a good enough reason to support them, their products are pretty good too. They make and sell a wide range of soaps, shower gels, bath products and body lotions. Many of the fragrances have a Shetland twist to their names, for example, Sheltie Sunshine (a sheltie is a Shetland sheepdog), Strawberry Smoorikens (kisses), Gale Force and North Atlantic.

I have an addiction to their Crofters shower gels and soaps. I know it’s an addiction because I feel slightly panic stricken at the thought of ever running out and so buy way too many bottles each time I’m here.

Jamieson’s Knitwear

I can’t speak personally about this shop, but I’m told by people who understand and enjoy things like knitting and wool that this is the place to go. Jamieson’s are the primary purchasers of the wool produced in Shetland and so I guess this makes them the experts. The staff are apparently not just knowledgeable, but passionate and happy to spend time discussing your knitting and advising on any problems you may be having.

Personally I like them for their window displays.

Mirrie Dancers

The name of this shop is the dialect word for the Northern Lights. It’s a really special chocolatier. The chocolates they make don’t just taste delicious, they look amazing. Last year, I visited not long after they opened and bought chocolate that was printed with a Fair Isle pattern on one side. I wasn’t able to buy it this year as they told me they’ve had problems with the printing machine and sourcing the edible inks. Hopefully they’ll be able to work it out because these really did look stunning.

Even without the Fair Isle chocolate, this shop is still worth a visit. If you want some beautifully decorated truffles as a gift you’ll find them here.

The Shetland Times Bookshop

Of course this has to be my favourite shop of all. The Shetland Times is the local weekly newspaper for Shetland and is also the name of a publishing company that produces scores of books about Shetland and by Shetland authors.

The shop is a regular bookshop with a wide range of books on all topics, including a large children’s section, as well as selling gifts, cards and maps. There is a whole section devoted to books on Shetland and I love getting in there for the first time each visit to see what’s new.

Sometimes they have visiting authors chatting and signing books. Last year when I popped in on my last day, Marsali Taylor (author of the Cass and Gavin detective novels set in Shetland) was in there with a mock-up of her desk. She writes a lot of non-fiction as well and I bought a couple of her latest books which she signed for me.

So what do you think about all the places for shopping and eating in Lerwick? The list above isn’t exhaustive by any means and as I’ve already mentioned, new places open all the time. There are a couple of empty shops on Da Street at the moment that no doubt will soon be taken over and turned into somewhere well worth a visit. Just remember that if you are visiting Shetland, try to allow at least a few hours to explore the places for shopping and eating in Lerwick.

If you’re planning to visit Lerwick which of the above would you most like to visit? If you’ve already visited which were your favourites? Share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you think I’ve missed somewhere special out then please share it with us! 

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Walking to Fethaland
Up Helly Aa – the day

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