Do you shop at ethnic grocery stores? (chinese, Indian, european)

[Trimac20]

Always like checking out 'ethnic' grocery stores/supermarkets, e.g. oriental including South Asian, Continental/European, because of the unusual things you can't find at the local supermarket, and when cooking Asian dishes for example.

[AnonChick]

There's a middle-eastern store a couple of towns away, and they have around 15 varieties of halvah. All hand-made, none pre-packaged. They slice the chunk you want and wrap it in waxed paper and sell it by the pound. My favorite from there so far is the Syrian halvah with pistachios.

They also have jarred ghee, and "curry spice" (there's no such thing as one spice, called curry; it's a combination of several spices and herbs) they sell in plastic ziplocks by the ounce...

You just can't get some of this stuff anywhere else.

[rsh56]

We have to or we'd be breaking the bank at places like whole foods/giant/etc and plus curries, fresh fish/meat, rice and anything else Asians eat will have to come from there.

[George Chong]

Ethnic grocery stores are less expensive in my opinion too. The produce and the seafood is fresher. I usually go to the big chain grocery stores for poultry, dairy and bread.

[elnina]

Yes, my I buy a lots of stuff at ethnic grocery store.

[Bulldogdad]

Where I live most of the major grocery stores are very ethnic oriented.

We have a chain of supermarkets called Rancho San Miquel they are about as large a med size Safeway.

You can guess what ethnicity they cater to.

However I still like to frequent the smaller family owned Latino/Asian markets. Very nostalgic and the authentic quality of the prepared foods you just can't get anywhere else.

[Fontucky]

Filipino, Mexican, African-Caribbean, Chinese/Asian

[swgirl926]

There are a couple of Oriental grocery stores I go to, and there are also a couple of Indian stores around here that I need to check out. I agree that the prices are a lot better, too:

Umeboshi plums at a non-Asian store - $20. At the Asian market - $5.
Kim chee at the supermarket (14 oz,) - $6. At the Asian market - $4.80 for 32 oz.

Even though the supermarkets are getting better about offering a wider selection of ethnic foods, I guess they figure that they can rob their customers blind in the process.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by swgirl926

There are a couple of Oriental grocery stores I go to, and there are also a couple of Indian stores around here that I need to check out. I agree that the prices are a lot better, too:

Umeboshi plums at a non-Asian store - $20. At the Asian market - $5.
Kim chee at the supermarket (14 oz,) - $6. At the Asian market - $4.80 for 32 oz.

Even though the supermarkets are getting better about offering a wider selection of ethnic foods, I guess they figure that they can rob their customers blind in the process.

How does the produce compare to supermarkets in terms of freshness?

[swgirl926]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

How does the produce compare to supermarkets in terms of freshness?

It's comparable; even a bit better, plus I can find things like lemongrass and Thai chiles, which I can never seem to find at the supermarkets.