Food Stores in North NJ - Your Favorites

[GearsFC3S]

Hey folks,

I'm looking for good food stores to find ingredients in Northern NJ

List your favorites.

[chrisjur]

Garden of Eden in Hoboken is excellent.

[MisterBill2]

New York Fairway at the Fashion Center in Paramus, when they open :-).

[goodhealthgourmet]

don't mean to hijack the thread, but has anyone found a good local source for tamarind paste?

[GearsFC3S]

I was also looking for tamarind paste for a while, and looking around at asian marts I could only find tamarind pulp(with seeds) and tamarind concentrate. The concentrate was inexpensive(under $2) so I finally went ahead and bought it. Opening the jar up, found it had a paste like composition, so I'm going to try it in my recipe. Not sure if its right, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

[tommy]

it should work just fine. lasts forever as well.

[goodhealthgourmet]

gears: sounds great - where did you find it?

[GearsFC3S]

I found it at two separate asian supermarkets, one on 46, just west of where 80 meets 287(sorry I don't have a name, or even the town.) and the other is the Kam-Man Market in East Hanover on Rt. 10. Kam-Man is the nicer looking one(the other is a bit run down) but they're both good stores. You usually find it by the Thai goods.

[fourunder]

The store in Parsippany is called Top Quality.

828 Us Highway 46
Parsippany, NJ 07054
[phone]
Get directions

[goodhealthgourmet]

thanks to both of you...although i'll probably hit kalustyan's in the city. i'm long overdue for a stop there.

[sunflower19]

Hi,

I am new to the forum and I came across this post while looking for some Thai supermarkets.I couldnt resist replying to this even though I see its been posted in March...You can get the best tamarind paste at any Indian grocery store..you got to believe this coming from a South Indian right?:) We use it EVERYDAY as part of our cooking...just look for Tamicon..its very very thick and just 1 teaspoon shd go a longggggggggggg way!:)..

[goodhealthgourmet]

another vote for:
WFM in edgewater
jerry's in englewood
mitsuwa in edgewater
fairway in fort lee

i also love the new TJ's in edgewater

[zhelder]

Maywood Market rocks. Nice produce, great deli, prepared foods, and cheeses, and lots of international foods from different places. Plus, the prices on most items are circa 1990 (although they have raised prices a bit over the past several months, they're still the cheapest place around)! I've been to Zeytinia in Oakland a few times too and I like them as well, although they are more expensive than Maywood Market. Market Basket in Franklin Lakes has some nice stuff, but they are VERY expensive and it's a pretty highbrow crowd that rolls there. I agree that Corrado's is also great and very reasonably priced, but the place is always a madhouse and it's a pretty tough crowd that rolls there. Trader Joe's is awesome. Their frozen foods can't be beat, and as I recently discovered, their prices on milk and eggs are unbeatable! (The milk is even cheaper than at Food Basics, my favorite no frills dirt cheap supermarket.) My two favorites are Trader Joe's and Maywood Marketplace. I usually visit one place one week, and the other the next! Check them out!

[fuma]

I am about to reveal a great secret. It is called "Euro Market" at 414 Bergen Blvd. in Palisades Park. It is a small Italian deli/grocery run by a brother and sister from Southern Italy. They are a wholesale distributor that has been doing retail for only a year. Their prices are half of what you will pay anywhere else (especially Jerry's) and their products are fresh, fresh, fresh! You will feel like you are in a small Italian town shopping for fresh bread, fresh mozzarella, fresh seafood salad and olives. Every size pasta you can imagine, fresh nuts. Everyone is speaking Italian, and no one is pushing or shoving or in a hurry. Behave yourself and go soon!

[agnesrob]

I like Trader Joes in Westwood and King's in Hillsdale.

[rruben1]

Corrado's Market on the Clifton/Paterson line, Main Street. Great produce, cheeses, pastas, about eight different kinds of pita and laffa, overall a terrific place to shop.

[sixelagogo]

Depends what kind of ingredients you're looking for. Some other options:

Mitsua: Japanese in Edgewater
Farmers Market in Hackensack : Lot's of Peruvian/Latin ingredients
Iranian market in Hackensack a block down from Farmers Market
Bergenfield is little Manilla and any Phillipino good you'd want is here

Good topic, however, as I have a hard time finding SE asian ingredients (not pinoy) for thai and Vietnamese food and have had a hard time finding them. Anyone know?

[tommy]

H-mart (www.hmart.com) has an awful lot of SE Asian stuff.

[sixelagogo]

Tommy

I haven't been to the HM mart in englewood for a couple of years now, as i found it lacking in anything but Korean/Japanese foodstuffs...maybe it's changed and i'd be so happy if it has...my pursuit of kaffir lime leaves in NJ, notwithstanding, I find that most korean markets only dabble in SE asian foodstuffs..
I used to go to a Thai grocery store in Hackensack, but the health inspectors finally got to them and I've found no replacement.

[tommy]

yeah, i was sad to see that market in hackensack go.

most of my experience with HMart is at the Little Ferry/Hackensack location, although they're probably all pretty much the same.

i'm pretty sure you'll find the canned thai currys at HMart. and other ingredients like lemongrass and galagal. i could be wrong though.

there is a vietnamese market in Bloomfield next to the Vietnamese place Bing Duong. the address is 61 1/2 bellville ave, bloomfield. also, on route 7 (washington ave) in belleville there used to live a thai grocer. the owners then went on to open Brookside thai in Bloomfield. So you could probably call the restaurant to find out of the grocery is still open. There are a couple of great indian grocers down on that strip of 7 as well.

as far as kaffir goes, i bought a plant mail order a few years ago and it has been giving me leaves since then. well worth it, and i never have to worry about not having kaffir leaves, which is a terrible worry to have as you know.

[sixelagogo]

Great tips ! (esp. on the Vietnamese/Thai markets in Bloomfield/Belleville)...Saves me a long trip to NYC in the future!

[vicious knishes]

Just crashing in on your conversation here... Just moved to Jersey City and am also having problems finding thai ingredients. Theres 2 vietnamese grocers on newark ave by nha trang restaurant where i can find lemongrass, galangal... etc. Some Indian cash and carry places further down the road are good for fresh turmeric and good prices on more common spices. Aside from that just about everything (except lime leaves, which I can't find anywhere) can be found at 555 asian market on route 1/9. Lemme know if you find the leaves anywhere, thanks!

[dock]

Great topic. There is still a small "Thai" store across the street form Wondee's or it might be a block south. It's not very good but I have seen Kaffir leaves there before. The asian market on Kinderkamack rd in River Edge will usually order anything that they do not carry in stock. I needed yuzu and they ordered it for me. Easier for me than going to Mitsua. And across the street and just south on KKM Road is Arak. Small and friendly, middle eastern supplies. Sumac, zataar, olives etc.

[vicious knishes]

Where is Wondee's? I'm new to NJ, thanks.

[fourunder]

Wondee's is on Main Street, Hackensack

http://www.wondeenj.com/

[sixelagogo]

just a heads up: the health department closed the thai grocery...pity (or is it?)..Iranian market has expanded into the space.

[thaichile]

Fairway Market - Ft. Lee
Whole Foods - Edgewater
Jerry's Gourmet - Englewood

Additionally, you can find ethnic ingredients by going to the neighborhood where that ethnic group has congregated. The prices are much cheaper than when you purchase the product in more of a gourmet store typically. For example, I needed aji amarillo paste and saw it on line for $11.99. I purchased it in a local neighborhood for $1.99. Quite a savings and fun to browse in the store once you are there.

[JoeyCannoli]

I second Jerry's Gourmet in Englewood. Lots of Italian imported cheeses,meats, pastas, wines, cookies, candy, etc.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i think they also have decent prices on the large containers of fage...