International Food Bazaar

[DRColby]

Was headed to the Southcenter Costco today when I passed a sign"International Food Bazaar" at 1226 Andover Park East. Couldn't resist tempation and stopped. Man! What a warehouse full of spices and specialities for Middle East and India. The place is huge and full of things I doubt you will find elsewhere unless you are in India or the Middle East. Halal meats, all kinds of hard to find grains, row up on row of curries.... It is about twice as big as PFI and I believe it is wholesale as well as retail. Prices look great. Should be well-worth a trip if your into this kind of cooking.

dave

[girl chow]

Dave, thanks for the post! This is a great resource for us fellow southenders. I plan on driving by tonight and check it out.

Have you ever been to the Middle Eastern market off of Pacific Highway north of the airport? It's the place with the "halal here" sign out front.. the market is tucked away behind some businesses just a few blocks southwest of Taqueria El Rinconsito. It's located sort of kitty corner to the pancake house at that weird 4-way stop intersection (sorry for the shoddy directions, I don't know the street names). I can't recall the name of the market (doh), but I've always been curious about that place.

Also, this seems like a good time to bring up another one of my favorite ethnic grocery stores in the Southend.

There are these two stores down here in Kent called Valley Harvest Ethnic Markets. There's one on the Kent/Federal Way West Hill and one on the Kent East Hill. They sell great produce for great prices...fresh lemongrass at 30 cents a stalk, limes at 5 for $1, sweet Thai basil for 69-99 cents a bag, great tomatoes at 99 cents a pound and all apples are 69 cents a pound (even the Fujis they just got in.. which look better than the Fujis I saw at QFC for $1.69 a pound).

But what's really cool is the Ukrainian/Polish (?) Eastern European deli at Valley Harvest. In the deli, they sell ALL kinds of cool stuff... from pickled veggies to some really really unusual imported deli meats and cheeses. They have shelves and shelves of cool stuff.

I like the East Hill store better than the West Hill store because the deli has more items and the layout is better... and the East Hill store has a fantastic olive bar Also, surrounding the East Hill Valley Harvest, there are about a half dozen Indian stores (clothing and food).. so it's good for going and looking around .. warning, though, this is a seedy neighborhood, so consider yourself warned (and lock your car).

Locations, locations, locations:

Valley Harvest (the one I like) on the East Kent Hill: 23636 104th S.E., Kent; 253-856-8462

Valley Harvest on the Kent/Federal Way West Hill: 28855 Military Road South, Federal Way ; 253-839-4570.

[tighe]

Have you ever been to the Middle Eastern market off of Pacific Highway north of the airport? It's the place with the "halal here" sign out front.. the market is tucked away behind some businesses just a few blocks southwest of Taqueria El Rinconsito. It's located sort of kitty corner to the pancake house at that weird 4-way stop intersection (sorry for the shoddy directions, I don't know the street names). I can't recall the name of the market (doh), but I've always been curious about that place.

If you're talking about the relatively large place thats adjacent to the halal restaurant, I wouldn't bother. Not that good of a selection and the welcome for us non-believers is usually cool, at best. Scrat and I have joked about waltzing into the restaurant at some point and seeing how much of a stir it causes.

There are actually 3 or 4 halal markets in that immediate area. There's one across the street to the west of the larger one, in what looks like a little white house, which scrat and I like. Friendly people, some really good flat bread and often a great price on French feta.

This place in South Center sounds fantastic. I'm may try to get there this weekend.

Edit: punctuation is your friend!

Edited May 22, 2003 by tighe (log)

[DRColby]

Have you ever been to the Middle Eastern market off of Pacific Highway north of the airport? It's the place with the "halal here" sign out front.. the market is tucked away behind some businesses just a few blocks southwest of Taqueria El Rinconsito. It's located sort of kitty corner to the pancake house at that weird 4-way stop intersection (sorry for the shoddy directions, I don't know the street names). I can't recall the name of the market (doh), but I've always been curious about that place.

Haven't visited the markets near the airport, have stopped at Valley Harvest on East Hill (still think of Pay 'n Save when I go in) and another huge Russian market in Renton back of the Fred Meyer.

Wouldn't it be neat to set aside a day some weekend and share all the hidden "finds" as a group? Maybe share some recipes and do some sampling along the way? last fall my wife and I took an evening cooking class at Seattle Central from a women who authored a book listing many of the Sound speciality markets. It's out-dated now but still a pretty good resource.

dave

[girl chow]

If you're talking about the relatively large place thats adjacent to the halal restaurant, I wouldn't bother.  Not that good of a selection and the welcome for us non-believers is usually cool, at best.    Scrat and I have joked about waltzing into the restaurant at some point and seeing how much of a stir it causes.

There are actually 3 or 4 halal markets in that immediate area.  There's one across the street to the west of the larger one, in what looks like a little white house, which scrat and I like.  Friendly people, some really good flat bread and often a great price on French feta.

This place in South Center sounds fantastic.  I'm may try to get there this weekend.

Edit: punctuation is your friend!

Shoot, I had high hopes that place would be decent. Although I've never shopped much in that neighborhood, that corner of that street (Military Road?) has some interesting looking places.

I didn't make it to the place in Southcenter last night, but I'm hoping today is the day.

As for gathering and sharing our favorite shopping finds in the southend, I'm all for it!

[tighe]

Scrat and I checked out the International Food Bazaar yesterday. They have an amazing selection of Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern products, both raw ingredients and pre-made sauces, snacks, etc. They also have some interesting European specialty items and are planning on adding more. Prices seem very reasonable, particularly on spices.

[scrat68]

P.S. The woman who owns the International Bazaar and works there was really really nice. She was able to answer any question we had and was eager to show us new things that she liked.

And, as a bonus on a hot day, she treated us to two mango drinks as we left!