Asian Markets

[blackcat]

Hi all,

I'm going to be driving up to Montreal(I live in Essex, VT) in a couple of weeks and I'd like to stock up on some asian ingrediants(pantry items, dumpling wrappers, etc...) Can anyone give me a couple of favorite places? Also a Dim Sum lunch reccomendation would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks

blackcat

[carswell]

The top dim sum places are all in Chinatown: Kam Fung (St-Urbain and René-Lévesque), Furama (east side of Clark just south of René-Lévesque; 2nd floor), Ruby Rouge (west side of Clark, half a block south of La Gauchetière; 2nd floor) and Tong Por (La Gauchètire and St-Dominique, one block west of St-Laurent; 2nd floor). There's a cluster of good if chaotic food stores on both sides of St-Laurent north and south of La Gauchtière. If you're willing to trek north of the mountain, the mother store of the Kim Phat chain (3588 Goyer, a half block west of Plaza Côte-des-Neiges; 514 737-2383) is probably the closest Montreal has to a pan-Asian grocery store. See also the thread Montreal Area Ethinic Markets.

[gus_tatory]

what carswell said.

but i also have to add:

--there's a nice pan-Asian store at the Cote-vertu metro called Epicerie Pacifique i think (not the most exciting neighbourhood, but...), where they have fish and quite a few prepared goods i hadn't seen elsewhere.

the best Korean-Japanese groceries are at:

--sherbrooke and victoria, Miyamoto

--in La Cite (name?), and

--sherbrooke and decarie (name?)

if you don't have to travel far in a hot car, or if you have a cooler, there's a new tofu "factory" on parc near laurier, where they make fresh tofu & tofu milk daily.

have fun!

[blackcat]

Thanks for the heads up on everything. I had planned on bringing a cooler. Just in case....:-) For a while I was on this Mexican cooking kick but now its all asian. So I need to stock up...I'm looking forward to to our day trip. We'll probably stop first to get some bagels for breakfast and continue on from there. Markets...Dim Sum...markets...shopping....etc.....

blackcat

[skunkbunny]

Supermarché Arkavan (sp?) which is an Iranian grocery store is located at 6170 Sherbrooke West. Although you are loooking for asian stuff: if you go to Arkavan you can stock up on sour cherry juice (I like Turtamek brand in the glass bottle but it's a matter of taste), sour cherry jam which is very yummy and inexpensive (and lots of other yummy jams) as well as salted lemon flavoured pistachios and dried fruits. You can taste most of the dried stuff before you buy as it is bulk.

Across the street from Arkavan is a Korean grocery. It is not super extensive but they have a good selection of homemade kim-chi: daikon, cabbage as well as octopus and occasionally chili leaf kim chi which is exceptional. They also have a good selection bottled sauces and marinades, pre-cut frozen meat, some standard Korean veg (burdock root sometimes, Cabbages, mung sprouts, giant radish..), as well as 1 lb bags of crushed dried chilies (just what you need)

Outside of Chinatown I like to go to the three asian supermarkets located south on St Denis at the intersection of Jean Talon .. a bit more South East Asian (Thai, Viet etc..) than Chinese but good selection (Since Kim Phat got kicked out of their location in Chinatown I reckon there is a serious need for a good, large chinese grocery in the Quartier Chinois).

And of course there are the looooovely Marché Victoria (good veg selection this time of year) and Marché Jolee for all or most of your south asian needs.. even if the rotis are leathery and old.

Now you make me huuuuuungry... portabello burgers for dinner.

[rubyred]

if you re feeling adventurous, i d recommend smuggling mangosteens back to the states (available in chinatown)

[carswell]

Kim Phat got kicked out of their location in Chinatown

What's the story on this, skunkbunny? Do you know why?

[skunkbunny]

Nothing but total assumption on my part but anyway:

The story from the man that owned the pottery and kitchen supply store downstairs was that the owner of the building was jacking up the rents to get rid of the tennants and install his own people. I am assuming that the same thing happened to Kim Phat. Both stores have taken a serious nose dive quality wise since the new owners took over, the downstairs store has more useless "gugus pour les touristes" and the upstairs has never had fewer customers and sadder looking veg.

I am glad to know that there is another KP location in CDN.

[carswell]

I am glad to know that there is another KP location in CDN.

Thanks for the skinny, SB. There's also a KPh in Brossard and maybe a third in Outer Rosemont (Marché Kim Phat, though I've never been there). See Kim Phat on Canada411.

[wattacetti]

Thanks for the skinny, SB. There's also a KPh in Brossard and maybe a third in Outer Rosemont (Marché Kim Phat, though I've never been there).

There are two in Brossard (maybe more); you want the one that's further west along Taschereau, and not the one behind the Panama bus station. All of them are slightly different in that their stock caters more to their respective populations.

[foldack]

There is a wonderful store in Chinatown on St. Laurent, just a couple of doors up from La Gauchetiere on the West side. It's the biggest store around, though it seems small because of the crowds. The funny thing is that although it's been my haunt for many years, I can never think of the name. I just walk in and shop. Odd that. Anyway, they have the freshest assortment of veg anywhere, as well as fantastic cuts of meat, rivalling any of the upmarket boucheries in town for quality.

They are directly across the street from the once glorious Kim Phat.

Bob