9th Ave. International Foods, 543 9th Avenue, NYC – African, Greek, Middle Eastern – large selection of spices and legumes
Spice Corner – corner of Lexington and E. 29th Street. Indian products – spices, dried fruits and hair/beauty products. Super friendly staff who always offer you a free peda or ladoo from their fresh Mithai (sweets). They are smart businessman because I always end up buying more than I intended. Their carrot halva is not to be missed.
Eastern – located at the corner of Coney Island Avenue and Avenue I, in the heart of Brooklyn’s Pakistani/Bangladeshi neighborhood, this is a large comprehensive market with a large selection of spices and anything you need to cook an Indian meal. Due to the proximity of this neighborhood to Boro Park and the largely Orthodox Jewish community (many of whom are from Eastern Europe), you will also find some eastern European products as well.
Kalustyans is an international food market, with items from practically every country. Authentic himalayan rock salt slabs, sri lankan red rice, cinnamon – do you want Indian, Sri Lankan or Chinese? You can get them all here. A small selection of fresh produce is also available. Although this place is located in Curry Hill (Manhattan’s little Indian enclave on E. 28th Street), you can also mail order supplies from their website.
Asia Market Inc, 71 1/2 Mulberry Street, NYC – Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian, Vietnamese (fresh banana blossoms). This is where I get my favorite Malaysian nutmeg candies and frozen bai toey leaves (pandan).
Bangkok Center Grocery, 104 Mosco Street, NYC – Thai and other Southeast Asian Products- (fresh galangal, lime leaves, Thai basil). This is a very small hole in the wall store – very easy to miss, but full of authentic products with a very friendly staff, who are very helpful and will answer any questions you have about Thai cuisine.
Lanka Grocery, 353 Victoria Blvd., Staten Island – Sri Lankan, Indian and Mexican products.
Buon Italia, 75 9th Avenue (inside Chelsea Market) – European products, mostly Italian and French
Deluxe Food Market, 79 Elizabeth Street – Chinatown produce, meat, fish (game birds, Asian products, Chinese tea)
Family Fruit Farm, 1823 Church Avenue, Brooklyn – Caribbean produce and product (Breadfruit, calaloo, sorrel, Trini Green Seasoning, Kuchela, Shadoe Beny) Outside, Haitian women sell Haitian products – djon djon mushrooms, etc.
Oriental Pastry and Grocery, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn – Middle Eastern (Middle Eastern cheese, grains, legumes, nuts, dried fruits, dates). Although Sahadi’s has a larger selection, Orientail is cheaper. I usually go to Oriental first and then whatever they don’t have, I purchase at Sahadi’s
Odyssey African Market, Brooklyn, 1124 Fulton Street – West African products (gari, Palm Wine)
East Village Cheese, 40 3rd avenue, NYC – large Variety of cheeses at exorbitantly low prices, CASH only
Patel Brothers is a national chain, with several locations in NY and NJ, as well as other states. Follow the link to see the location nearest you.
Hong Kong Supermarkets – with locations in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan – it is a great resource for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian products. Although I believe it is a different corporation, there also seems to be markets by the same name located in Georgia and in Boston
Jungle Jim’s, Fairfield, Ohio – foodie superstore with fresh produce, dairy and dry products from every country. See my visit here.
Please let me know the shopping resources for global products in your city and I will add it to the list!
