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Those who find grocery shopping in
Chinatown an ordeal – first you have
to fight your way in, grab what you
want quickly, then line up forever at
the cash before fighting your way out
again – can now just head up the DVP
to T & T Supermarket (7070 Warden,
at Steeles East, 905-470-8113, and others),
a one-stop Asian hypermarket
across city limits in Markham.
One of three suburban outlets
opened by the BC-based chain two
years ago, the huge Loblaws-style
operation includes a dim sum food
court, in-house bakery and aisle after
aisle of high-end food products. The
seafood department alone is worth
the trip – squeaky clean aquariums
full of lobster and Pacific crab with
not a “sleeping” fish in sight.
The fixings for half of the pad thai
dished up on Queen West likely originate
from Vientiane (2 Bradstock, at
Weston, 416-743-2911), a Thai supermarket
in a 50s-era plaza in the wilds
of North York that supplies many a
downtown trat. Unlike T & T,
Vientiane’s a bit of a mess, but
amongst the racks of rice noodles,
fresh Southeast Asian herbs and hot
sauce, sharp-eyed shoppers can spot
impossible-to-find-elsewhere items
like tins of Police Dog Brand Tea Dust,
Ve-Tsin gourmet seasoning (“92 per
cent MSG!”) and Snake Brand prickly
heat powder. There’s also a large section
of Latin American imports.
Korean Central Market (675 Bloor
West, at Manning, 416-516-8022) has
recently undergone a facelift, and its
once confusing layout has been rearranged.
Freezer cases still come
packed with dozens of types of
frozen mandu dumplings, and the
improved produce department now
stocks Seoul-food essentials like
fresh ginseng, gobo root and peeled
garlic. DIY kimchee urns, pre-marinated
bulgogi and grill pans, and 20-
pound bags of short-grain brown
rice, too.
Over in Riverdale, Spadina vet Hua
Long (591 Gerrard East, at Broadview,
416-977-8597) has just launched its
second supermarket. It’s the first store
east of Broadview on the south side,
down a flight of stairs from the street,
and it looks like any other vegetable
vendor on the block. But once inside,
the transformation is remarkable. The
place is gigantic and tidy with orderly
rows of quality Asian foodstuffs, a
jumping fish market at the back and
an extremely efficient checkout up
front. If only Hua Long’s Spadina
emporium (253 Spadina) was this
pleasant a retail experience.
All of the above offer a small selection
of inexpensive housewares, but
the best place to stock up on woks,
bamboo steamers and cheap cleavers
is Tap Phong Trading (360 Spadina, at
Baldwin, 416-977-6364). The friendly
folks there also carry all manner of
dishware – I’ve recognized Tap Phong
plates in fancy restos – as well as
trendy wicker storage baskets, knockoff
Noguchi paper lanterns and sake
sets.
Down the street, Neohome
Houseware (251 Spadina, at Sullivan,
416-597-8288) has a large selection of
state-of-the-art rice cookers plus
pricey Henckels cleavers, chrome
kitchen racks and – hello kitty! – an
entire shelf-full of those ceramic good
luck cats you see displayed in every
Chinese restaurant in town.
