Spice of Asia

From Chester Wiki

[edit] Info

The autumn (2007) opening of Spice of Asia was a very welcome addition to Chester's small selection of ethnic food stores. Sizeable cities in the north-west, such as Liverpool and Manchester, boast plenty of outlets for purchasing Chinese ingredients, Turkish groceries or Indian foodstuffs. Not so Chester, with its largely indigenous population. The occasional ethnic shop has opened here, only to shut down months later, frustrating Cestrians who are adventurous home cooks and want to buy authentic ingredients. Chester's population has recently seen a subtle shift, however. Polski Sklep opened in Brook Street first, to be followed by a Polish aisle in Tesco (where one no longer does a double take on seeing non-white faces shopping there).

And now we have Spice of Asia.

It's tiny, very tiny, but our own version of Liverpool's famous Matta's store means Cestrians no longer have to take the train there to get proper Indian foods. Indeed, Spice of Asia is so narrow it's amazing they managed to find room for a freezer in the centre, but the smallness has not been a barrier to stocking a wide range of goodies.

The veg stand at the back generally holds fresh okra, baby aubergines, coconuts, limes and large bunches of fresh coriander and other herbs.

Store-cupboard staples include bags of pulses, packets of dried fish (sprats, mackerel, etc), packets of dried herbs (bay leaves, curry leaves etc), a huge range of spices, small sacks of rice of various sorts, tins of ghee and coconut oil, etc.

The freezer cabinet contains a range of Indian breads such as roti, as well as items like frozen samosas,

As yet, Spice of Asia is not selling gulab jamun or other sweets, or snacks such as bel puri, Bombay mix, etc.