How is their frozen berry selection?

I also don't think organic products are one of their strengths, if that is important to you.

rickster wrote:I also don't think organic products are one of their strengths, if that is important to you.

Actually, I was impressed (in my one visit) with how many organic products they had, although I didn't check the organic frozen category.

EvA wrote:

rickster wrote:I also don't think organic products are one of their strengths, if that is important to you.

Actually, I was impressed (in my one visit) with how many organic products they had, although I didn't check the organic frozen category.

Really? I guess I'll have to look again. I thought I only saw a small section with a few organics. I wanted to go back tonight but didn't make it--drats.

the above rave reviews are on the mark. i went today and was very impressed with this place. amazing assortment of produce, very good-looking ripe stuff, reasonably priced.

amazing deli section, nice looking bakery, and aisles and aisles of ethnic stuff that i didn't have enough time to explore. plus, they also have a decent amount of 'normal' grocery store stuff (like diet coke, oreos, etc) which makes it easier to substitute Jewel for this place instead of just augmenting.

love it!

(the one thing i hate is that you have to put a quarter into the cart to use it. i didn't have a quarter, so had to walk around the lot and find one that wasn't locked)

elakin wrote:(the one thing i hate is that you have to put a quarter into the cart to use it. i didn't have a quarter, so had to walk around the lot and find one that wasn't locked)

On the other hand, finding an unlocked one means you got $0.25 back when you locked it up

not that lucky. i used a wal-mart cart.

I wish I could replace Jewel with this place, but their toiletry and cleaning supply areas are lacking; they don't have Swifter-style dusters and only one choice of toilet paper, etc. But at least Jewel is right across the street and I don't have to spend much time in there.

I'm going for fish this week (or next?) and I can't wait. I'm going to buy something I never heard of. And they fillet it for you!

Shit, I think I just wrote a tweet.

Pie Lady wrote:I'm going for fish this week (or next?) and I can't wait. I'm going to buy something I never heard of. And they fillet it for you!

Choose your fish carefully. I noticed that by the end of the 1st week they were open, some of the fin fish were looking a bit long in the tooth.

I'm going to presume that this is now another location for the Fresh Farms International Market Inc. which has had a store in Wheeling on Dundee for some time. Hope they have a better parking lot situation than in Wheeling which pissed me off enough to abruptly halt my usual of driving down the road and "hey that place looks interesting I think I'll check it out " scenario.

It's in a very large shopping center with tons of parking.

FYI: They have a decent selection of frozen organic, no more, no less than Dominick/Jewel (okay, maybe a little more). Prices are not great, but I don't buy organic, so I'm not the best judge.

When I commented about organics not being one of their strengths, I was thinking specifically about fresh produce. When I was there last week, I didn't see any.

grits wrote:Forgot to mention that they carry Intelligentsia coffee.

It is on the outside part of one of the aisles on the deli/meat side (not register side) so you have to keep an eye out for it. I believe it was all $11.99 except for a "Fresh Farms Blend" that was on sale for $9.99. I bought a bag of the Fresh Farms Blend but haven't tried it yet.

The Intelligentsia "Fresh Farms" blend got only a "meh" rating from me. (As in "meh, it's OK.") It had a bitter chocolate taste which I didn't care much for, and just seemed otherwise bland. I use a French press, though, and I was thinking it might be better suited to a drip coffeemaker. I usually buy the "El Gallo" blend, which I love.

i did my weekly shop at FF tonight and was blown away by their selection of "fancy" butter.

You know, all those euro and euro-style butters, amish, hand-churned, some with sea salt, big blobs wrapped in paper? can you guess how many they had? not the regular sticks, mind you...this is just the fancy stuff.

guess......i dare you.

27. Twenty-seven.

elakin wrote:i did my weekly shop at FF tonight and was blown away by their selection of "fancy" butter.

You know, all those euro and euro-style butters, amish, hand-churned, some with sea salt, big blobs wrapped in paper? can you guess how many they had? not the regular sticks, mind you...this is just the fancy stuff.

guess......i dare you.

27. Twenty-seven.

For me, this is both the appeal of and trouble with this store. I shopped there for the first time last week, and ended up spending more than I normally do, and getting less, having been seduced by such delights as homemade chive cream cheese and Polish vanilla-hazelnut cookies. Fresh Farms will be a good go-to when I'm looking for indulgences, but since the budget calls for black beans and rice at the moment, it won't be a regular destination.

I was amused when I came back to my car and found not one but TWO flyers advertising Fresh Farms on the windshield. Seems a little silly to promote oneself to the clientele that has already been captured

The only drawback to all of this is that over time they'll better gauge what is and isn't selling, and dumping 27 varieties of butter as their sell-by date passes may end up with them paring down selection appreciably. So, enjoy while it lasts.

rickster wrote:When I commented about organics not being one of their strengths, I was thinking specifically about fresh produce. When I was there last week, I didn't see any.

Organic bananas and other produce in stock this morning. Again, not the most organized store around in terms of product placement. They also have Mexican Coke up front across from the cash registers.

EvA wrote:...like many in the area also carries substantial stock for Asian, Mexican, and Indian cuisines.

Does anyone remember seeing dashi or dashi no moto? I could use some tonight for miso/pork soup I'm making for lunch tomorrow, but I don't want to go all the way to H-Mart.

While I can't recall seeing any, I'm confident that they'd have it. They have a pretty good selection of Asian product (extending to a pretty good selection of frozen Asian products, including specialty items (even ice cream) from the Philippines..

Great, that will help immensely. Is that sort of thing usually found frozen or canned like Swanson broth?

Pie Lady wrote:Great, that will help immensely. Is that sort of thing usually found frozen or canned like Swanson broth?

I've seen it in small plastic jars or packets.

I would guess it would be in an aisle marked "Asian" or something like that - but, impressed as I was with everything else, I wasn't hugely impressed with their selection of Asian foods: there are only one or two varieties of kimchi, for instance, in much larger jars than I prefer to buy. Dashi is made quickly from scratch with only three ingredients: kombu (kelp,) katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and water. Those would be with the nori in packets (at least they would be in a non-asian store) the bonito flakes look vaguely like salmon-colored cotton candy or like pencil shavings and the kombu looks like someone was trying to make square noodles out of licorice. I've never seen Dashi no moto (haven't been looking, though) but it strikes me that you don't really need it.

You might try Dong-Ah market on Touhy near Renga-Tei if you strike out at Fresh Farms.

Dong-Ah Market
3933 W Touhy Ave
(between East Prairie Rd & Crawford Ave)
Lincolnwood, IL 60712

(847) 673-3055

Mhays wrote:...I've never seen Dashi no moto (haven't been looking, though) but it strikes me that you don't really need it. You might try Dong-Ah market on Touhy near Renga-Tei if you strike out at Fresh Farms.

Dong-Ah Market
3933 W Touhy Ave
(between East Prairie Rd & Crawford Ave)
Lincolnwood, IL 60712

(847) 673-3055

To paraphrase Miracle on 34th St: Fresh Farms ain't got'ny, Dong-ah ain't got'ny, nobody's got'ny! Fresh Farms didn't even know what it was, and I asked about 5 people. Forgot my list so I might go back tonight to look for the the other two ingredients you mentioned. Also tried to see if Renga-Tei might sell me some, but they were closed, so I might try that sushi place at the other end of Village Crossing (have to go to Jewel anyway; they're having a sale on Ben & Jerry's), otherwise veggie broth it is.

You can usually get both/either at Whole Foods. If Evanston isn't too far, I bet the tiny market inside Sea Ranch has it (but I'd call first.)

Sea Ranch - www.searanch.com
518 Dempster, Evanston - (847) 492-8340

Stopped by a couple days ago, realizing that summer is here and I need to have food for lunch in the house - so I went to the somewhat daunting (in scope) deli. There I purchased Fresh Farms own in-house roast turkey breast, ham off the bone...and something with lovely dimpled brown skin caught my eye. Closer observation revealed it to be "Duck Loaf" and I promptly added that to my order.

It's quite good: it's basically a roast skin-on split duck breast filled with a duck mousse (or terrine - it's somewhere between the two in texture.) Lots of herby flavors, a bit more emulsified than I prefer, but it does have the actual duck breast on either side of the mousse, which helps a lot. It's the bologna of my dreams...
(don't be alarmed - that noise you hear is stevez's car pulling out of the driveway .)

grits wrote:Iin the small British section at Fresh Farms...oddly, I don't remember seeing digestive biscuits in that section but I'm going to check again.

Fresh Farms has digestive biscuits, directly at eye-level, in the British section. I really hope they were not there before since I remember looking up and down the shelves for them. The mind is the first thing to go....

Saw fresh currants there yesterday at $3.49 for what I think was a pint. They had red, white, and - if they were grapes - what I would call gris (gray).

I love this place!
the wonderful russian chocolates across from the restaurant are like the best kind of a game.
what will be inside?
The other week I got the most wonderful skate wing, which after asking nicely they filleted off the cartilage for me.
Not the prettiest fillets, but I didn't have to do the work...

I haven't been getting out to Niles much lately and just spotted this store today. I wasn't able to take the time to stop in. I'll get there eventually, but I'm curious now.

The Wheeling Fresh Farms and Shop & Save Market in Niles and Des Plaines are closer to me. Can anyone comment as to how this store compares? Shop & Save also has a wide range of international foods in aisles arranged by ethnicity, plus routine supermarket goods, though the Niles store (at Golf Mill) is somewhat cramped. My favorite thing about Shop & Save is the deli -- they make wonderful sausages (I'm especially fond of the mysliwska and the szynkowa), have rotisserie Amish chickens and I'm addicted to their house-made vegetable salad (sałatka jarzynowa) -- which has fabulous prices.

For fresh fish in Niles, I have been doing H-Mart and Uni-Mart. Any comparisons there?

LAZ wrote:For fresh fish in Niles, I have been doing H-Mart and Uni-Mart. Any comparisons there?

I never heard of Uni-Mart. What's that like?