Today, there was a guy making fresh sweet potato chips fried to order (also as pre-packaged bags available in a few diferent varieties including regular potato chips) near the meat dept. I love this store.

Pie Lady wrote:I never heard of Uni-Mart. What's that like?

Uni-Mart is Filipino. Not fancy, but they have their own baked goods, a hot-food counter and fresh fish cut to order.

Uni-Mart
7315 Dempster St. 60714
Niles, IL
847-663-8388

LAZ, you need to go check it out. It isn't really in the same genre as either store you mention, but is kind of an odd hybrid - I think the fish is excellent (but then fish can be extremely changeable) and I love the deli, the like of which I've not seen anywhere. It is not cramped like Shop & Save (only been there once and my memory is spotty, IIRC things are labeled better at Fresh Farms and the aisles are definitely wider.)

LAZ, selfishly speaking, it would be interesting to hear your review of Fresh Farms.

I went to Shop 'N' Save in Niles a couple of times. I do like Fresh Farms better (the produce, the general store layout, the presumably larger selection), but it would be great to hear from someone more familiar with Shop 'N' Save.

Sometimes the aisles read like LTH posts: I just today noticed spaghetti alla chitarra in the pasta aisle...

Had lunch at the luncheonette - IMO, it's not that great (reminds me a bit of the place across Touhy in the mall, except here the food is presented cafeteria-style) though it was nice to take a break and sit down with food.

irisarbor wrote: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

Now, that's a chocolate!

We bought excellent wild salmon steaks at FF for $4.99/lb. today. Marinated them in white wine, dark sesame oil, a bit of lemon juice and herbs for a few hours and then grilled them. Fabulous! The fish counters at FF on a Saturday are something to see--crazy busy with the staff competently dealing with customers speaking many different languages. A great scene.

Mhays wrote:It is not cramped like Shop & Save

The other Shop & Save stores are much larger than Niles.

This store is amazing!
A true adventure.
I wish there were guides to take me around pointing out products worthy of purchasing.
I can not read the labels on most of the items there.
Their fish department is not to be believed!
If anyone has a tip for a product that is only available there they are familiar with and enjoy, I would appreciate it.

I picked up some cane vinegar the other day to marinate my garden's cucumbers in....wonderful!

jilter wrote:
I picked up some cane vinegar the other day to marinate my garden's cucumbers in....wonderful!

Where is that located in the store? It sounds like something I'd like to try. Cucumbers are about the only decent producing crop I got this year.

jilter wrote:I can not read the labels on most of the items there....If anyone has a tip for a product that is only available there they are familiar with and enjoy, I would appreciate it.

I do have a tip for this: all products are required to have a nutritional label or at least ingredients list following US standards in English...sometimes it's teeny and on the bottom of the back, but it's usually there. I've saved myself from a shocking surprise a couple of times that way, (amazing how often things that look sweet are actually savory and vice versa) but have also become more comfortable trying new things.

stevez wrote:

jilter wrote:
I picked up some cane vinegar the other day to marinate my garden's cucumbers in....wonderful!

Where is that located in the store? It sounds like something I'd like to try. Cucumbers are about the only decent producing crop I got this year.

I bought some also but it was a while back. I think it is located very near the back of the store in an Asian aisle with the fish sauce, mirin, etc.

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

Although I didn't get a chance to ask, I haven't seen Intelligentsia the last few times I was there. The twenty kinds of butter are still around though.

Also, if anyone is looking for Lyle's Golden Syrup (I have a gingerbread recipe that uses it that I'm going to try), it is in the little Irish/English section.

I am still loving this store enough to drive out there once a week or so. I could buy ten things I have never eaten there every week for quite a while, and I don't consider myself particularly ignorant about food.

FF's store-baked goods are a mixed lot. Everything I've tried has been at least decent, but nothing has been outstanding either. Yesterday, after I found myself going back for a fourth sample of their tsoureki, I had to buy it. All I know about tsoureki I just learned from the infallible Wikipedia -- but this stuff is great. Rich from eggs and faintly sweet with a whiff of almonds and what I believe is mastic, the bread is lovely for breakfast or with coffee. It would probably make tremendous french toast, but it won't last that long here. My son had five (!) friends sleep over last night, and the tsoureki contributed to a quick breakfast for those hollow-legged teenagers.

Mhays wrote:

jilter wrote:I do have a tip for this: all products are required to have a nutritional label or at least ingredients list following US standards in English...sometimes it's teeny and on the bottom of the back, but it's usually there. I've saved myself from a shocking surprise a couple of times that way,

Was at Hmart yesterday looking at fresh ready to eat seaweeds in refridgerated packages and I came across one that had 6450mg of sodium for one serving!

LTH,

As if I wasn't enough of a fan of Fresh Farms, Niles, they've started carrying Ex-Cel Corned Beef. Ex-Cel is a small local producer of corned beef and is simply the best commercial corned beef I've had.

Fresh Farms, has both Point (deckle/fattier part) and Flat (leaner section) for $2.69/lb and $2.99/lb respectively. This is cured but raw/uncooked corned beef and Must be cooked prior to consuming.

Fresh Farms, Niles has a large selection of Ex-Cel corned beef I am not sure if it is being sold system wide or only at the Niles location.

Enjoy,
Gary

Fresh Farms
5740 W Touhy Ave
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 779-7343

I guess I know where I'm doing my shopping today! Can't wait for Wednesday's dinner.

EvA wrote: All I know about tsoureki I just learned from the infallible Wikipedia -- but this stuff is great. Rich from eggs and faintly sweet with a whiff of almonds and what I believe is mastic, the bread is lovely for breakfast or with coffee.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it next time. I've been picking up one of the almond crescent pastries (filled with almond paste) for the ride back to the city. This will get me out of my "rut."

Rick T. wrote:

EvA wrote: All I know about tsoureki I just learned from the infallible Wikipedia -- but this stuff is great. Rich from eggs and faintly sweet with a whiff of almonds and what I believe is mastic, the bread is lovely for breakfast or with coffee.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it next time. I've been picking up one of the almond crescent pastries (filled with almond paste) for the ride back to the city. This will get me out of my "rut."

Hope you like it, Rick. I'm getting hungry just thinking about the great aroma of that bread.

We picked up fresh sardines on our trip Monday - and decided we have to eat them today, or we'll probably be sorry. Corned beef will have to wait until tomorrow.

Not sure whether this is Fresh Farms news or Openings and Closings news, but the would-have-been Fresh Farms on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville became a definite no-go a week or two ago, when the steel frame erected on the site was (finally) torn down. Sniff...

I went to this Fresh Farms for the first time today. I can only say, WOW!!!

An early Mother's Day Treat!
I found Live Lobster at $6.99 /lb yesterday.
Took them home and boiled em up
Fabulous! and one even turned out to be a female full of roe.

I mean $6.99/lb, how could I pass that by?

But the current Fresh Farms on Dundee at Milwaukee is still open. I was there yesterday.

Finally made it to this store last week. The variety of meats, produce and ethnic items is impressive. However, I purchased bag of fresh mussels - it was tough to judge from the bag, but when we got it home, it was clear that the majority were dead, and the remainder we cooked up smelled strongly of ammonia, and had to be thrown out (luckily, mussels aren't particularly expensive). So, it seems like a great store, but with some items, caveat emptor.

kenji wrote:Was at Hmart yesterday looking at fresh ready to eat seaweeds in refridgerated packages and I came across one that had 6450mg of sodium for one serving!

I'm fairly certain you're supposed to rinse the seaweed multiple times (even soak) prior to use, to get rid of all the salt used in packaging the item (kinda like salted, packaged jellyfish).

Yes, I know that but I wonder if the Nutrition Facts info is before or after the soak?

Usually soak for an hour and change the water often, and rinse a ton too.

nr706 wrote:with some items, caveat emptor.

For me, with ALL seafood it's caveat emptor...LOL
I always smell it before I let them wrap it-
Those lobsters- I picked up each one and turned them over and made sure each one was alive.
now a bag of shrimp or mussels- it is much harder, because you can still get a few
(or more than few deaders) but if I get the ammonia smell at all-
I'll buy something else- it's too much of a stomach-turner for me.

kenji wrote:Yes, I know that but I wonder if the Nutrition Facts info is before or after the soak?

Usually soak for an hour and change the water often, and rinse a ton too.

Nutrition info is for the product as packaged, unless otherwise stated. Note that cereal offers nutrition info with and without milk.

Pie Lady wrote:

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?

Aisles and aisles of urchin.