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Published On: Oct 30, 2006 02:27 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Oct 30, 2006 02:27 PM
Where's the cheese?
There used to be a quite annoying
advertisement on TV in Australia that had the tagline, "Where's the
cheese?"
I often find myself repeating just this question in supermarkets here. For quite a number of weeks, the supermarkets where we normally shop (Fivimart and Intimex) have been out of decent cheese. They have the horrible plastic, pre-sliced stuff which I really doubt has much actual cheese in it. They also have crappy (and I mean, really bad) imports of brie and the like: I've tried them and they are really hideous. BTW, this practice kind of annoys me as well: it's like other countries dump their horrible, low-end products here and wonder why brie and the like haven't become popular. Maybe send some of the good stuff man!
One thing that really irritates me about Hanoi supermarkets is that there is no guarantee that you will be able to get what you need, even if it was sold there last time you shopped. Cheese is the latest example, but there are many more. One day, there were potatoes. The next day, when I needed more, there were none. Tins of baked beans or soup. I can kind of understand fresh things made that day (like bread) running out. But long-life things should be pretty easy to keep stocked up. Especially when the out-of-stock thing lasts for weeks. The current one is those little dog-bone things. When Miss Bella has to do without, it's a sad day for everyone (well, it's a sad day for her, at least).
Funnily enough, a similar thing happens with restaurants. Russell and I tried a new place the other day. The menu was very large and we were initially quite impressed. But then, when several of our requests were met with a "we don't have", it got a bit tired. This wasn't the special, this was actual menu items. I guess it's a different expectation about reliability of supply.
I can report, though, that SOME supermarkets seem to have a good consistent supply and range. The best (that I know of) are:
* Citimart at Hanoi Towers. It has a pretty good range of cheese. Also has a nice selection of Australian wine. Has a lot of very western, hard-to-get stuff like custard powder, some spices, sauces, etc.
* Veggies on Xuan Dieu. I really like Veggies, but I hate its location. Unlike many people, I'm not really a fan of the West Lake area, especially the dreaded dyke road. This road is a total death trap as far as I'm concerned. However, the store itself is a little wonderland. They have lots of fresh meat from Australia, including the very-rare-in-these-parts lamb! The veggie selection (as you'd expect, given the name of the place) is excellent and includes a lot of herbs that I have never seen anywhere else in Hanoi. Also has an excellent cheese selection.
* Big C and Metro are huge supermarkets with a good selection, but are also a fair drive to get to. Metro is kind of weird because it's really like a bulk store and many things are sold in large amounts. The queues always seem to be enormous. It's like you need to plan on 1hr for travel, 1hr for shopping, and 1hr for queueing! Tedious!
So, after what seemed like an eternity without cheese, we stopped off at the Citimart and hit paydirt. The checkout people obviously thought we were a bit weird with one basket stacked with cheese. Hey man, you've gotta stock up when you can! So I promptly went home and made 4-cheese sauce with tasty, blue, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Yum, happy days.
I often find myself repeating just this question in supermarkets here. For quite a number of weeks, the supermarkets where we normally shop (Fivimart and Intimex) have been out of decent cheese. They have the horrible plastic, pre-sliced stuff which I really doubt has much actual cheese in it. They also have crappy (and I mean, really bad) imports of brie and the like: I've tried them and they are really hideous. BTW, this practice kind of annoys me as well: it's like other countries dump their horrible, low-end products here and wonder why brie and the like haven't become popular. Maybe send some of the good stuff man!
One thing that really irritates me about Hanoi supermarkets is that there is no guarantee that you will be able to get what you need, even if it was sold there last time you shopped. Cheese is the latest example, but there are many more. One day, there were potatoes. The next day, when I needed more, there were none. Tins of baked beans or soup. I can kind of understand fresh things made that day (like bread) running out. But long-life things should be pretty easy to keep stocked up. Especially when the out-of-stock thing lasts for weeks. The current one is those little dog-bone things. When Miss Bella has to do without, it's a sad day for everyone (well, it's a sad day for her, at least).
Funnily enough, a similar thing happens with restaurants. Russell and I tried a new place the other day. The menu was very large and we were initially quite impressed. But then, when several of our requests were met with a "we don't have", it got a bit tired. This wasn't the special, this was actual menu items. I guess it's a different expectation about reliability of supply.
I can report, though, that SOME supermarkets seem to have a good consistent supply and range. The best (that I know of) are:
* Citimart at Hanoi Towers. It has a pretty good range of cheese. Also has a nice selection of Australian wine. Has a lot of very western, hard-to-get stuff like custard powder, some spices, sauces, etc.
* Veggies on Xuan Dieu. I really like Veggies, but I hate its location. Unlike many people, I'm not really a fan of the West Lake area, especially the dreaded dyke road. This road is a total death trap as far as I'm concerned. However, the store itself is a little wonderland. They have lots of fresh meat from Australia, including the very-rare-in-these-parts lamb! The veggie selection (as you'd expect, given the name of the place) is excellent and includes a lot of herbs that I have never seen anywhere else in Hanoi. Also has an excellent cheese selection.
* Big C and Metro are huge supermarkets with a good selection, but are also a fair drive to get to. Metro is kind of weird because it's really like a bulk store and many things are sold in large amounts. The queues always seem to be enormous. It's like you need to plan on 1hr for travel, 1hr for shopping, and 1hr for queueing! Tedious!
So, after what seemed like an eternity without cheese, we stopped off at the Citimart and hit paydirt. The checkout people obviously thought we were a bit weird with one basket stacked with cheese. Hey man, you've gotta stock up when you can! So I promptly went home and made 4-cheese sauce with tasty, blue, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Yum, happy days.
Posted: Thu - May 18, 2006 at 11:13 AM