Tag Archives: Houston ethnic market

ROYAL ROASTERY

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My daughter and I stumbled across a fabulous MIddle Eastern shop — Royal Roastery, “your sweet tooth’s paradise.”

It’s located at 6467 Westheimer, in a strip center that also is home to a Cuban bakery, a Cajun restaurant, a Guatemalan restaurant and convenience store, a Lebanese bakery, an Indian-Chinese restaurant, a Mediterranean restaurant (Fadi’s — a favorite of ours), a Portuguese chicken restaurant, a Japanese sushi restaurant, and a Nigerian fusion restaurant.  Who needs Epcot!

As we entered the store, we were mesmerized by a kaleidoscope of colors, starting with the more than 60 bins of Parfai foil-wrapped chocolates, which are $20 per pound.  Grab a bag and choose your favorites (the mille feuille and corn flake ones were the favorites — so far).  Made from Swiss chocolate, we were told they are made in Syria, and according to the website, what sets them apart “is the secret in its raw butter and cocoa flavors that is integrated with a Middle Eastern twist.”

 

There’s a rainbow of other candies too:

Mounds of freshly-roasted nuts tempted us:

Pro tip:  don’t pass on the sour cream cashews and barbecue mix.

There’s also a large selection of bulk spices:

But wait, there’s more!  Did someone say baklava?

And then there’s the Turkish Delight case.  We stood there gazing in awe at the colorful assortment:

 

The Turkish Delight is $15.99 per pound.  The helpful woman behind the counter will snip off pieces for you and create a jewel box of sweets:

Here’s the selection we went home with:

We only got to sample a fraction of the offerings, and I can guarantee we’ll be back soon to try more (and restock on those nuts!).

SEIWA MARKET

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Seiwa Market is a Japanese grocery located at 1801 S. Dairy Ashford, #116, in a large strip center, flanked by numerous Asian businesses.  I’ve been to a number of Chinese and Korean groceries in Houston, and was curious to see what this Japanese market offered.  It has an unusual business philosophy, which is stated on its website as “What is the right thing to do as a human being?”  (Wouldn’t it be nice if we all stopped to think that from time to time?)  Seiwa Market advertises that it offers “affordable Japanese quality products at affordable price through partnership with GYOUMU Supermarket Japan.”

This little market is packed full of interesting things.  The produce department, which is the first area you’ll see when you enter, although small, offers plenty of fresh items, including a variety of fruits (biggest apples I’ve ever seen), herbs, potatoes and yams, shishito and other peppers, and citrus.

Beautiful red yams 

One produce item that intrigued me was gobo, which I was unfamiliar with:

I’ve since learned that gobo is burdock, a thin root vegetable that grows to be more than two feet long.  It’s often added to stews and stir fries, and pickled gobo is sometimes sold to accompany sushi or rice dishes.  It’s crunchy and has a sweet flavor similar to lotus root.  I wish I’d bought some when I saw it.  Next trip.

If you’re a green tea aficianado, you’ll be ecstatic at the many green tea and matcha items available.  In addition to dozens of excellent green teas (sold loose or in bags) and matcha powders, there were a bunch of green tea confections — a whole end cap display full of them

img_8633How about some matcha Oreo bits sandwiches, for example?

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Or matcha Oreo soft cookies?

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Matcha Pocky, anyone?

On weekends, the market has soft, sticky sweets flown in from Japan.  These were very popular with shoppers–there was a line to buy them, and they sold out by lunchtime:

There’s lots of interesting grocery items on the shelves, including a wide variety of sweet and savory snack foods and condiments.

There were a lot of rice cookers for sale, ranging in price  from around $50 to several hundred dollars.

There was also a nice little assortment of Zojirushi thermoses, as well as tiffins and lunch kits.  Zojirushi thermoses are incredible, and will keep your liquids hot or cold for at least 24 hours — they’re popular with chefs for keeping sauces warm.

Seiwa Market also offers prepared foods and sushi, and although I didn’t try any on this visit, they appeared to be fresh and nicely prepared.

On my way to check out I passed a freezer case full of Mushi Cake.  I don’t know what Mushi Cake is, but I am guessing it is a popular treat.  Maybe next time — to go with the gobo.

There are some unusual recipes on the market’s website, none of which looked terribly appealing to me, but are worth checking out for the unintentionally awkward translations, like this description of Mixed Rice of Ginger:  “A little ginger and soy sauce are accented. Because ginger is not too tight, I will eat many cups! It is an easy recipe that can be even surplus rice.  If you keep the mixed rice with a rice cooker etc. for 1 ~ 2 hours, the taste becomes familiar and it becomes even more delicious.  Well, maybe ginger is “not too tight,” but I’m pretty sure that if you eat “many cups” of this mixed rice, soon your pants will be.  🙂

Seiwa Market is, unfortunately, quite out of the way for me, so I won’t be going regularly.  But when I’m in the area, I’ll be sure to stop by.