ottawa foodies

Claridge Homes bought the property for condos. It will eventually have something on the main floor they've said, but no grocery chains are interested in the space. Between now and the start of construction it will be a Dollarama. So, if dollar store groceries are your thing, you'll be in luck. I haven't been in a Dollarama, but know some people love the deals.

Anyone know what's moving in here? They've been emptying and cleaning it and stripped it right to the concrete and now they were doing something on Friday, maybe insulating. I'm hoping for some sort of grocery store.

Francis, That bakery went out of business before T & T opened up. It has been a Rogers store for over a year.

When that little bakery opened, I was surprised. They choose to open across the street from Kowloon bakery and around the corner from St. Honore bakery, both in business a long time with dedicated followers.

I was actually disappointed with what I had there, I prefer St. Honore. I didn't try everything though.

Well HipFunky, it wasn't the "first" to fall . . . the nice little bakery across the street from Yummy Sushi went under last year. It was a family run business. The buns and sticky rice were sooo good and it was really cheap. The owners came from Vancouver and they said they were folding because of competition from T&T.

Where will I get Ashley's hot sauce now? I ate a lot of that sauce with Giant Tiger perogies regularly.

Sigh-Jenn 168 (my stab at phonetic Manderin).

I too am sad to see 168 go.

I wonder (as HipFunky did) if the popularity of the new T&T had anything to do with the closing.

I noticed at least one one other Asian grocery store in Chinatown close since the T&T opened.

Will the opening of the second T&T on Carling (at Woodroffe) will force any other closures in Chinatown ?

Time will tell.

That's really too bad. I loved New 168 but I noticed over the last year how quiet it had become. On my last visit there about a month ago I think there was only myself and half a dozen other customers in the store. I was wondering how much longer it would stay open...

GF Peabody I am also a fan of those bags of chicken parts but you can now get them at Kowloon and still for $1.

Was by there today and there is a "for lease" sign up. Peeking in the window, there is no stock left. Very sad. It was a great neighbourhood store. I particularly liked their large bags of chicken backs/bone for a buck- super for making stock. They will be missed.

I heard that their lease is up and the owners won't renew the lease any more. So, I guess it is likely a transition period for the stock count and internal decoration for the new owners. Let's wait and see....

P.S. I'm back ...

I am told they are doing some renovation / redecorating. So I take this to mean the opposite - the T&T is probably forcing them to upscale a bit, which is probably a good thing.

EDIT: and dropped by to see a sign on the door which says as much - that they are under renovation

the windows are covered up and the front doors are covered in newspaper. not sure what is going on here. i am hoping it isn't the first to fall due to T & T. i came here regularly for fresh pasta and herbs.

You can get it at Wa Kiu occasionally, or Lim Bangkok(sp?) all the time.

bump...

has anyone seen this brand of chili oil in Chinatown or @ T&T recently? where can i find some? Ashley?

Perfect! Now I know exactly what to look for. :)

I have finally found the best HOT CHILI OIL for dipping Chinese dumpling and soup noodles. Also great for cooking the spicy tofu.

This one is currently only sold at 168 Grocery Store in Chinatown. The bottle is 250ml and is made by Bangkok Meat Balls Food Co. Ltd., 25 Milliken Blvd., Unit A11, Scarborough, Ont.

I have thrown away all other chili oil ever since we tried this one. No other brands can beat this! You got to trust me.

The ones from New 168 Market are both ecconomical and nice and 'garlicky'.

They are labelled "Garlic Roots" in English and are located just above the baby bok choi.

If you like Indian paratha (pancake), you will definitely like the Singapore version (they call it Roti Parata).

My friend's husband is from Singapore. He told us that Roti Parata is very popular in Singapore. He was very happy to find the frozen Roti Parata in 168 Market's freezer.

My friend made this as a treat to us when we were in their house after dinner. Just take out the package from the freezer (no need to defrost or thaw) and pan-fry each side using non-stick pan over low heat. Very easy to do. It is soooooo yummy! Trust me. You will thank me for this recommendatioin.

I also checked out the manufacturer's website. Their products also include Spring Roll Pastry and recipe can be found at their website.

Go to www.tyjfood.com/ and select Product Recipes to see all the good recipes.

Here are the empty bags used to contain the baked cakes I mentioned below.

The brand is Shanghai. Made in Toronto. On the bag, it states that the flour is manually rolled by hand.

$2.99 per each bag (of 5 cakes). So, you are talking about $0.60 for each cake.

The only time I go to 168 Market now is to load my freezer with Korean rice cakes (I bought 10 bags yesterday), soya sauce, rice bags. I went to the frozen food section and bought two bags of frozen baked cake (one is sweet kind and another one is salty kind) to try out.

We tried out the salty kind last night. My husband like them since the cakes have lots of sesame and green onions inside. (I don't like green onions, so I didn't try it.)

We tried the sweet kind this afternoon. I have to say I like it since they were very crispy and not too sweet.

Basically, I just baked them in our small counter toaster-oven for 18 minutes at 400 F. Good afternoon snacks! (Mark, I know your kids will love them).

Best deal on lobster in town, when it's in season. They even have one clawed lobsters at a discount. Good if you making a bisque, where the meat AND shell is important.

Better than LaPointes Lapointe Fish. Why better ? Better price, sometimes better quality, free parking and you can pick up those sesame/peanut candies while your there. :-)

Calling all lobster lovers. See my entry here:
ottawafoodies.com/forum/688

I was at Market 168 last Tuesday evening and something extraordinary happened. A red snapper winked at me then whispered "buy me". Just kidding but *wow* I have fished for snapper and these looked like the haul from my cooler. I bought two and grilled them that evening with black olives, cherry tomatoes and capers. Super delicious.
When buying fish, freshness can be assessed by odour, bloodiness, gill colour, meat colour and (depending on species) the clearness of the eyes. I also know the big determining factor in maintaining freshness is handling. Of course I can only guess what happens between water and store but I like Market 168 because (phrasing this as nicely as possible) amongst the shops on Somerset, they seem to understand the importance of refrigeration.
They have a very impressive/wide selection of fish/seafood (Who was looking for Skate? They've got that.) I was going to call Market 168 the dark horse of fish markets in Ottawa but I think, based on the amount of traffic in there, I'm late.

p.s. I bought squid/calamari as well. A+
p.p.s I will not comment on chicken feet. They seem to be A-O.K. stored in cardboard boxes on the floor. :)

A huge selection of exotic fish at great prices.

3 brands offered (when i checked)
plain sweetened, unsweetened, and black sesame

none of them are labelled as GMO-free

either suck it up, or pay extra at other shops, i suppose.

New 168 Market carries few brands of Soy milk in different container size (plastic or carton type), with or without sugar. I bought the "Sun Rise" brand from Toronto.

Depending on the time of the day, I drink it cold or hot (heat up using microwave oven). Warm soy milk doesn't taste good though.

Some people have reaction to Soy Milk. I must not have drunk soy milk for a while. I have been "farting" loud at home ever since I drank few glasses of soy milk. My husband has asked me to stop drinking soy milk already.

3 brands of edamame unshelled, one brand of unshelled.

i haven't bought them yet, but there's one brand that i'm accustomed to purchasing, and i'm happy with it.

i forgot the brand at the moment... the packaging has bright green soybeans all over it...

They were in a horizontal freezer over by the fresh fish section (just across from the unrefrigerated instant jellyfish).

That said, they weren't of the highest quality; many of them had brownish tips. Nor did they seem quite as tender as those we've had in restaurants.

I actually have never been able to find edamame at 168 Market. Am I just blind? Where is this located?

Ha ha Mark, This shows that you are an adventurous type person.

I prefer to buy the bag of uncut jellfish. You just follow the instructions on the back and cut them into strips later. Uncut ones taste better.

Before serving, I leave them in the fridge and let it drain.

When it is ready to eat, I mix them well with sesame oil, soy sauce, a little bit black vinegar (optional hot chilli oil). You can also mix the jelly fish with shredded carrot and shredded cucumber. This serves as a good cold appetizer. If you go to Chinese wedding banquet, the first dish is the BBQ meat platter which includes crunchy BBQ pork skin (yum yum) + BBQ pork/chicken. Jelly fish is normally on the side. Something for you to chew before the next dish comes to your table.

I've had jellyfish a few times before, but I picked up a package today just for fun. It's an inexpensive venture -- about a buck for a package of "Instant Jellyfish" containing a pouch of wet, thinly sliced jellyfish, a pouch of seasoning (inc. dehydrated scallions), a pouch of sesame oil, and a pouch of chili oil. (I chose the "sesame and chili" flavour -- they do have others.)

As you might have guessed by the presence of all these flavour packets, jellyfish is mostly about texture. It has a wet crunchiness to it much like pickled gherkins, but there's also a certain chewiness that is more like meat.

There are many non-Asians who have never even considered eating jellyfish, so why not bring a bowl of it to your next potluck? ;-)