Looking for exotic snacks? Things you don't see at regular grocery stores, drug stores or…read moreconvenience stores? Exotic Bottega has you covered. They had lots of imported items from places like the UK, Poland, and Japan. They also have some American items that are harder to find in Canada. It's fun to poke around. Prices are a bit on the higher end, but that's the premium for rarer items. The place is bright and clean. Staff are laid back and friendly. Like every other store in the Byward Market, there's no parking, so you have to park on the street or in one of the lots/parkades.

Cool little market that carries hard to find food, snacks and drinks…read more I'm really not sure what to make of it but they carry a lot of interesting and cool snacks. Sweet, savoury and possibly things in between! There's a good selection of chips and candies. There's also a lot of drinks and limited edition cereals. What a blast to be in here. I think my rating is more on the nostalgia as I won't have a chance to try most of the snacks in here. Let me know what you end up trying!

TLDR: Small Algerian grocery store, with groceries, a butchery, pastries, ice cream, sandwiches and…read morea great selection of imported sodas. Y'all know I love international grocery stores because I love imported snacks and drinks. So when I learned about this Algerian grocery store in Gatineau, I had to make the trek across the Interprovincial bridge to check it out, lol. It's funny because it's literally just across the river, but I rarely ever venture into Gatineau and it's a big adventure for me to do so, haha. Anyway, the grocery store is small, but it has a bakery and a butchery. I was there for their sandwiches and baked goods and to check out any imported snacks or drinks. I got a steak sandwich ($17.99) which they make to order. They fry up the steak when you order. The sandwich also has french fries inside it (!) which was unusual for me, but it was good, lol. The bread was fresh and crusty on the outside, but soft and chewy inside. I chose the Algerian sauce, which has a hint of spice. I also got onions, tomatoes and cucumbers in the sandwich. I asked if they had lettuce, but they didn't. The steak was a bit chewy, but still good. I found the sandwich a bit pricey though, but it was tasty. I liked that the man preparing my food wore nitrile gloves and he also was wearing a hair net and a bread net. I appreciated the good food handling practices. I also got a slice of the Algerian covered pizza (this is what it was called on the receipt). It was $3. They had another type of pizza which was $2.50 a slice and it looked like Sicilian Tomato Pie (you know, the cheese-less pizzas with just tomato sauce). The pizza I got was Phyllo pastry with a thin layer of tomatoes, onions and olives inside. It was good, but a bit too greasy for my tastes. All the pastries looked good, but I ended up getting a piece of flan ($4.50). This was the most disappointing of my purchases. The flan was too solid for my liking and tasted chalky. It was not smooth and creamy like I expected. Perhaps it was not fresh. I should have gotten a piece of cake instead. They had so many varieties of imported sodas and were about $2-3 each. They had Green Apple Schweppes and Mojito Schweppes. And 7Up Mojito and so many exotic Fantas. The butchery is small but it had some unusual-to-me stuff I rarely see elsewhere, like veal brains. I am not that adventurous, (and I'm too scared of prions), but for those looking for this, you can find it here. The also had canned harissa and lots of sauces. Service was courteous. They had a small bowl of free Algerian caramels at the cash register for customers to try. I may have taken 2 caramels, lol. Free parking available in front of the store in a small parking lot that it shares with neighbouring businesses. (112)

The service behind the fish counter is very poor. The fishmonger IS VERY RUDE! He YELLED VERY LOUD…read moreat me in Chinese and I had no idea what he was saying. I merely asked to keep the eggs in the fish. I would NOT recommend shopping at this establishment until they replace the RUDE man with someone who values loyal customers. My family and I had been shopping here for decades. Never have we ever had such bad experience!

I was getting the full tour of Chinatown on a hot day earlier this month. It was so hot that we…read morepopped into Kowloon Market for some relief from the heat! Kowloon Market is the largest supermarket in Chinatown. It serves to be a one-stop shop for your groceries, barbequed meats, bakery, and more. The bakery looked good. Sadly, someone decided to eat the top of one of the pineapple buns. The dome covering these buns was also wide open, so you need to be aware of the cleanliness, or lack thereof. I did my good deed of the day by closing it. No, I didn't eat the imperfect pineapple bun! It has a good selection of snacks and tea. I learned that you can get do-it-yourself candies. It was eye-opening for me, as I seem to be missing out on these trends. I chatted with a 69-year-old woman in a wheelchair while we were browsing. This supermarket seems to be a social area for some, which is nice. I appreciated dropping by this supermarket to cool off while sipping my bubble tea. If you live in the area and don't have a car to get groceries, this supermarket takes care of your food needs and more. (264)

We stopped in only because we were walking by and It looked very interesting!…read more As we stepped in besides all the international foods and treats for sale we found a lunch line. I had a beef stew, coffee, and tried my husbands schnitzel and It was all very homemade and delicious! The service made It just awesome too. I felt right at home in this cafe! I also got some great candy marzipan Christmas gifts. Just a lovely spot. There was street parking.

I've been to the original Wedel Touch of Europe location in the Byward Market, so I was happy to…read moresee a second location pop up in Westboro, closer to my home. They sell dry goods, they have a deli, a bakery section, and they sell prepared foods too. They also sell alcohol. My husband got us some takeout from there recently and it was pretty tasty. He got us 2 cabbage rolls ($3.50 each), 2 Pork Roulades ($2.50 each) and a huge rum ball ($4.99). He also got himself a beer ($5.99). The cabbage rolls were stuffed with ground pork and rice, and covered in tomato sauce. The cabbage was so soft and tender, like practically fall-apart. The rolls were flavourful and didn't taste too fatty. I enjoyed them. I feel the packaging could have been better. They were packaged in a plastic clamshell container and were put in a plastic bag. The container leaked, but thankfully the bag contained the mess. I'm not a huge fan of hot foods in a plastic clamshell container. The Pork Roulades were packaged in the same way. My feedback is the same, as it also leaked. The Pork Roulades were thinly sliced pork wrapped around a filling of diced vegetables. It too was very flavourful. The pork was melt in your mouth and fairly lean for pork, which I appreciated. The rum ball was gigantic. It was so dense and chocolatey. If you like rum balls in general, I think you will like the ones here. Wedel Touch of Europe Westboro is where Pietro's Corner used to be. Street parking only. They are a nice addition to the neighbourhood.

Nice big Latin grocery store in Orleans. They have products you can't find elsewhere and a hot food…read morecounter. The store was clean and the employees were friendly. I would return

Great market of Latino foods! And we loved the hot food as well. Nice people. Super nice place…read more I enjoyed a lovely tamale.

What a cool little international grocery store in the Byward Market. And prices are not crazy…read moreinflated like most places downtown. Kudos to the owners for keeping things affordable. They have a little bit of everything. Lots of noodles, sauces, canned goods, etc. They also have some fresh fruits and frozen items. I loved their selection of imported drinks! This grocery store is where the Trudel Home Hardware used to be and I love how the back wall had tools and other items that the hardware store used to sell. The store is spacious, bright, clean and well organized. I grabbed a Strawberry Fanta and it was only $1.50. The man at the cash register was friendly. He told me they've been open for about 6 months now. Funny story, as I was uploading the pictures I took onto Yelp, I realized I snapped an accidental shot while approaching the cash register. In the photo was the ceiling with the flags of the countries around the world hanging from it. I didn't even notice this while I was in the store, but it's so cool. Sometimes things that were unintentional, end up being the coolest of all ;) Downtown Ottawa definitely needs a store like this. Happy that they opened up. May they live long and prosper ;)

it is somewhat of an odd assortment of things in here, but that's why I like it so much. Hard to do…read morea complete shop here, but you'll find some cool/different/exotic things that no one else in the 'hood is holding. Please keep it up. Tough to brave the unwanted "zombie horde traffic" sometimes I bet, but the Market area needs a store like this to thrive.... (ps, not sure why Yelp thinks i live in SanFran, I live on Daly Ave. LOL)

Small family run ethnic grocery store. They had all the speciality items I needed to make a…read moreBrazilian style passionfruit cheesecake. I couldn't find passionfruit puree in many other places.

I'm so thrilled that this Latin American grocery store recently opened up near my current work…read morelocation. I love Mexican candies and this store has some. Their selection isn't too large, but they do have Pulparindo! They also sell chips, sauces, and other shelf-stable items. They have a small selection of frozen and refrigerated products too. For ready to eat items, they just had fried empanadas (2 for $6) but they were refrigerated, so you'd have to warm them up. They had some small cakes in the fridge too. They only opened in the Spring of 2023, so hopefully they will get more prepared foods soon. The store is very clean and well organized. Staff were nice. Street parking only.

Small shoppe with very kind service. I saw this place listed on a blog for potential xiao long bao…read more(soup dumplings), but they only serve them frozen for you to steam at home. She has a variety of dumplings stored frozen in a chest to the right of the register that she can cook for you there and you can eat inside at the singular table, or take to go. I'm not sure why steaming the soup dumplings couldn't be an option to eat inside, but it wasn't. I opted for the Shanghai Buns, not knowing what I was getting into. Boy, am I glad that I tried them! These black sesame garnished morsels were practically divine with their minced pork, soft dough, and crispy undersides. I blowed through them quite fast that I forgot my disappointment about the soup dumplings. There was a small communication error however. I informed the lady that I can't take the frozen soup dumplings because I have such a long drive back home but she tossed them in a bag for me anyways. Were they complimentary? Did she think I had an icebox? I have no idea, but I cooked the thawed buns when I got home and they were great.

Yen Fung Ding is a little shop on the edge of Chinatown that is part-store and part-home. I've seen…read moretheir frozen dumplings in a few Asian groceries in the city and have even bought a few in the past. However, I've never been inside the store, despite passing it many times over the years. I got the chance to visit recently. The inside is homey with knick-knacks everywhere. There's only one small table for 2 in the shop but patio seating next to the shop. The lady who took our order (and made the dumplings I think?) was friendly and warm. Hoping the dumplings would taste better than how we made them at home (usually, if made commercially, they're juicier and crispier), we bought the pan-friend dumplings with Napa Cabbage ($10.99) and the Shanghai Buns ($9.99). Unfortunately, we were disappointed. The pan-fried dumplings turned out soggy, drenched in oil, while the meat in the Shanghai Buns was lacking in quantity and overly seasoned. Neither items were juicy (and in my experience, they should be), with many of the dumplings coming out with broken skins. As well, one of these items came with a chicken soup that tasted like oily salt water sprinkled with green onions. In my opinion, it'd be cheaper to buy their frozen dumplings and prepare them at home. You could probably do about the same, if not better. If you want freshly-made dumplings, however, I'd recommend going somewhere else.