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Hi.
I’m hoping someone can point me to a store that has a good selection of Thai and N. American supplies in San Jose as I would really enjoy preparing some of my favorite dishes… I’ve substituted just about as far as I can go and really need some authentic ingrediants at this point.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
JMichaelI can find some fairly exotic ingredients but please tell me what “Thai and N. American supplies” exactly are you referring to?
This isn’t Thailand and it isn’t the US either and I would have thought that ‘authentic’ cuisine meant that you take advantage of whatever locally grown ingredients are readily available.
I must however confess to being disappointed that haggis isn’t readily available in San Jose..
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comThere are a couple of Asian grocery stores in San Jose — one is around the corner from Tin Jo, and the other is called Super Sony, but I don’t have the coordinates for that store. I’ve found fish sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, all kinds of noodles — glass, bean threads, etc. — chili paste, sesame oil, etc. But I’ve had to bring down with me red and green curry paste, and organic coconut milk. The stuff you get in Costa Rica is loaded with preservatives, so I packed 6 cans of organic which I am bringing down next week. What American products are you looking for?
Would appreciate the locations of the asian grocery stores. It is the only place we will by the specialty oils, soy, Yoshida’s, spices are a fraction of regular stores, seaweed wraps, pot stickers. With plenty of tamarind around, it is relative easy to find or make paste.
As Thai food lover’s and my wife’s Korean mother, this would be a bonus find. Ant asian stores in Escazu/Sanat Ana Scott?Both that I mentioned are in San Jose proper. If you know where Tin Jo is the smaller store is around the corner to the right, down one block and then turn right again. Super Sony is the bigger store, and it too is in San Jose. It has nearly everything you want, including some already prepared foods. It’s probably listed in the phone book, but I’ll look on another board and see if I can find the actual address.
SUPER SONY – the FABULOUS Asian foods/spices marketing in San Jose has
THE LARGEST selection of VEGETATION things I have EVER found!! Bring
your cooler to transport them as they’re in the big freezer in front!
“Salmon”, “meat” and LOTS more!!! They also have various tofu’s
inside in the fridge.Also, the other day I bought a BIG can of vegetarian chili at PriceSmart.
HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 8am-7:30pm, Sat. 8am-7pm, Sun. 9am-5pm
DIRECTIONS: Downtown/Centro San Jose — Calle 3, between Avenida 8 and
10 (3 1/2 blocks Sud/South of Plaza de la Cultura/National Theatre)(2-221-1263 / http://www.SuperSony.com / sschangl@ racsa. co. cr [all run
together])Hi
Many thanks for your replies…especially helpful from “maravilla”.
I will visit the stores next week as I’m living in Turrialba.
As far as n. american items, its more for condiments…mint sauce, horseradish,malt viniger, etc. We have a few Americans and Canadians here who I could shop for when there.
Once again thank you all.
JMichaelDoes anyone order food stuffs from Amazon.com in Costa Rica? The prices are very good, but I am afraid the shipping costs maybe over the moon! Where do you buy big cans of either olive oil; large cans of Greek-style black olives; and restaurant-size (1-lb container) of spices like cumin, turmeric, basil, etc?
Also, does anyone know the name of the restaurant supply house on the east side of San Jose that is a cook’s paradise? Do you know if they have a website or not?
Thanks,
Tom on a budget in PortlandWHY would you buy such huge quantities of spices? Are you going to open a restaurant? Because if you’re not, it is beter to buy those things in smaller quantities because they lose their potency after a year or so, maybe less. Cumin and turmeric are available, as is dried basil, but basil grows like a weed in CR if you plant some seeds in a pot. I haven’t found any BIG cans of olive oil, but the stores usually stock the one liter or 1.5 litre bottles, and it is expensive compared to the US, but better to use that sparingly then to use an omega 6 oil. I’m coming down next week and I have two bins fulls of exotic food stuffs and other condiments to stock my larder. You can get most everything in CR but it’s a hassle to go look for it, so I always bring down items that won’t spoil and which can be kept for fairly long periods of time such as fish sauce (readily available in San Jose, but that’s an hour from me) and tahini, which I haven’t found, and then the other items I haven’t found at all such as caviar lentils, short grain brown rice, orzo, organic polenta, soba noodles, and organic coconut oil (which is like taking coals to Newcastle, but the stuff in CR is loaded with preservatives).
Thank you Marvilla; su informacion es maravilloso.
Maybe I will start and apothocary/asian food store in Cobano?Maybe we’re just lucky here in Manuel Antonio.
Well actually in Quepos. We can get alot of Asian products, mostly manufactured by “Roland”.
Last time I came down from the States, and brought fish sauce, sweet chili sauce and cans of red curry (Thai), and was thrilled to see that I can get all of these things in our local ” Super Marcado”.
Every week more items seem to appear, even some Indian curry mixes, asian noodles, toasted sesame oil etc.
Perhaps this is due to our local expat population asking for it. In any case, it is available to our local store, and it is not a very large one, so I say to start talking to your local stores, and seeing if they will check with their suppliers.
On the coconut oil issue, I had a friend visit the Carribean side and brink back some organic coconut oil, very expensive though in the small quantity that she brought back.
I will be offering Ayurvedic treatments at our retreat, once it’s built.
I’m on the hunt for gallons of good sesame oil, and coconut oil. Not the roasted sesame oil that you cook with, the plain type.
I use these here in our spa in Key West for Ayurvedic ( Indian ) treatments, and hope to find a supply in CR if anybody knows of any.
Getting ready here in The Keys for our soon to be hurricane Fey. Not fun anymore.
Can’t wait to be back in hurricane free CR!Donde esta Cobano? If it isn’t close to where I live, I’ll still have to import all my favorite exotic food items! There are stalls in the Central Market in San Jose that have almost every spice you need available in bulk. The Asian markets that I listed above carry nearly everything you need to make any kind of Asian food, but it’s getting there and then schlepping home heavy sacks of things that’s the problem for me. Fish sauce seems to be the one thing I haven’t found in a regular supermarket, so when I do Thai food I’m always bumming some from a friend. This trip I packed a 17 oz bottle in my bin. I can only imagine what TSA thinks when they open my “luggage” – jejeje Last year this time, I planted two little tiny starter plants of Thai basil — when I came back in January, those little plants had become a 3 foot high x 4 foot long hedge with very long lovely purple flower/seed stalks that prompted me to do Thai food a couple of times a week!
Read the labels on Roland’s products. Almost all of the things they export to CR have potassium sorbate in them as a preservative. I was thrilled when I found some imported from France tarragon-flavored Dijon mustard only to see that it had two preservatives in it. I threw it out. Now I have to bring in Maille brand dijon mustard, which is not loaded with preservatives (some of which are known or suspected carcinogens).
Cobano is the commercial center of the southern Nicoya Peninsula and is equidistant from Mal Pais and Montezuma, both of which are very international with a disproportionate italian population. What is most frustrating to us in the US is how rediculously expensive it is to eat healthy. We can get 3-4 fresh avocados at the feria in Cobano every Saturday for $1 and they are as creamy as yogurt. Here you get an unripe (looks ripe) one from Mexico for $1.25. Farm fresh eggs are also difficult to find (Pipasa is full of hormones), but we finally made a local connection there after persistently inquiring. We are fortunate that the staples of our diet are prevalent in the area, such as seafood, fruit, vegetables, beans and rice. We prefer not to eat mammals or poultry. All of the above are a fraction of the cost in CR and locally grown or caught. When we move permanently within the next 5 years, we plan on a San Jose run every month to buy the staples you cannot find locally and visit all of our friends.
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