On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Grocery, Ethnic Food [Edit]
Neighborhood: MissionMon. 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Tue-Sat. 10:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Mention Yelp and receive 25% off vitamins OR 5% off a $50 purchase or more!
So this coming from someone who does a LOT of indian cooking, the selection of mixed spices and otherwise is excellent. I understand that indian grocery stores could get a lot better but you have to give it to them, this is probably the best you can do given they are San Francisco city with no major indian population around to continually consume these products. If this was the case, then they could warrant having a steady supply for fresh ingredients like curry leaves (which by the way I managed to get! grabbed the last two). The things are more expensive than an Indian store in the suburbs but I think the rent is more expensive too for them! However, I don't think it is unaffordable.
Also, yes the store looks quite dirty but I've never been to an Indian grocery store (in other countries including India) that had a polished interior or exterior.
Service: I found the guy behind the counter very helpful - yes he has that casual Indian demeanor which can be considered rude but again this is not unusual for an indian grocery store either.
Overall, I think they serve my need of being cooking authentic Indian dishes without driving anywhere!
I can't understand why there are no good indian stores in SF. Hmmmm maybe there's a business idea?!
This place - while the guy working there is nice - is lacking quantity. They just didn't have enough inventory to succeed in a market that's screaming for a good indian store.
Since it's one of only two Indian groceries in San Francisco, it's better than nothing. The ice cream is good. But the credit card machine often malfunctions, for which they make $2 off you for the ATM. They often don't have important things (like curry leaves), which would be OK, except the guy ALWAYS says he'll have it "tomorrow" or "in a couple of days". Never, ever make the effort to come back in a couple of days - whatever it is won't have arrived. I did have a comedy moment there when he offered me hair oil when I asked for coconut oil.
very good.
have almost everything i need, we spent $150 there last month as we'd just arrived in the…
Read more »
So so Indian market on Valencia. In addition to the market, they have a fast-food/ice cream stand attached to it. My wife said the ice cream was good. My samosa sucked (cold and not good). But you can get some decent Indian groceries in a city (SF) with a surprisingly limited number of Indian grocers (there are way more - and better - in Boston and NYC).
I LOVE IT!
An awesome place to shop for groceries or just wander around after you're done getting some ice cream next door.
Given they have no competition, it's no wonder that it's not a very good Indian grocery store. If you can go to Berkeley or Fremont, do that. Having said that, i'm am grateful that they are in the neighborhood and (most of the time) have what I need.
Had what I was looking for. After shopping here I felt like such a donkey after going to Whole Foods and Safeway and getting gouged on spices.
While it is very convenient having an Indian grocery so close to me, this isn't a place I would travel very far to get to. The prices are a little on the steep side and the selection is meager. No prepared foods, no fresh herbs, (I don't know what the picture is, but there were no curry leaves when I visited) no produce. Half of the store seems to be occupied by baskets of stickers.
Maybe I am just spoiled by the amazing grocery that I left in Cambridge, but I expect more than dried beans and boxed mixes. I am still looking for a good Indian grocery in San Francisco, but I can tell you right now that you are better off going to Berkeley or Fremont if you can manage the trip.
Being Indian, I have to say I am very disappointed by Bombay Bazaar. I usually go here to get my naan, which is stored in the freezer and feels like they have been sitting there for years. I am always weary of buying it, but have no choice as there are no other Indian grocery stores in SF. I guess the spices and dried goods are decent, but I once bought a pan from here to cook my roti/naan on, and the thing started smoking at home when I put it on the burner and smelled like kerosene...so there was no way I was gonna eat off of it. I really want this place to do well, but I can't bring myself to come here except for some few basic spices. Bombay Bazaar---I can help you! I have so much advice to make your place better...just let me know! BTW- the clothing section must be for non-Indians b/c the clothes are totally outdated and overpriced.
Good place! I used to have to drive all the way to San Bruno to get my Indian groceries but was directed to this place and have not gone back to San Bruno since.
PROS:
1. Store has all the Indian spices you need and can think of
2. Great selection of namkeen especially Haldiram's
3. Great selected of pickles especially Priya
4. Great selection of lentils, rice
5. Every possible Indian utensil including patilas, karahi, chalnis, chimtas, pooja diyas, etc.
6. Good selection of Indian incense
7. Well priced and friendly counter folks
CONS:
1. Parking
2. They have very strange hours. Twice ended up going there to find them closed... maybe I just read the signs wrong
All in all, I worked around the parking problem by not having access to a car anymore and just taking BART or the 33 Stanyan. Good place to check out and yes, the added advantage IS the Bombay Creamery next door.
Please don't tell me you've been purchasing your cardamom, saffron, & turmeric at Whole Foods for $30 an ounce (or some other ridiculous price). Please tell me you've found this place already and just haven't gotten around to reviewing it (only 12 reviews so far???). Ok, so it might not be the best Indian supply supply store in the bay area, but I do think it might just be the best in San Francisco. It does lack the fresh veggies & fruits, but you can go elsewhere for those.
C'mon friends, $7 for 2 POUNDS of black tea? $2 for a nice-sized bag of black peppercorns, giant bag of powdered ginger, or mustard seeds? What, you don't feel like making your own ghee? No problem, buy jars of the stuff here for average-to-low prices. Even if you don't cook Indian food, you can pick up decently priced lentils, beans, rice, and basic spices. Hell, even if you don't cook at all, you can come here to pick up your Ganesh stickers, bindis, & incense (Hipsters? Costuming fiends? Stinky people?)
And don't forget to grab a freshly made samosa on your way out!
I headed here to find some spices and things for my newest culinary adventure: Indian food. They have all the basics - pre-packaged spices and pre-made papad, dry chickpeas and split peas, and a small frozen foods section. It was extremely underwhelming. It's sad that San Francisco really doesn't have much of a selection of Indian grocery stores - looks like I'll have to stop by an Indian grocer in Berkeley whenever I head over to Berkeley Bowl for my produce.
Aside from the food section, they have an array of incense, clothing, Ganesh stickers, and bindi, but nothing I haven't seen before. The best thing about Bombay Bazar, honestly, is the Bombay Ice Creamery next door.
Well I was really spoiled living so close to Kalustyan's http://www.yelp.com/bi... in NYC. That was maybe one of the craziest spice stores ever. Bombay Bazar doesn't quite match up, but still fits the bill when I need to restock the spice racks. Do not come looking for fresh or prepared foods. There are only two small coolers. This store does spice, and they do it well.
Complemented by Samiramis http://www.yelp.com/bi... , and Rainbow http://www.yelp.com/bi... (not to mention a dozen South American Markets in between).
Tip: Besides spices, they have a large selection of Indian cookery, clothing, and bindi stickers.
I guess I was spoiled by the vast array of little Indian bazaars in Queens and Manhattan, chock full of fresh stock that actually moved, so I wasn't coming home to discover that I had bought product that was packaged over 4 years ago, and way past its "best by" date. And, while grocery shopping in NYC, I could pick up a load of Bollywood movie rentals, hand the store a fiver and bring them back whenever I was done with them (which could mean weeks, given the multiple song sequences and 3 hour run-times).
And then I moved to SF ... Soooo, there's:
(1) Bombay Bazar with samosas which looked so unappetizing, I wouldn't even dip 'em in someone ELSE's Chutney, not to mention their sorry excuse for chaat (chole served with papri chaat or pani puri should be dry- you can't just use the chole that you serve with pathooras); and
(2) New India Bazzar, which is just awful, in the TL, and closed on Sundays.
Berkeley is too much effort for stores that don't have the best selection either. Next time, I'm just going home to NY with an empty suitcase.
I come here for the teas, spices and papadams.
They also have Indian snacks made from besan flour.
My favorite is called, "Hot Mix". It is pretty fiery but the raisins will quench the heat with sweet... strange but addicting.
Another bonus...Bombay Ice Cream is right next door!
Not only does this place sell cool colorful but overpriced indian jewelry, they have boxed indian curries! This includes saag paneer and different types of masala. For those who know me and don't, I abhor cooking. Boxed Indian curry is the way to go! It comes in these magical packets that you drop in boiling water for 5 minutes. Then you cut it open and garnish over rice. And voila! Its soo great! I'm loving it. This is the first place that I've been to that stocks over 40 different varieties of heat-and-eat boxed curries. I was very impressed.
About the expiration dates, none of the ones I bought were expired. I guess you should just double-check to make sure anyway.
I come here to buy packages of pre-mixed spices, lentils, and Chewda mix. It's located next to the Bombay ice cream shop, so I usually migrate over there after I'm done shopping. Yes, the store is a little run down and dusty, and some things have passed their expiration dates. However, it's got most of the essentials and it's close to the 16th street Bart station. The man at the register (the owner?) always makes friendly conversation with customers and offers helpful advice. I wonder how long he and this place have been there.
Overall, I like the shops in Berkeley more for their selection, but Bombay Bazar is closer and much more convenient.
I love this place, especially when I am missing India.
Spices, Ghee, Insence, Ganesh and Baba stickers, even the soap that I use to use is all in stock here. Not to mention bangles, saris, fresh made samosas and amazing ice cream sold in the adjoining shop. And namkeen!! Ohmigod, namkeen......
I probably sound like a freak, but anyone who's been to India knows exactly what I'm talking about and why it's like being a kid in a candystore.
A gem in the Mission.
Thought not Indian, I am a big fan of everything Indian; the country, the food, the people, the food, the movies, the food...did I mention the food?
But seriously, I've been attempting to master both basic and advanced Indian recipes under the tutelage of cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey. Her book 'From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail' is an awesome read even if you never cook a single item. But if you do attempt the recipes then be prepared to source spice ingrediants that are impossible to find in any typical grocery store even in San Francisco.
So Bombay Bazaar is the place to go for the spice selection alone! If never NOT found what I needed in here...and it's in quantities that are sufficiently small and priced right so that a recipe doesn't break the bank.
PS...the fresh samosas at the counter are superb and make for great appetizer to any Indian meal.
Not much in terms of fresh food but if you like to cook Indian food there's no better place to go to pick up dried lentils or spices. Especially when you have to use tablespoons in curries and need a small bag and not the teensy containers you get at the supermarket, for the same price too.
Bike Parking: can't remember if there is designated bike parking out front on Valencia, can definitely chain a bike to a signpost out front.
I've been going to this store for over 13 years. It has changed for the better to be sure! Before they "renovated", the shelves were all sagging, the floor was unbearable to look at and at one point my wife and I discovered a dying rat in one of the isles. That was a LONG time ago but I still will only buy food in a sealed container or spices. I realize that stores in India are much worse than this place but we live in the US! That said, this is the only place in SF to get many of the items needed to prepare Indian dishes.
DELICIOUS icecream. Pistachio and Rose are the best flavors. One star off because sometimes it tastes freezer burned...you know, the gritty texture. Aside from that, they have unique flavors that are hard to come across anywhere else.
A couple of people have mentioned that this place has a good variety of Indian spices - which is very true - however the prices were pretty steep. At places I know in San Jose, most of the spices are about half the cost.
Of course it would be nice to find another place in the city that has all the same good spices for cheap - but at this point I don't know of any. So I'll just keep picking up stock of stuff when I'm in the south bay.
Years ago (~2000), we looked for ages before we found a good indian grocery. Back then, Bombay Bazaar was the best thing going in San Francisco. Although in recent years, their prices have increased precipitously and their quality has gone down. I could deal with all that because there's so few other choices around town. What really gets me going is the lack of inventory! After driving across town, looking for parking for 10-15 minutes and then walking the several blocks between my car and the store, I find that they are out of curry leaves or paneer or chutney or papadams - it's always something and usually more than one item. Argh! Make sure to ALWAYS call ahead if you need something...
This is the only place my family gets our spices from. There's such a wide variety of selections-- from cardamom to paprika, curry, cumins to ghee! Fresh spices, it's like walking into India when you get in the bazaar.
Yeah, not so impressed by Bombay Bazar. Dusty shelves, poor selection, and some items past their expiration date. They didn't have the eggplant relish I like or my favorite brand of tikka masala paste either. When I went up to the register to buy the one essential ingredient for dinner that I didn't feel like driving all over town for, the register guy felt it necessary to chat with his homeboy for 5 minutes before helping me and then continued to chat with him throughout our interaction.
For me, cooking involves lots of faraway spices and many other items that are not readily available at your average supermarket. Thank the heavens that I'm a quick walk away from a shop that has pretty much everything that I could ask for. Whether we're running low on garam masala or besan or need some ready-made naan, Bombay Bazar has got it. Just last Sunday, I was all ready to make a big dinner for me and the hubby. We'd bought all the veggies and some chicken and all that stuff and got home from shopping to realize that we were out of dal. Not to fear, I was able to send him back out to Bombay Bazar while I got started on chopping the veggies. Where else in the city could I live and have an instant solution to all my Desi cooking dilemmas!
perfect place to get your indian spices for cooking....they always have everything I need and fresh naan too! the parking situation isn't the best since it's located in the mission so if you can find a place to double park and know what you are looking for, then go for it! This is the closest place that I know of to get ingredients for indian/pakistani cooking....so when I do go, I stock up-
Many come here for the ice cream - the rose-flavored and saffron are delicious - but I like the samosas! $1.50 each make them the perfect delectable snack if you are on the go in this hood. The attached 'bazar' is fun to browse in and I buy various packages of spices here like peppercorns, star anise, cardamom. They also sell a great variety of Krishna and other Indian deities in sticker, poster, or notecard form.
Once, when I was shopping here, I saw the owner of an Ethiopian restaurant we frequented chatting with the store owner. He paused, we exchanged pleasantries and, curious, I asked what he was shopping for. "Spices!" he exclaimed with a huge grin. "Me too," I smiled back. We continued on our ways and I wondered what he was going to make for dinner that night.
Friendly salespeople. Biggest selection of things that interest me I have found. I am planning a return visit, maybe get some more of their inexpensive but great incense (I am a fan of luna and lavender) as well as possibly some kohl. The salespeople were more than willing to help e find what I needed and were very friendly. I found a really awesome shawl for 25 with elephants and camels which now serves as a drape for my window.
I am super spoilt in terms of indian groceries. I just got out here from the east coast and my family in NJ always shops in Edison, NJ..aka little India. I'm sure there are grocery stores like the ones there outside the city but regardless, SF is a city where people like trying new things and I could only hope there were better grocery stores. I did find most of what I was looking for but I think compared to other indian grocery stores I've been to (not compared to whole foods, safeway, etc) the prices are a bit higher. But it still beat the cost of buying McCormick's spices for ridiculous prices and instead getting a bigger packet for less money. Until I head outside SF i will most likely go back here because the men who worked there wore nice and helpful and the prices are definitely cheaper for better stuff than the chain grocery stores. Now I can make my mom's home cooking and not spend way too much on the meal!
As far as Indian supermarkets/ grocers go this one is pretty typical- with bollywood songs blasting from the adjoining ice-cream parlor (where they serve every artificially flavored variety you can imagine- kufi, falooda, mango, lychee, ginger, pistachio, saffron etc..). I haven't trtied their chai but they brag that it's good. The place even smells like india and they have many basics like spices, pickles, condiments, masalas, tea, coffee, cookies, chocolates, cookware, oil, flour, lentils, chick peas, nuts, incense, rice, prepared foods,frozen foods e.g. samosas. There's an oddly placed section with clothing and a few decrepit mannequins reminiscent of a goodwill donation center. The traditional clothes and jewelry, bindis etc. are at least 5 -7 years outdated. Surprisingly good samosas delivered daily (overstuffed with potatoes and peas $1.50 each)- be sure to ask for extra chutney. Disappointingly they don't carry much in terms of fresh ethnic produce (curry leaves aint gonna cut it), yogurts, creams etc.
Kangen water now available!
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
Save green with spud!
Neighborhood: Civic…
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
Category: Grocery
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Grocery
San Bruno, CA
Category: Grocery
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Grocery
Neighborhood: Castro
Category: Meat Shops
Despite the popular consensus, they just don't do…
Stores that don't suck my brain out and use it as…
Loading...
