(April 17, 2011: Here is an updated post on Chinese Grocery Stores here)
Although I’m quite keen on learning how to cook Indian and Middle Eastern food while here in Dubai due to the wide-spread availability of key ingredients and spices, I still crave some of my mom’s Chinese and Vietnamese homecooking as well as other Asian foods that I am used to eating in New York.
Since my mom’s not here with me and Dubai isn’t New York, it’s up to me to re-create my mom’s most scrumptious recipes as well as those dishes that I can’t get in Dubai’s restaurants.
Thus my foray a couple months ago to Karama which is about a 20 minute drive North from my apartment (on a good day). I had heard that in Karama there is a Korean supermarket and that it was “behind the post office,” and that there is a Thai grocery “next to Venus restaurant.” Yes, all great and wonderfully precise directions…uh, NOT. Again, I lament on the lack of a real postal system here!
Anyway, I did drive around in circles…not just on one occasion but maybe two or three separate ones. Eventually, through the help of google and a few phone calls, I found both markets as well as the Chinese groceries in Deira (photo above) and even another Thai (possibly Singaporean) grocery in the Karama fish market.
To help future shoppers out, I have pinned the locations to these markets on a google map. Please click here for the map and if you know of any other places where one can get Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Thai products, please let me know!
PS – Still no luck in the search for bubble tea even after wandering all around Al Attar center in Karama.
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Depends how obscure the items you’re looking for are, but the supermarkets including Lals, Choitram, Spinneys, Carrefour, Geant have sections with products from all those countries.
seabee’s last blog post..Another reality check
thanks seabee. there are some Asian ingredients that I need that are pretty obscure and then others are available at the hypermarkets (C4, Lulu, etc) but not the authentic brands.
I stumbled upon your website after my long search online for a chinese grocery store. So I must thank you for pinpointing it out on the google map! I could hug you right now!!! I just got to Dubai not so long ago..will defintely bookmark your website and if I find Bubble Tea I will definitely give you a shout.
Hi there! This is a very nice and informative site of yours, anyway, there’s 2 more korean supermarkets here in dubai. one is in safestway (along sheikh zayed road, 2nd floor) and another one in Al Barsha (near MOE, 1004 Supermart is the name). Hope it helped.
Two Korean supermarkets missing from your map: as above, Angel/1004 market in Al Barsha and also Kim’s Mart near Lamcy Plaza.
Angel: not that easy to describe due to the lack of road names, but it’s SW of MoE at around 25.112133,55.192888 (paste the coordinates into Google Maps to see) – basically you follow the big one-way circuit round the bottom (heading away from MoE), and take the first right after that.
Kim’s Mart: on street 6A north of Lamcy
might you know of any korean supermarkets in sharjah?
thanks for all the add’l grocers – have added them to my map.
You’re such a foodie! I love it. Been here for two months, but started reading your blog since summer. Thanks for the info on the Safestway Korean market. We’re going to try the Korean restaurant adjacent to it tonight.
Hi there, many many thanks for the thai shop directions…I’m from Brazil but love to cook Asian food. Have a nice day.
Hi there, I’m Vietnamese-American from Texas and have been here for 1 1/2 years and feel the same way you do, Ginger. I miss the abundant ingredients that you find in state-side and I’m so thankful for yours and others’ posts here. I’ll check out the groceries soon. I sure do miss those delicious Tex-Mex food, too. Yummy!!!
hi Khanly – i grew up eating mostly vietnamese food as parents grew up there. just made Pho this week as my thai basil plant was getting a bit bushy. am about to buy a deep fryer so i can make a big batch of vietnamese spring rolls for Lunar New Year (yum!)
just want to ask you guy if you do know any grocery where I can buy TIKOY here in dubai? any reply would be appriciated.
dennis
dennis – i don’t know but I will ask around to find out!
wow, thanks for your kind reply. this is because my gf asking me to find this TIKOY in Dubai. Been having hard time to search in google…
hope anybody could help me… =)
Hi there,
We are owners of 1004 mart near Mall of Emirates in Barsha.
You will find most of the Korean products that you’ve been accustomed to in the US or in Korea and we have a good selection of Japanese goods as well. However, if you find something’s missing, we’ll try our best to bring it in for you. After all, we’re here thanks to you guys.
Although we opened not too long ago (July ’08), our shop has a great staff (3 of them actually speak korean) and we try to cater to our clients so please have a visit, give us some feedback and thanks to people like Nerissa, hope we can spread the word!
Chang
There is a great Thai supermarket in Karama, Boy the owner is a friend of mine.. i will find his cell number and post it to you
xox
Does anyone know if Choithram’s, Spinney’s or Lulu sell Won Ton wrappers and dried Chinese mushrooms?
Hi, I know this is slightly off thread, but does anyone know of a Vietnamese restaurant in Dubai? Am a bit of a lazy cook! Please don’t say Hoi An….
thanks!
Hey guys,
We’re from 1004 Mart located in Al Barsha.
Just wanted to let you know we’re having a “Buy one get one FREE” promotion for instant noodles, dumplings and specials on other products.
We also sell a variety of Japanese products so please check us out!
Have a look at our website Chang @ 1004 Mart as we are happy to inform our members of your promotional offers.
I have already told my friends.
We produce regular newsletters to our members about new oriental events, promotion, etc in Dubai.
I have been missing Asian food for a long time. Some of the restaurants are decent but they do not taste the same as home cooking.. Thanks for putting up so many sites of Asian grocery shops. Will be paying them a visit very soon..
Hi! I found bubble tea. At Lamcy Plaza food court. The stall selling Mongolian BBQ. Not sure if u had tried it out yet. Had one today. Not bad…
Hi all. Anyone have any idea where I can find sweet vinegar for cooking “sweet vinegar trotter”? Famous dish for confinement. TQ
Hi All,
Does anyone know where I can buy Vietnamese Pho stock cubes? Also I’m looking for an authentic recipe as I got hooked on Pho when I visited Vietnam last month!
Lisa
Hi there.. stumbled across this when i was looking up Pho and it must’ve picked up from the comments.. but reminded me that i, too, have been hunting for chinese grocery stores! (I’m chinese from Australia). Thanks for the map.. will go for a drive on the weekend!
If you are still hunting for bubble tea, theres a cupcake shop up from where I live (Kitsch on Beach Rd in Umm Sequim) but didnt find them all that good. Nothing beats EasyWay.
(
Thanks a trillion x trillion God bless
Hello,does anyone know where I can buy WHITE Miso Paste
Thanks
Good to see quite a number of Vietnamese cuisine lovers in dubai. Unfortunately this cuisine isn’t popular in this part ,as they are in US & France & there aren’t any vietnamese restuarents in Dubai Except for Five star stuff Like Hoi An and Indochine. There is however one joint in Abu Dhabi though the review about it was was not great . Hope to see some Vietnamese joints opening up in Dubai soon. There are so many other delicious vietnamese dishes beside “Pho” & Spring rolls “Nem” if one had really tasted vietnamese food would know about it. This i am saying because i grew up eating vietnamese food every now and then as my mom is partly vietnamese.
where can i find vietaname store in dubai? or any store/ supermarket selling vietaneme foods? i am specifically looking for a fruit chips, a vietnamese product. thank you!!!
thanks for the information i get from your site. it’s great to knoe the place of asian grocery store in dubai,cause i’m living here in armeni, yerevan.
I’m wondering whether there is a japanese grocery store in UAE?
hi…..does anyone where to get downpandan leaves/screwpine leaves in the UAE.?????????
Thank you all,
i am french chinese cambodian and all these tips are very useful. I will check all these places for sure!
hi kristine, there is one japanese supermarket in lamcy plaza called “daiso”, this is alos a famous supermarket in Japan.
Japanese Market – Daiso has more homewares and dry goods than fresh products. However Dean’s Fujiya Japanese Market is located walking distance from the Daiso in Lamcy. Click on the map in the post and you will find directions to it.
Also, many Spinneys carries a small range of Japanese products as well.
where can i find SAKE here in UAE?!
and any store that is especially for japanese products?
SUhiria,
to get daun pandand, go to SUNFLOWER or the supermarket next to BAITONG ( i think it’s called baitong supermarket. am not sure) both in KARAMA.
They restock their goods on Wednesday. so if u want FRESH pandan. go on wednesday nite. you’ll have a bunch of them fresh!
don’t go after 2/3 days tho.. it’ll be sold out.
click the link that’s listed on this post. u’ll get the directions.
thanx a lot Saint ..will surely go to these supermarkets when i come to dubai…
hi , im craving to eat chinese dishes. im planning to cook it this weekend. One of the ingredients is “sichuan pepper & rice wine.. .can you please let me know where i can buy this stuff. thanks .. hope u will reply.
Where can i buy chinese green tea in dubai or abudhabi…. pls help me……
You can buy chinese green tea in the stall in the China court in Ibn Battuta Mall.
Hello everyone, I am a korean american settled in Dubai, and I am looking for a place to buy dolsots (korean stone pots) Where could I get them?
You can buy a lot of japanese food including various types of Miso at Deans Fujiya which is located behind Lamcy plaza. Contact Tatsuya Murakami, Operations Manager
Oud Mehta Road,
Dubai
34383
UAE
04-3370401
04-3347322
050-6129185
mr. choi seung lee, i don’t think dol sots are available in Dubai but we do have “dook be gi” at our store.
Actually, we are located behind Mall of Emirates in Coral Al Khoory hotel apartments in Al Barsha 1 area.
We not only have Korean food (cup ramen, kimchi, gim etc), but we are currently carrying over 50 Japanese items including miso, ramen, shoyu, qp mayo, unagi etc as well as fruits and vegetables eaten by most Asians such as spring onions, chinese cabbage, eringi shitake mushrooms etc. (and also most local items)
mr. john young, actually murakami has left deans but you can contact mr. fujimaki who is a really nice guy.
deans specializes in japanese food and they are the only other supermarket that carries an extensive range of japanese items in Dubai. It’s within walking distance from Lamcy and it’s more convenient if you live in that area (bur dubai, deira). however, if you live towards the new Dubai area (jumeirah, downtown dubai) our store is closer.
our number is
04-3234536
e-mail : angels1004mart@hanmail.net
if you don’t have a car, we do pick ups from Mall of Emirates if you call in advance, and deliveries to anywhere in the UAE (abu dhabi, sharjah etc.) with a minimum order of 150Dhs.
Does anyone know of a Korean grocery/market in Abu Dhabi? I heard rumors that there was one in Abu Dhabi. Thx!
hey i want to know where i can find shin ramyun in dubai
the korean noodles
Kelly, all of the Korean supermarkets listed stock shin ramyeon.
Hi,
Does anyone know if any of the thai market in dubai has stinky beans? I’m dying to eat that.
Hi there
Am looking to buy “gyoza wrappers”….do you know where in Dubai I can find these?
Thank you!!
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