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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Happy days



Hobartians, meet Sandy Mart.

Sandy Mart is not open yet, but according to the nice young man who was drilling holes in the wall it should be open in two weeks, or, as he added "when all the work is done." That seems perfectly logical to me.

Sandy Mart is on Elizabeth Street, up the boring end. Just a couple of shops up from Island Espresso and almost exactly across the street from my office. This brings me so much joy, when I noticed the window being signed from across the street I did a happy dance.

People who live in larger cities might not get so excited about a new shop, but here in Hobart we don't have such easy access to Asian ingredients. There is Wing and Co. in Sandy Bay, and the Chinese Emporium in Moonah, but they are both a 15 minute drive from the centre of town. Having access to proper Asian ingredients in my lunch break is going to be excellent.

Now, on my 20 minute walk home from work I pass an Asian grocery, a spice shop, a fishmonger, a green grocer and a butcher, and around the corner from my house is the Italian Pantry. May I never visit another mainstream supermarket again.

Happy days.

17 comments:

kitty said...

dumpling, korean sushi, hot something rice cakes, bulgogi, chops...
can't wait!

Nola said...

Me neither! I LOVE dumplings. I hope they kave fresh kimchi as well. And asian greens like bean shoots etc. I will be eagerly waiting for the time when they open their doors.

Expect more info as soon as I can get in there with a notepad, a camera and some cold, hard cash!

Tassiegal said...

Oh lordy I hope they have seaweed salad. Its 3 blocks up and 1 block over from the Med Sci building where I seem to spend WAAAAAAY to much time dealing with thesis related drama, and 2 blocks up and 1 block over from work...I'm trying to SAVE money Damnit! Mind you I very rarely venture into big supermarkets anyway - loo paper, disinfectant and washing powder and Ashgrove Milk from Coles is about it. Every thing else is from farmers markets, my own garden or local suppliers.

Tassiegal said...

OH! Do you think they will have proper Peking Duck? I think I would go into food raptures of joy if they had proper duck.

Nola said...

Hi Tassiegal, save money? You got to eat something!

About the duck, I hope so too, but I doubt it. Fingers crossed! I'd live to be able to but whole Chinese ducks from somewhere.

tassieblather said...

In the old homebrew shop? Cool.

Anonymous said...

I think I saw their first shop already open next to Dome in King St.

P

Anonymous said...

And tassieblather, the second shop is down from the old home brew shop a few doors. Its in the old pizza shop. Sublime?

P

Nola said...

Dome in King St? Who what where?

Lucy said...

I think the window text says it all: 'colorful events and party order'

Rita said...

I agree, P. I too, when I observed it last week in Elizabeth St, assumed it was a sister shop to the King St Mart in Sandy Bay, next to Dome. It's a Korean shop, along the lines of Wing & Co but different - not as much variety of cooking ingredients & goods as Wings. I went there to the King St shop a few times after they first opened but found that because I still had to go to Wings to complete my shopping (as they didn't carry everything on my list), I might just as well bypass them and shop in the one place.

kitty said...

You can buy frozen peking ducks (roasted, heads on) at the moonah chinese market. They are called "sydney" ducks and are a bargain at $25 a pop. Hung keeps them out the back, but has put a notice on the front freezer to let retail customers know they have them. A bit lean, but after a slow slow defrost, and a blast in a hot oven they are quite respectable.

Lucy said...

'Maggie', Dome's a block away from Wing and Co. It opened maybe 2 years ago?

Lisa said...

Oh, how I'd love to have an independent fishmonger to visit. Growing up we got meat from the butcher and fish from the fishmonger; now, meh, at least I can get good, locally raised meat and poultry but the supermarket fishpeople are just not as good.

Lucky you!

Unknown said...

Should be great.

Unknown said...

The Vietnamese Kitchen have Chines roast ducks

RedOrangePink said...

This really is exciting! Its a mere block from my house. And it is open now!