Kevin K.
Yelp
Best Turkish supermarket in western Queens.
OH, THE ONLY TURKISH SUPERMARKET IN WESTERN QUEENS?
Okay, slightly kidding since it's the size of two bodegas, and Sunny grocery on 43rd (a block away) is also a Turkish grocer, and it carries slightly different things.
One of the fun things about visiting a foreign city like Istanbul is to go native and visit corner produce stands, grocers (Şok or Migros) or hypermarkets (like Carrefour). What I will do is look at the items, and based on some researched numbers, get an idea for how things are. For example, in Nov 2023 a 500g bag of Caykur Altinbas classic tea is 95 TL. A six pack Pasabahce tea glass set (çay bardak) is 99 while ones from Sahil is 27 at Şok.
A bottle of full fat Ayran is 12, a subway ride is about 15 and a breakfast set is about 200. The monthly minimum wage is about 23000, and average rent for a dinky apartment in Zeytinburu is about 16000 TL. The current exchange rate is about 30 TL to 1 USD with an 80% inflation, so you need to hustle to survive on Istanbul money, but as a tourist, you can make out like gangbusters if you stick to domestic products and shop around.
So what does that have to do with shopping at Turkiyem? Well, certain useful items are oddly inexpensive due to lower relative pricing in Turkiye, but you just have to think outside the box. For example? The pasabahce 6 pack tea plate for 8 bucks (I think they were like 75 TL)...can you use it as an olive/nut plate for parties? Yes - better than Ikea in most cases. What about the big 500g bag of Caykur loose earl grey for 4.75? Yep. What about that 3.50 jar of Tomato paste? High quality and much cheaper than Concertina, stick it in an ice tray, freeze and ziplock bag it up. The olive bar here? Cheaper than Parrot foods and just as decent. Same goes for Turkish Olive oil - same or higher quality than Italian without the markup. Of course, not everything is well priced. That 2 lb bag of Reis red lentils (Turkish brand, Kazakh lentils) is 6 bucks. Go to Patel Brothers in JH and it's 5 bucks for a 4 lb bag of Canadian lentils, which tastes the same in Turkish lentil soup). Arborio rice too difficult to find? Use Baldo (it's a Turkish hybrid for making Pilaf), but don't pay 6 bucks for a 2 lb Reis bag here - go to Mediterranean Foods in Astoria and look for the Krinos brand, which is often around 5.
But what is this place really good for? Well, it's a good one stop shop for Turkish items but minus a few things. For example, if you want Tulumba (Turkish honey glazed churro nuggets), that's Sunny on 43rd, and the good stuff is at A&D Turkish market in Bay Ridge. Want great Baklava? Antepli in Bay Ridge. If you want single serving Kahramaras style Dondurma (Turkish ice cream) which is freaking delicious served with Turkish tea and baklava? Grand Bazaar in Cliffside park. In terms of Turkish markets It's not nearly as big as Istanbul Food Pazaar in Clifton (NJ) or Portokali Market in Sheepshead Bay, or even Nizaam in Cliffside Park, but you know what? If you want pre-packaged Moda Dondurma sliced up and ready to go in Queens? Check the freezer here. Want a crapload of dried mint at a reasonable price but without the stems, or Aleppo peppers for lentil soup without paying the absurd markups at Sahadi's? Pul Biber, check the spice aisle. Hell, they even got multiple varieties of dried peppers hanging on the ceiling and more spices and teas than you know what to do with. It's just as much fun to browse as Parrot Foods on Sunnyside, and you can chat with the Butcher and get tips on cooking. Yeah, some places are cheaper or have more stuff, but often, they win out on convenience. If I have a Zipcar for the weekend and don't mind driving to NJ, I'll head to the big Turkish markets and maybe get something really Turkish, like Beyran soup from Gaziantep on the other side of the Hudson. Otherwise I drop by here for small culinary reminders of Istanbul.
So yeah, stop by. I do that once a month.
Oh yeah, can someone tell the owner to install a few price validators? They don't mark most of their items so the pricing is always an educated guess. Considering that it's all in their system, might as well have something that tell the customers how much they are...