Those of you who are from the South Bay might remember this market in its previous incarnation...
as the former Asian grocery store, Woo Chee Chong. In fact, look at those wooden sign posts. They have that "winged" pagoda look.
Looks a bit incongruous, eh?
History Lesson - Back in the 70's, when I was still a kid, Woo Chee Chong was one of the few, if only Asian markets in San Diego. Their original location was on the outer edges of downtown, then grew to a Kearny Mesa location (currently a Korean market) and this one in Chula Vista. My parents used to shop here for all of their needs until smaller Filipino mom and pop stores started opening up.
In the mid 90's, Woo Chee Chong was no more and was replaced by Mercado International 2000. While looking online for any info on this market, I saw that it is now owned by Selecta.
As with many Mexican markets, they also had a meat market and a bakery, along with great specials on produce. On the side of the market is a small stand selling fresh made tacos.
I thought this sign at the top of their bakery case was a bit funny, but well intentioned.
The note is addressed to their "Asian" customers, but then it thanks them in Tagalog ("maraming salamat" or "many thanks") at the bottom! Uh, Filipinos and Asians are NOT the same!!! I like how they relegated what they perceived to be "our" essentials as well. We will see that in a tiny bit.
Now about that "jericalla" dessert, I happened to see some in the cold case. It's not quite like a flan, but more like a custard with a caramelized top. It is also flavored with cinnamon. It reminds me of the Portuguese pasteis de Belem, but without the flaky crust.
I was excited when I saw the Ricolino products, especially this candy, Bubu Lubu! It's marshmallow candy with strawberry filling and coated with chocolate (probably fake), but I like it! There is an ice cream with this flavor at Neveria Tocumbo, which I had to try.
In one of the corners, they were selling aquas refrescas, fruit snacks, and even tacos al vapor!
See all of these Goya products? This was just a tiny fraction of what they had. It was cool watching Cathy's reaction to seeing so much Goya in one place.
The market not only has products from Mexico but from other Latin American countries such as Peru. Below, you can see a packet for chicha morada, a Peruvian purple corn drink .
More Goya and products and more interestingly, jars of "pacaya". The word sounded familiar to me because Kirk has blogged about it before (here and here).
In the baking aisle, we saw this...
Like the logo for the Mariscos el Prieto truck, this wasn't quite "PC". I don't think you'll be seeing this brand of flour in your local Ralph's or Albertsons! (Blancaflor means "white flower")
Now remember that sign by the pan dulces? THIS was the shelf that had "Asian" necessities, but they really meant Filipino. Stuff like Skyflakes crackers and weirdly enough, "Chao Mein" noodles (wtf, this is not a Filipino staple). There was also Sriracha sauce, Kikkoman soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and bihon (bean thread) noodles...
And towards the bottom were various Mama Sita's packets, more soy sauce, vinegar (Rufina brand, which I use, along with Datu Puti, a sugar cane vinegar), and various types of banana ketchups, Mang Tomas All Purpose sauce , and the ubiquitous
It looks like they have their own version of the Korean Choco-Pie (or like the American "whoopie pie") with the "Choco-Kid"!
In the fruits and vegetables section are random pinatas. I liked the minions from "Despicable Me"!
Although having them fresh is better than frozen, I did notice they had pupusas here!
Nopales (cactus) and prickly pears are mixed in with jicama and small cantelopes.
Huge papayas were also on display...
Ooh, eggplant! I wasn't expecting to see this here...
I've been in here a few times before but never blogged it until now. I love going up and down their aisles just looking at their sauces, snacks, and sodas.
Those were my purchases from the store that day. I hadn't seen the pink lemonade flavor Chaparritas before (pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month in October). The Tepache soda was actually a pineapple cider which had an interesting taste. Not quite a soda. I had to get my favorite crackers for me and TC and a few bars of the Bubu Lubu, which taste good frozen!
Previous visit to Mercado International 2000
November 2009 - where we didn't go inside, but had the tacos outside instead.
Mercado International 2000 (now known as Selecta International Grocers)
1415 Third Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911
(619) 427-7701
They do not have a website but here are the sparse reviews from yelp
Of note is this article/obituary about Jennings Hom, whose family founded Woo Chee Chong in 1899:
"Community leader Jennings Hom dies at 87", San Diego Union-Tribune, June 18, 2011.
After leaving here, I realized we forgot to go a bakery right around the corner, but not to worry...we would end up hitting that place up on the way back home.
Up next, more food, snacks, and ethnic markets!
2 comments:
I am so enthralled with Goya and the variety as well as quality- and it seemed like every single possible Goya product is sold here. Definitely going back. Loved Woo Chee Chong and had gone to all the locations. This one was 'so' far away though.
Yeah, Goya has a lot of neat products.
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