(photo illegally taken while at the light on H St.)
What once was the former Fresh & Easy is now a Filipino market for all to enjoy...
The parking lot is small and it's too bad customers can't park across the ways at the now defunct K-Mart, which will be a new Wal-Mart, because it is blocked off. Having a Wal-Mart nearby will be so much more convenient because I won't have to drive all the way out to Eastlake anymore. Taking the place of the old North Park Produce, which has been bare for the past four years or so is the relocated PetSmart. The old PetSmart, located a few minutes away near Jerome's on H St. will be a new Ross! So many stores opening up in my area, which is great which means more jobs for the community too.
Now open, yes indeed.
When I went in the latter half of the afternoon, the food line was minimal and the food court was mostly empty. It was nice shopping without crowds, unlike this weekend, when it was packed. All of the excited Lolos, Lolas, uncles and aunties were out in full force which was really great to see. It certainly shows the need of the community and I'm glad that this place chose this side of Chula Vista as a location.
As you walk in, to your right is the fresh produce. Island Pacific carries vegetables and fruits at fair prices. Not sure if they are organic (but to be honest, I wasn't even looking for that). They do have a good selection of vegetables that are pretty standard as well as those that cater to the Filipino palate such as eggplant (three different kinds), bittermelon, Chinese long beans, opo squash, chayote, and even Mexican squash (calabasitas).
I even saw fresh bagged sili (chili pepper) leaves and fresh jackfruit.
The seafood section is in the back (near the restrooms). In the old Fresh & Easy, this was the ice cream and frozen foods section. I have to say that this market does not have a "fishy" smell like some other seafood markets. Then again, this is brand spanking new. Hopefully it will not get grody over time.
My favorite Chinese sausage brand. I bought a package to use for a future pancit bihon making session.
The trifecta - Spam (tocino flavor too, which I have yet to try, Vienna sausages and corned beef. Haha, I noticed someone left some duck eggs (not balut) on there.
I haven't tried this brand of fried chicken skinz before. They're seasoned with MSG (no big surprise) but don't have quite the same kick as the Elena's brand, which they don't carry here.
Island Pacific carries pretty much the same stuff as Seafood City - same familiar brands plus a few new ones that I hadn't seen before. This was the cookie aisle. My mom likes those Camachile brand "baby finger" cookies. It sounds so...grisly, baby fingers. She likes using the plastic container to keep leftovers.
I was surprised to see these wheat cookies, pacencia as well as "uraro". My mom used to make these when we were younger. Uraro cookies are made with arrowroot flour and are quite powdery. My aunt would make those with special flower shaped molds.
This aisle also had jars of various halo halo ingredients - nata de coco, macapuno, sweet garbazo beans, kaong (palm fruits), white beans (not a fan of those in my halo halo), red beans, and sago balls (like boba but smaller). The brand I usually see is "Tropics" or "Pamana" (which I didn't see here). A new to me brand was "Kapuso" (puso means "heart"; the word can mean "same heart" "one at heart" or a mutual feeling of togetherness or belonging).
I was excited to see candied pili nuts near the peanut snacks, so I bought a package!
One of the endcaps featuring mango juice and the Mogu-Mogu drink (various fruit flavors with cut up gel cubes inside). Very artificial tasting though.
They had all kinds of seafood available like what you would find at Seafood City, Thuan Phat, or Ranch 99.
Oxtails were one of their meat offerings, next to their beef short ribs and beef shanks (which tastes great in beef nillaga).
Various types of longanisa plus the radioactive red hot dogs (not a fan of those).
More seafood. I noticed, no live crabs like at Seafood City where feisty Lolas would be whacking the creatures along with children tormenting the crabs with tongs.
A variety of bangus (milk fish) - butterflied plus stuffed (embutido style). My parents would love that.
Popular Filipino condiments:
"Tentay" was a brand I hadn't heard of before as well.
I was surprised to see these, Thai fish cakes (tod mun pla). I picked up a package to enjoy later this weekend.
In the refrigerated aisle - Filipino breakfast meats, tocino and tapa (we already saw the longanisa earlier, ha ha).
Plus frozen lumpia - handy if you don't want to make it yourself and if you don't mind frying those things up. I don't fry stuff anymore. I would rather buy my lumpia from JNC Pinoy Foodmart.
There were many kinds of ice creams here (including mochi):
Loved the font for "best Philippines".
Selecta was another brand as well as the more well known Magnolia. They had all the flavors that most Filipinos like, ube, jackfruit, macapuno, mango, mango plus cashews plus some other interesting combinations (corn, corn and cheese, ube and cheese, avocado). The prices are about $7.59 and up (a bit pricey but standard for Philippine ice creams).
Nice and new carts...for now.
Some of the
Ice cream plus flavored Skyflakes. They don't sell the plain in this size, only in the big plastic tub.
I haven't seen these anywhere before - these are rolled wafers filled with cashew nut powder. It's kind of messy to eat if you break the roll.
The mami noodles are for pancit mami (a soup made with chicken broth, boiled eggs, chicken, and green onions). I also bought some lobster ballz for a future soup.
The damage today, $50 (there were more things that I bought but didn't photograph). I signed up for a rewards card as well. They only have four checkout lines, of which only two were open. There is also no conveyor belt so if you are buying a lot of items, be prepared to place them on the counter and wait for them to be rung up before putting more stuff on the counter.
Island PacificSeafood Market
865 East H St.
Chula Vista, CA 91910
(618) 754-6851
islandpacificmarket + the so far, meager reviews on you know where (three so far)
This will be my new "go to" store for Filipino vegetables, seasonings and certain cuts of meat. Plus a fall back place when I don't feel like cooking. It's still very nice and new and has everything I would want in a Filipino market, so yay for this place.
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