House of Spice

HUGE selection and the entire Stash Tea collection if I’m counting correctly. I went for smoked paprika and came out a happy customer. Extremely nice family who run it and the associates helping in the back are great too. Prices are worth it; they pay high rent and that’s why you’ve seen places dissapear. A darn Loblaws at College may take away some business once it’s built. Show them some love!

This sure beats the little spice rack section in the supermarket! A vast collection of just about any spice you can think of, with many of the common ones in multiple sizes so you can buy as much or little as you need. And to top it off, the products are generally fresher, better quality and less expensive than the supermarket stuff.
The owners are really friendly, and if you are looking for something that they don’t carry, they will be happy to tell you where you might be able to find it. Plus they often have some killer salsas for tasting at the front with great tortilla chips. Just a caution for the milder tastebuds: when they say hot, they mean it!

Just want I needed!!! Spice! Perfect place to get all the spices I need when I’m cooking! They have all different kind of spices. Can’t find something at your local groceries store? You will probably, find them here.

You need to add a little flavour to your life? Or how about just your cooking? This is the place to do it! They have every spice under the sun here and are apparently known to have some of the best Indian spices around.
They have a ton of dried fruits here — from the typical pineapple, mango to the more harder to find dried strawberries and kiwis. I bought the dried strawberries so I can’t wait to try it. They have teas here as well,
If you are looking for anything Carlos will help you find it! Apparently he used to work at this spice shop when he was 15yrs old and when an opportunity came to buy it… he did since he knew it inside out!
This is one of the only places in the city apparently that sells Jamaican Blue coffee as I was told

Love carlos and his staff…
fabulous store filled with alot of stuff, and if you cant find what he needs he will try his best to get it for you. hes stocked some obscure goods for me that im very grateful for.
too bad his organic section is almost none existent and thats only due to demand dropping. other than that its a wonderful store

So far the best I can find for spices. They seem to have the best selection, yet smaller than the others. Very friendly, helpful and better organized. I think I found a new favourite store. The guy at the front is like a traffic cop, he directs you to exactly where to go to find what you are looking for, so you are in and out fast. So helpful and pleasant.

Such a great place to buy spices! I was able to find everything I wanted, including fenugreek leaves, which I couldn’t find anywhere else. Indian spices, Chinese spices, Southeast Asian spices… they had it all. The person manning the store was very helpful and knew exactly where everything was. Variety was great, the price was right, and this is my new go-​to.

From Asafoetida to Za’atar…this business has it all.
—I’m so proud of myself for thinking of spices that start with A and Z without the help of Google ;)
Seriously though, this business has a great selection of spices packaged in medium-​sized bags. A bunch of nice blends as well. The staff are generally friendly. Spices are usually relatively fresh. I would say their offerings lean a little towards the Indian spectrum of spices, but it’s fairly all-​purpose. I would characterize the prices as reasonable for such a range of offerings. You could find some of them for more in a grocery store or perhaps less in a far-​flung ethnic neighborhood, but the price/​selection/​value proposition here is overall pretty good.
They also have some bulk food offerings like quinoa, rice, etc. I would say their prices are a little on the high side, and I prefer to shop for such items at Bulk Barn. Their coffee is not freshly roasted, and I won’t be getting that again. Thankfully, MoonBean is just down the street. The thing they’re weak on is dried mushrooms… they were completely out during my last visit.
OVERALL, this is the central Toronto place to come for most of your spice needs. If they don’t have it here, you’ll probably have to order it somewhere online. Prices are reasonable and selection is good. As with many places, you’ll have to pick and choose what you buy there: definite yes to spices, definite no to coffee, comparison shop the other bulk goods.
P. S.: No credit cards accepted.

House of Spice has a vast selection of not only spices but other bulk foodstuffs as well as condiments, specialty grocery items and coffee. For a small place, they have a good selection, but their prices are much higher than Little India.
What keeps me coming back here are the smaller size spice bags. I use smaller spice bottles to make sure that my spices stay nice and fresh. Nothing pisses me off more than filling up my bottle and having ¼ of a bag of spice left. Saving it does little good since by the time I need more, the spices will have lost their potency and freshness. House of Spice makes these half bags that fit perfectly into my dollar-​a-​piece– labeled– with– a –nail art– pen spice jars. I never have to waste– except for an extra buck or two for my spices: P
Don’t buy things like Ghee or Paneer here because the prices are frightening. In fact, I would say most things are over priced– especially for Kensington, but for a one stop spice shop with the little spice baggies I love, they’re A-​OK with me.

This place is fantastic… every spice you could imagine… but the best part is the new owner… he is so helpful and friendly… the experience was amazing. I will be back !

I don’t frequent spice houses often enough to give the best review but Unilocal keeps on saying «love your tip, give us more!» so OK then. It’s a very nice place with very polite staff and accepts Interac which is apparently the exception in Kensington market, although Chocolate Addict also accepts Debit. Although he didn’t have the exact spice I was looking for, the owner helpfully redirected me to where i would assuredly find said spice.

This is more of a specialty Indian spice shop than the other stores carrying bulk spices and nuts. The size of quinoa bags and brown rice bags is too small and no value for price. But the price for the spices and Basmati rice is good value.
The dijon mustard is unbeatable at $ 2.99 for a regular sized jar! There are many hidden treasures in this Indian spice shop. Take the time to scour the shelves.

I was a bit underwhelmed after seeing all of the positive reviews. The place does have a fair amount of specialty spices. It seems like more of an Indian grocery. There were some asian spices too.
Was looking for kaffir lime leaves but they the ones they had are dried which kinda sucks. Had to hit up the cherry st. T&T which was a bit of a trek for me, but well worth it because they had fresh ones.

House of spice has awesome spices, teas, sawces and food from around the world.
Came in here on a random walk around Kensington and walked out with a giant jar of wildflower honey and Darjeeling tea. I likes :)

Great place, reasonably priced and fresh products. I find the sizes of packaged herbs and spices is too much and things tend to dry out. This place is perfect for pick up just the right quantity of something. They have everything from dried cranberries, tea, and coffee beans, to spices, chocolate and barley.
Behind the counter, there are jars filled with candies and other treats which always makes me feel like a kid again.

Good: they have nearly everything you might want to cook, sauce, spice or douse your otherwise bland cooking. Also, if you only want a tiny bit to try something for the first time, the owner is more than happy to make you a small container of it without having to commit to $ 3 of something all at once.
Bad: freshness of their coffee… give it a miss folks. Also they don’t take Visa… Come on man! I’m here buying a huge sack of stuff and you won’t take Visa? Also the inside of the store could use some love… It’s starting to look very run-​down.

Most shops selling spices are either very touristy or very yuppie and often overpriced. This one is a nice exception. Very good prices on spices, unpretentious, and as other reviewers mentioned they have everything. Before you are tempted to make a substitution in a recipe because you don’t think a seasoning is available, try this place.

I was looking for a place to get Indian spices in order to recreate some of my mother’s recipes, without having to go out to Little India. This place was perfect, I had a field day. I found 4 different spices (haldi, jeera, chili powder, cumin seeds) which I needed for all my Indian recipes plus picked up on some typical spices (black pepper). It looks like a family run operation that does its own grinding and packing. It felt like being in a typica Indian shop on Dixie Road, but on a much smaller scale.
The only downside was when I asked the staff what the difference was between chili power and hot chili, she wasn’t able to offer a sure answer.
I recommend this place for anyone in the area, looking for Indian spices!

If you’re on the hunt for small quantities of obscure ingredients like asafetida, fenugreek, cardamom, arrowroot flour, kaffir lime leaves or blue mung beans (OK, I made up that last one), House Of Spice is the only place to go.
If you need a tiny quantity of a spice they’ll rebag/​weigh out a small portion for you so you don’t waste a whole bag. They also sell smaller cans (125 mL) of tomato paste and coconut milk, which is SUPER handy because you never need an entire can for a recipe and the rest usually goes to waste.

Zing-​a-​zing-​ah! I agree with Mike here — the Indian spices and snacks are surprising for a place outside of Little India. Anything that saves me a trip on the TTC is good in my books.
Because of its relative large size compared to those of the closet-​sized shops on Baldwin’s spice row, it can afford to stock these exotic spices. Most items, however, are already prepackaged, so if you’re only looking for a small bit of garam masala (the smallest package I got will probably last through to my grandchildren’s lifetimes), it is probably in your favour to find a bulk place in Little India.
If you need spices downtown, though, this is definitely a good place to go.