Masala Bazaar

With large supermarkets buying up all the available retail space (Tesco being the worst culprit — buying up a store every four yards and then charging astronomical Metro and Express prices) the landscape of supermarkets has become a little bleak and predictable over the last few years. It is nice, therefore to find an alternative option in a location you’d expect to the the usual Tesco.
Masala Bazaar has an odd look, in that it has the appearance of a recognisable chain, which is a little confusing at first.
The isles of the supermarket area are well-​stocked with a good range of Indian dishes and with a large Asian population in the area it must attract a fair amount of custom.
There is an emphasis on the large scale and some of the products are aimed at larger families or businesses. The range is excellent and it is a fine place for fans of Asian cooking.

So, I’ve often wondered what was in Masala Bazaar. It looked very modern and supermarket chain like, but then seemed to have clothes and a restaurant.
Being so intrigued I allowed myself to be drawn in to have a look around. I only managed the lower portion — the food/​supermarket bit — but this was mainly because I was overwhelmed!
I consider myself a bit of a foody, and I like to cook exotic and foreign foods, but even I found myself mystified! It was like an Aladdins cave of exciting looking packets. Particularly the frozen section. Everything you could ever want, but frozen. Apart from the things that looked really intriguing but I had absolutely no idea what they were, my favourites were the frozen garlic, ginger and cassava. I’ve looked for cassava for years for a variety of reasons. And I couldn’t believe the price. As a student you could go a long way to find some basics that would make any tin of beans taste good for such a reasonable plrice.
So then, I found the fish. No idea what they were, but they were massive and beautiful. None of this pallid floppy nonsense in a polystyrene tray we’ve got used to. And so many prawns — and again, compared to the supermarkets they were more than reasonably priced.
Spices galore, from handy home kitchen sized packets to the wonderful ‘caterers corner’. And vegetables. In fact, you could spend hourse trying to even figure out what they are!
The staff were really friendly, and I’ll be popping in there next time I need to restock the fridge, freezer, store cupboard, pantry…

This is a quaint little supermarket just off Crwys road that sells most things but mainly of Asian origin. Students can enjoy 10% discount and they also sell whole frozen fish. A lot of the stock they sell is cheap and wholesale sizes.
That can be somewhat of a problem as speaking as a student some of the quantities Masala Baazar aren’t helpful to one person. However that said like others have pointed out it would be very good for larger families. Not everything is huge so I could still see myself doing my weekly shop here the only really stopping me is the fact there is another supermarket closer to me.

Fans of Asian foods will love wandering the aisles of Masala Bazaar, a modern mini supermarket that opened about a year ago. This place stocks all the standard groceries such as milk and vegetables, as well as a fantastic range of far more interesting Indian, Chinese, Thai and other Asian produce.
While supermarkets are improving their ranges of ‘world foods’, they still only cover the obvious items and are a long way off matching specialist shops like this.
The only problem with Masala Bazaar is that some of the items are sold in rather large quantities, perhaps aimed at local restaurants or bigger families rather than individuals. Still, it’s an absorbing store to browse around, and not all the items come in bulk. In any case, if you don’t fancy buying ingredients to cook there’s always the restaurant and take-​away upstairs (with 10% discount for students!).

Bored with the limited food options of multinational supermarkets (particularly the Roath-​enslaving Tesco)? Masala Bazaar has a host of exotic Asian-​flavoured answers plus a first-​floor restaurant to boot. A lot of the prices are nearer wholesaler than supermarket, which is comparable on products such as curry ingredients. Where Masala trumps the competition, however, is in supplying foodstuffs — from huge whole frozen fish to fruits entirely foreign to the average Brit — that you won’t find anywhere else nearby, under one roof at least. The service isn’t exactly what you’d call speedy but that chiefly adds to a degree of charm and sensation you aren’t merely being shunted out the door to make space for the next customer; something that definitely can’t be sniffed at.

Masala Bazaar is a mini supermarket much like Co-​op and stocks a variety of food and other products it also has a similar theme to an ALDI or LIDL providing a whole range of products, specialising in south east asian food.
Large jars of spices, curries, ethnic foods that would sometimes be difficult to find in other supermarkets. It’s not exactly a wholesale retailer but provides multipack items. I would recommend if you want to stock up or if your looking for a packet of jalapeño crisps or something exotic.
10% discount for students.

Okay, so there aren’t many times when you are looking to buy 36 packs of poppadoms in one box. And maybe you don’t need a vat of chilli sauce… but Masala Bazaar is absolutely fantastic!
You can buy a whole range of ethnic foods, as well as some other more mainstream types of foods. Most of them do come in bulk, which can be a little problematic (and why I’ve only awarded 4 stars for what would otherwise be a five star place) but you can sometimes manage to find smaller loads.
The service doesn’t stand out in my memory as being brilliant but as we were buying the food we were all talking and trying to organise the meal that we were having as a house (there are 7 of us, with two vegetarians, so it took some doing!) so it’s probably just that we kind of ignored them…