After Nina and I had lunch at the café Wednesday we went shopping. We almost never do that and it's fun. I bought cherries and asparagus and bananas, I wanted tuna salad to make sandwiches but to my surprise they didn't have any, so I got some at Kensington Fine Foods later. The cherries were Bings for $2.99/lb, an amazing price. They taste fabulous. The asparagus are marvelous. The tiny bananas were underripe. The one I had coated my teeth unpleasantly. I will wait several days and let the other one ripen. The big bananas are ripe but I haven't had them yet and if they get too ripe I will compost them. I like my bananas w/ green tips. I was surprised to see I hadn't written an update in 12 years. I'm here a fair amount and will bypass Monterey Market, which is closer, to shop here. They have excellent kosher salami they slice for me and then I freeze it and it lasts forever. Nina's going to be out of town next week so I may go back to the café for lunch and then get more cherries, asparagus and whatever.

We came here on Saturday for the first time since they have a nice bulk section for teas and tea containers. I also needed a number of grocery items for my French artichoke soup. I found everything here including Canadian white mushrooms and loose leeks which are usually sold in huge bundles in other stores. I was able to find everything I needed. Their prices are competitive with Sprouts with some items such as their canned anchovies being more expensive. Their prices are a little lower than Whole Foods. We got there five minutes before opening and there was a line of people waiting and I anticipated an amazing supermarket experience with this being the bigger Berkeley Bowl (West Berkeley Bowl). In the front of the store, there were tons of berries and I was impressed by the quantity. Strawberries were very ripe but lasted two days in our fridge. As I got into the back of the store, I noticed a less attractive setup and there were dead ends that led to no where. It was difficult to find items and I had to ask several employees to locate items. In terms of brands, I would say there's more variety at other stores but this place really shines in terms of fresh produce. My Canadian mushrooms were so fresh and soft (the freshest I have ever encountered) and the leek was also extremely fresh as were my organic tarragon herbs. I spent 55 minutes inside the store to locate 15 items. Other than produce, my original interest was their chai teas as they have 3 kinds of chai (orange, ginger and classic). The bulk section didn't have organic classic chai and what I found was very powdery and looked like poor quality so I ended up with four small pre-packaged bags of classic chai that added up to a little more than half a pound. Maybe their tea is sourced from China because the smell reminded me of a Chinese herbal store and nothing like chai. In fact, the smell was so lacking that I actually had to add my other chai (from a tea specialty company) to their chai to get more spice in it because their organic chai has almost no spice but the tea leaves itself were high quality. I probably won't be coming back for more of their tea. The tea is relatively cheap (22 dollars a pound compared to the 35 a pound I paid online elsewhere) but it didn't have the flavor I was looking for. This supermarket is a bit disorganized and very chaotic. It's a stressful environment and I was happy to leave. Due to the significant number of produce they sell here, you will likely be over or undercharged for items. For example, they have three kinds of ginger (Chinese, young and Hawaiian). I found two incorrect charges on my receipt. However, I can understand a place like this is difficult to get the prices right for every item. Unless it's a big difference, I simply let it go. Lastly, they have large Cymbidium orchids here for about 47 dollars each (two pink ones and one yellow one) and I know many places don't carry this kind of orchid so that is pretty cool.

Love BBW! Always an interesting experience whenever I go. I went there for some specific type of nuts/seeds and I must've looked lost cause I ended up getting help from this lovely girl named Crystal (from bulk). She stopped everything she was doing and asked if I needed some help. As soon as I told her what I was looking for, she knew exactly what I was talking about and found them for me! She was so sweet and knew her department very well. I usually go there for my specific items and dip, but since I've never seen the bulk area so clean and organized, I actually ended up walking around and grabbed way more items than intended. Keep up the good work!

This is a great place to grab plenty of fresh produce, veggies, and groceries at good prices. Staff is super helpful and the layout of the massive space is well organized. You can find almost anything here! I also love to buy lunch here, they have the best Korean fried chicken wings !!!

The guavas were looking mighty fine today--- filled a bag up. And when one takes the risk of cart accidents and hip smashing amongst alll of the many customers, the brands and the specialties they carry is simply amazing. I'm amazed, anyway. I can never live too far away from such a veritable paradise!!

Hot bar, 10x superior to any steam table food at WF or any other vendor. This is how food is supposed to be prepared, low cost and fresh. Rotating menu online. The ethiopian veg entrees are far superior to any restaurant. Berber chicken very different than the berbere recipes on the internet. This one is cooked over time and is boneless. Produced a red grave which goes well with rice. Very different than a roasted recipe. Tender. At least 4 boneless thighs in there with mixed in breast meat. Better than most restaurants because they take time to cook. Difficult because you cant make more if you run out and if you make too much you have a food waste problem reducing profits. Never see this in the current restaurant environment. The ethiopian dishes only exist at this location. There is someone very talented back there cooking. Gomen Bewat different than internet recipes. Superior to American version of greeens plus ham hock. Was more like stew. Carrots were cooked long enough to melt in mouth and not be baby food mush. Sweetness complimented melt in mouth soft greens. Slightly spicy and smoky. Different from the misir wot blend of allspice snd cinnamon. Like hearty vegetable stew. Some thickener in there made it different. Maybe lentils. Excellent. Browned caramelizd onions and carrots contribute to slighty sweet taste to offset the spice. Takes time to cook. Collard greens no resistance. Fibers completely broken down. No stringy sensation. 9.99 for 2 entree items. Noodles or rice included and doesn't cout as one of the items. Highly recommend. Sandwiches also cheap, around $10-$11, nothing as delicious or as reasonable as the hot bar. Buy and eat in the other building across the breezeway.