my visit to Foodland in Pasadena, South Australia

[Chayote]

This place was a joy to behold. Never in my wildest imagination could I have envisaged this place. It's like a supermarket on steroids! I'll take you on a guided tour (as best I can) and show you what really impressed me.

[Chayote]

What you see when you first enter the store is the herbs and spices section. It's all self service. The herbs and spices are in covered bins with a scoop and you simply open a paper bag (environmentally good for recycling) and scoop in the amount you want, note the code number and then drop the bag onto a scale, enter the number and it prints out a label. I wish I could describe the aroma... the only word that comes to mind is Heavenly.

https://i.imgur.com/t5GaqCK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rrMaKqV.jpg

[Chayote]

There is a full bar of different salts in all the colours of the rainbow and peppercorns in an equal number of colours. I prefer the pink salt and it's harvested here in South Australia.

https://i.imgur.com/dcXM1fy.jpg

[Chayote]

Moving on, there is a small section of herbs from the Outback. These have been used by the First Nation people for over 40,000 years. I might be more adventurous on the next visit. The Saltbush herbs interested me.

https://i.imgur.com/2b7jXNb.jpg

[Chayote]

The next section is for beautifully dehydrated citrus and other fruits. The apples on the lower shelves were so thin and bright white. I imagined having a jar of mixed slices on the kitchen bench of our new home. The prices seem out of this world but each slice weighs next to nothing.

https://i.imgur.com/SYh3vgS.jpg

[Chayote]

Next was dried fruits of every kind. They looked amazing. They also had containers already made up with dried fruit salad. I bought some dried pineapple... my favourite. Along the lefthand side are nuts and seeds

https://i.imgur.com/paccdse.jpg

[Chayote]

There were many different flavours of honey. This is one section where people can't help themselves. There are different sizes of jars or container to buy. There is honey in each of the stainless steel vats. It all smelled so divine.

https://i.imgur.com/26Y1V9m.jpg

[Chayote]

Leaving that section, I went through the fruit and vegetable sections. There were items I'd never seen before, including the Buddha's hand lemons. No idea how they are used but they look amazing.

https://i.imgur.com/iJuC0Hq.jpg

[Chayote]

The Deli! Oh my gosh... it had everything, including wine tasting. Different days have different wines to try.

https://i.imgur.com/IyTlU5k.jpg

[Chayote]

The cheesebar had cheeses I'd never seen before. I'm sure there were some to taste but by this stage we were getting near to closing time so we tried to just see what we could with the given time we had. Apologies to the lady who was caught bending forward in our photo shoot

https://i.imgur.com/jRzf5Za.jpg

[Chayote]

The alcohol section was very tempting. That day they have Gin tasting with about 30 different gins up for tasting.

https://i.imgur.com/uDXcytK.jpg

[Chayote]

Of course, no 'supermarket' would be complete without a baby grand piano. We missed hearing it being played. Next time we go there we will make sure we have lunch within earshot of the baby grand.

https://i.imgur.com/fzVJz0y.jpg

[Chayote]

...and last but definitely not least, the patisserie. Oh my God... their creations looked superb. Expensive but irresistible. Each individual cake was $10 but you could choose four for $35. I chose the dark chocolate and hazelnut log on the left side. We bought a peppermint chocolate one for John who has *never* eaten anything like that before. He loved it, btw. He asked me if it was a daily treat, weekly, monthly or yearly... or just a once in a lifetime. I told him next birthday I buy one and put a candle in it for him. There were strawberry cheesecakes that were made to look like a strawberry... it was on the extreme right hand side. The full cakes didn't have a price tag... it probably means if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

https://i.imgur.com/abPxi3a.jpg

[Chayote]

Thank you for allowing me to show you how Julia and I spent our time yesterday. Thank you also for waiting until I'd finished before posting... *LOL* This is the longest post I've ever made. I can't wait to go back and spend an entire day there. The areas shown in the photos occupied approximately half of the store... the rest was just set up like a normal supermarket. Other than the patisserie, prices were just normal... I bought a packet of half a dozen handmade bread rolls for $2.30. I'll definitely be buying all my herbs and spices with the bonus of only buying the quantity I need. I think the minimum amount of each spice was 10g so, depending on which you were buying could be as little as 15 cents.

Next sightseeing trip we have that involves food I'll do another page... Over and out...

[Home buddy]

WOW! Thanks for taking the time to post all of the pictures and descriptions, Chayote! I love exploring new grocery stores and finding out of the ordinary food items that my local stores don't carry.