fasea

Afternoon.

Just landed in sunny Vancouver and so far all is fantastic. Getting used to the city, found a flat to rent (fairly expensive buy hey) got insurance, t'nternet and hydro all sorted .... even signed up for zip-car which seems a good idea for occasional car usage (in London too apparently)

Anyway shopping trips so far have been fairly interesting, prices seem to vary hugely but the biggest thing for me is trying to find a decent block of reasonable priced mature cheddar (pref not orange in colour) and some tea bags that dont cost $10 for a small box and taste something remotely like tea at home.

Oh also decent brand of olive oil, I presuming the normal european brands would be overly expensive.

Oh and chicken breasts - which arn't battery farmed ..... and any idea what a "frying chicken" is? looks like a normal chicken for roasting to me.... cant imagine sticking in a deep fryer?

Any chance someone could help me out and give me a few recommendations?

Cheers

Andy

el_richo

Whole Foods

Oink

I buy Harris tea bags, the box on the right. It's between $3.99 and $4.99 for a box of 120. Best tea I've ever had. You can get it at any Indian grocery shop. I go to Sabzi Mandi, its on 51st Ave and Main St.

lmartin999

You are in Canada now. Forget you ever heard of Waitrose and accept that this is now how life is. Welcome to the dream

BristolUK

I think you have Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaws)

I wouldn't say it's mature but the President's Choice brand of Extra Old isn't orange. It's now a house brick shape rather than a slab. It's $6.99 for a 500g block.

It's very nice but not what I'd call mature. More 'tasty' if they still use that word on cheese packages in the UK.

For proper mature you need brands like Baldersons - for some reason this is in a different part of the supermarkets and is, as you've probably discovered, much more expensive.

Probably more local folk can point you in the right direction for alternatives.

Piff Poff

We are quite happily drinking Tetley tea, which is readily available.

snowcandy

We brought 3 big bags of Tetley tea bags with us, they lasted 6 months, longer than expected as we now drink mostly coffee. You can get Tetley Bold in Superstore, but the PC English Traditional tea is pretty good too.

As for the cheese...you will soon learn to get over it. (it's taken us 8 months) Canadians are always so surprised when we tell them how much cheaper their own lovely Canadian Cheddar is in the UK.

Aviator

Sainsburys?

dbd33

Balderson's is available at Costco.

Boy d

cheese is expensive...get over it. There is a decent cheese shop just off west 4 th:

http://www.buycheese.com/

As for tea. The tetley here is no different than the UK. Regualr black tea is called orange peakoe for some reason here.

Shopping here is different than the UK. Watch for specials, buy cheaper, better quality fruit and veg at corner grocery stores, get a costco membership but don't get carried away and buy 2000 bog rolls, a flat screen and a boat!

There are a couple of Brit shops around but they are horrifically expensive and best avoided.

There are plenty of olive oil brands...just experiment.

welcome to vancouver.

Boy d

there are decent higher end places here too you know. IGA, Capers, Urban Fare, Choices etc come to mind:

iaink

I drink the PC English (no longer breakfast) Tea FWIW.

Piff Poff

Surly that's the fun part about Costco, trying to fit the wonderful new things you've bought into the car to bring them home while muttering 'But we only came in for a bag of triangle buns...'

Tuppence

I'm sure there is cocaine in those triangle buns. They are bloody great!
We bought an electric piano in Costco once

Piff Poff

It is rather amazing what leaps into a trolly when going around Costco, we try to avoid the whole up and down the aisles now, works out a bit cheaper for us