Surprises in jars

...is what this new organic food store on Church Street offers. There are squashes, pickles and some tingling chutneys

Surprises in jars

...is what this new organic food store on Church Street offers. There are squashes, pickles and some tingling chutneys

There's perhaps reason enough to not miss the erstwhile Spencer's Daily on MG Road anymore. We aren't completely certain yet though.

If there is one thing that was missing on the MG Road-Church Street stretch is an actual supermarket that offers both gourmet and regular varieties of grocery, the closest option being Nilgiris at the far end of Brigade Road and the other, well, Food World Gourmet.
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So, we set out with the resolve to shop for our daily needs during a walk down Church Street and hit the sparkling new mps Food Hub.
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The promised organic store is situated on the first floor of a building that also houses a restaurant and a cafe. We weren't expecting too much and henceu00a0 didn't come back disappointed.

The store isn't too large and not designed to attract anyone and that is perhaps what makes it ideal for utility and not impulse buying. There aren't any attractive chocolate/ fruit counters at the entrance. The freezer section at the far right corner isn't functional yet and remains dismantled.

We were informed that it will soon be in place and offer a collection of fresh veggies and a selection of branded cheese. Most of the products here, except those placed in an isolated section on the left are in-house, manufactured organically in West Bengal by a company called mps.

The carefully and categorically lined products did give us the feeling of homemade goodies waiting in jars. We found almost instantly a host of many products that are hard to come by, like pickles, chutneys, homemade jams, squashes and much more.

We found rare items like Mustard Kasundi, Papaya Cashew Chutney, Mango Pudina Squash, Chili Garlic Pickle and a lot more.

Mango Pudina Squash, Rs 72

There are also fruits in small quantities. Besides the preserved goodies on one side, you will find all the regulars- pulses, pappads, ghee and rice (with some flavoured varieties). The section dedicated to organic honey is rather handy. The pricing is fair here.

The section that is dedicated to labels besides the in-house one was a tad dull with not many options to choose from other than some cereal, chocolates and and dietary supplements.
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The part that is impressive is a small toiletries shelf that is also part of the section. So the next time you are grocery shopping at this food store you can also pick up a toothpaste to replace the one that is nearly exhausted at home.

Food Hub may not be high on variety of gourmet ingredients, but we do feel it will work for the kind of products it has on offer. We certainly are going back there to replenish our stock of jams and chutneys.