Batgung

Re: the plain white rice: Can you actually buy ordinary rice in 1kg packets in local supermarkets? I normally only see it in the 5, 8 and 10kg sacks.

As for the booze, (a subject with which I have a passing familiarity...), Vanguard (the old China Resources Stores) have 10% off some beer on Wednesdays, but it tends to be the more generic tinned lagers rather than anything high end. If you're concerned that your beer is cold and plentiful, you'll be OK.

I've noticed occasional sales or bargains in P'n'S on wines. Not much, but a few dollars off helps and they also sometimes have a 10% discount if you buy more than 6.

Also, their wine prices have dropped a little since the budget. Wolf Blass Eaglehawk 2005 Shiraz Cabernet Merlot, for example, was HKD65 per bottle, which compares pretty well with it being AUD9.99 the last time I was in Australia (last week). (1AUD = 6.5HKD)

Thanks for those tips on drinks, Odaiwai.

You're right about the rice -- the PnS rice I quoted was the pro rated price for an 8-kilo bag. I know you can get it in 5-kilo bags as well, but smaller than that I doubt. The US organic rice I quoted is actually pro rated up from a 2-pound bag.

I've got a Vanguard across the street from my office, incidentally. It's quite a different feel from PnS or Wellcome, isn't it? Very down-home. I sometimes buy apples and other fruit there, but you have to watch them like a hawk at Vanguard -- I find their staff routinely play dirty by putting fruit into packets bad-side down, putting rotted fruit under fresh stuff, etc. But hey, what can you do to a can of beer?

Does anyone know if HK has all the good ausie stuff like Vegemite, Carlton Draught at supermarkets?

Hi Gweipo;

Why a NZ company decided to name its products 'mainland' is beyond me, but then marketing is terra incognita to me.

I recommend mainland's 'Vintage' cheddar, by the way. Their other varieties are pretty bland, but I find the Vintage very good value indeed. I often buy the 500g package, which on sale runs just under HKD60.00. For that same money you get maybe 200g of good cheddar at the Great cheese counter.

I have it on good authority that either Park n Shop or Wellcome in Happy Valley has a variety of Australian goods, including Vegemite (could be next to the axle grease in the hardware section though...)

Here are the supermarkets in HK that I know:

Mid-budget:
Park'n Shop
Wellcome
CRC Shop (Mainland China owned?)

High-budget:
TASTE
Great
GOURMET (These 3 are owned by the same company that operated Park'n Shop)
City Super
ThreeSixty (Organic, natural and wholesome food)

Affiliated with departments:
Jusco City
Sogo
Seibu

And here's a website I found that list supermarkets and other HK shopping/dinning places: http://ramsss.com/hong-kong/supermarket/index.htm

Hi Alex;

The only place I've seen Yorkshire Tea is Great in Pacific Place, but then I've never looked that hard for it, either, so it may be available in other places. Tetley Tea is pretty widely available, and I like Marks and Spencer's Extra-Strong teabags, which are available in all of their HK stores.

Boddingtons in the 'draft' cans is widely available in HK supermarkets, which is a sign that God loves us, and wants us to be happy, to paraphrase Dave Barry. It runs about HKD14-16 a can, depending on whether it's on sale or not, which right now averages out just about one pound sterling.

Mr Tall

Hi,

Thanks for the useful information about the cost of living in HK. I also gather from some local friends that on an average for a family of two and one child, the cost of living per month, excluding housing and schooling can come to around $ 15000, based on mid-level budget.

I am a vegetarian and wonder about availability of Indian food like, flour, lentils etc. and spices available in HK. Are they easliy available. There must also be some special shops catering to such food items only.

Any suggestions please.
Kind Regards
Amita

Mr Tall, the South Island of NZ is known locally as "Mainland" because it is the larger island, hence, the name of the brand.

Following up on skmama's post some years ago about Indian grocery stores:

These stores also sell things like flour, rice, lentils, other beans, and spices in bulk and many deliver. Of course, whether your HK apt. allows you to store a 50 pound (22.7 kilos) bag of white flour is another issue; but at 170 HK (about $22 US) a bag (7.5 HK / kilo, certainly cheaper than I've ever found in the wet markets or PNS), it might be worth seeing if the neighbor(s) might want to split....

The following prices are 2011 and come from Maharaja's Indian Emporium, which is now located on the 2nd floor of Haiphong Mansion on Haiphong Road, across from Kowloon Park, Exit A at TST; phone: 2756 5611. (A web search will often come up with their old address on Carnavaron (sp?) Road, but they moved about a year ago. I've also bought things from the other stores skmama mentioned (Kiran, Indian Provision Store, etc.) and was happy with the products, but have mostly dealt with Maharaja because it seems to have the lowest delivery minimum (free delivery if you order over 200 HK; the other places used to be more in the 600 HK range when I checked a couple of years ago).

50 pound bag of Blue Bird brand white flour <http://www.bluebirdindia.com/products/maida-super-sifted-flour.asp> (maida): 170 dollars (I think sometimes 180). 1 kilo bags are 12 dollars. For flour afficionados, here is Wikipedia on maida <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maida_flour>. I use it as an all-purpose white flour in bread and baked goods and have been fine with it, but then I never bought cake vs. bread flour in the US either. Our northern Chinese neighbors (with whom we sometimes split a bag) use it for noodles, mantou, huajuan, etc., and like it.

5 kg bag of whole wheat flour (atta <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_flour>)  or multigrain (mix of wheat, barley, oats, corn, and I think a couple of beans - judging by the pictures on the bag!) flour: 60 (sometimes 50).

1 kilo masoor dal (split red lentils): 20

1/2 kg bag of corn flour (not corn meal): 15 (this price is 2010)

I haven't priced other kinds of beans (I've mostly been interested in lentils, which seem hard to find here), but I bet they are economical; I know I saw yellow and black chickpeas and mung beans. Bay leaves and other spices and Indian cooking products are sold in larger bags than you usually get in the supermarkets. I haven't asked about rice, since others in my family tend to prefer Chinese or Thai rices to South Asian ones, but it's probably worth asking.

After an Indian friend recommended these stores for flours and spices, I went down to TST a couple of times to look around. They are all fairly small (groceries rather than supermarkets), so you may need to look a little bit. I think they do a lot of their business over the phone. Anyway, they deliver to the Clearwater Bay area a few times a week, and I've called in an order in the morning and had the bell ring a few hours later! Just make sure you have the correct change; I think Maharaja will take a cheque also for deliveries.

For flour storage, I bought some of those 10 and 5 kg plastic rice holders from Japan Home and have done pretty well with them. Getting a breadmaker helped a lot too in making my way through the flour....