I just moved to Toronto for reasons. All the grocers around my place are stupid expensive, 3 bucks for a can of tuna expensive. Any Toronto anons around that can point me to some decent places to bulk shop? Especially decent prices on meat. I live right by a subway so location isn't much of a concern.
No Frills
Freshco
check flyers for Metro
>>7852047
No Frills and Freshco are where I used to go in my old town but I haven't seen any yet. There's a Metro about a 35-40 minute walk from my place but when I checked it out it was Sobeys tier expensive. Do they have good sales or something?
Any idea about which of the Toronto farmers markets are best? I went to one but it was pathetic.
>>7852037
Go out to the edge of the suburbs and hit the Chinese markets. Chinese do not overpay for groceries.
>>7852066
this t.b.h I only shop at Chinese grocers now (except for most meat)
>>7852075
You don't "trust" Chinatown markets. They're all caveat emptor. But the ones where old women and young pregnant women push you out of the way are gonna be the cheapest ones with the highest turnover.
>>7852118
Gotcha, so maybe avoid the meat in china town.
Food Basics.
chill with the fucking racism
>>7852126
Depends. NYC's Chinatown is the best place to get good heritage breed chickens cheap. Don't know if the Chinese in TO have a similar network set up. You can be sure the pork has high turnover, though, because the Chinese fucking love pork. I wouldn't buy beef there.
I only know the lay of the land a little in TO, because I was talking Asian food with a guy from there just a few days ago.
>>7852149
By high turnover you mean it's decent quality? Any highlights from the conversation? I'm not used to not knowing the tricks for saving money in a city.
Fortinos is fucking great for this stuff. If not then go to Metro or No Frills.
>>7852134
Fuck you.
Here's some things I've learned 1/??
No Frills - Usually dirty
Produce is shit quality,
Meat is good quality but expensive,yet the prices on club packs and sale prices for meat are great (eg. 1lb ground beef is like $7, but a club pack of 3lbs is around $13).
Anything packaged is great when it's on sale. (cookies, yogurt, etc)
>>7852134
kys
>>7852203
High turnover means is's not sitting in the store for very long, so it's likely to be fresher than a place with low turnover.
My biggest takeaway was that the best Chinese restaurants and markets have moved to the edge of the burbs.
2/??
Sobey's - Clean
Produce, great variety and nice quality, decent prices.
Meat, is good quality and average price you find pretty much everywhere else.
Sobey's is generally more expensive, but their sale prices are decent and usually have ongoing deals (3 cans of tuna for $4).
3/??
Metro - Think Sobey's
Pretty much the same as Sobey's in every way except they lean more towards Loblaw's as they have more stuff like a Tim Horton's and like 4 aisles for Beauty Supply type junk
4/??
Valu-Mart - There's only like 3 or 4 of these.
Produce is a limited selection and expensive, but great quality
Meat, probably the best quality of meat I've found, the price is pretty decent too, just not a huge selection at time (I've gone in and there would be no ground beef left)
Valu-Mart is generally more expensive which sucks because they're a No Name/President's Choice place. They don't have many sales, and don't have anything really beyond food. They have maybe 2 aisles for toilet/cleaning stuff and its all expensive as hell.
5/??
Food Basics - Think of it as discount Sobey's or Metro.
>>7852281
Thanks for these anon. I live across the street from a Valu-Mart actually, the one beside the Woodbine station. It's really damn expensive like you said. The meet isn't as bad as it could be but I'm used to only buying meat on really good sale and in bulk. Still getting through the 30ish pounds of ham I bought a few months back for example.
Price match everything at Walmart. Buy only at their minimum price. For example, if something keeps 6 months, then only buy a bunch of it when it's sold at its 6-month low, price matching if necessary. Check dollar stores and ethnic grocers for non-perishables, meat, bulk and baked goods. Stores near subway stations are almost always overpriced, you will need to go to the fringes of the city to buy cheap groceries. Bring your own scale in case the store doesn't provide any or cheats. Acceptable price points:
<$1/lb vegetables, ginger, dried beans, pulses, grains, chicken thighs, offals
<$1/3lbs carrots
<$1/18 shoots spring onions
<$1/5 bulbs garlic
<$1/375g whole grain pasta
<$1/640mL pasta sauce
<$1/L milk
<$2/lb mushrooms, asparagus, fish, pork, fruits
<$2/675g whole grain bread
<$2/12 large eggs
<$2/10lbs potatoes, onions
<$2/750g yogurt
<$2/kg oatmeal
<$2/475mL salad dressing
<$3/lb beef
<$4/3L canola, sunflower or peanut oil
Always check quality before purchasing to avoid time loss to make returns.
6/??
Wal-Mart - Always busy as hell
Produce, decent quality and price
Meat, same
only about 10% is fresh produce and meat, the other 90% is frozen, canned, packaged stuff.
>>7852296
you're welcome, i'll post a few more...and i live just down the street, that's the valu mart i go to
>>7852305
Appreciated. A-are you that 7 foot girl with the big tits?
7/??
Freshco - Discount-type, usually busy, not always the cleanest.
Produce, decent enough quality, good prices
Meat, quality and prices vary, you have to check often (they sell those packages that have the 1lb of ground beef in a tube 3 per pack for $10, which most stores do now, however sometimes if you check on the other side of the aisle they'll have the individual packs for $2 or $2.50...wtf)
The prices are pretty good, They have lots of stuff there too, and a very decent international aisle (asian, indian, portugese, jamaican, etc).
Personally, I really like this place a lot.
>>7852308
nope. i'm that guy with the 7 inch dick
8/8
Loblaws - TOO EXPENSIVE.
Longo's - TOO EXPENSIVE.
Shopper's Drug Mart - yes they have groceries, and they cost more than Valu-Mart.
hat's enough, i gotta go for a smoke. hope this help you anon, and anyone else.
>>7852322
Freshco was my favorite in my old city too, especially for the international aisle like you said. Mostly because they sell this little bit of heaven for cheap. Can't even eat pork not marinated in it anymore.
Any of them that are particularly easy to get to from here?
>>7852037
where in toronto are you at? i can recommend some stores all over
>>7852347
Literally across the street from Woodbine subway station.
>>7852329
sure. There is one at Victoria Park and Gerrard. On the Noth West corner is a Loblaws, ont the North East side there's a plaza with a McDonalds and a big parking lot, on the other end of the parking lot is a Freshco...and they do have that hot pimento sauce.
>>7852361
Perfect thanks. A bit of a walk to haul groceries back. I guess I'll buy one of those little wire carts.
>>7852364
usually takes me about a half hour walking. If i do go there I usually drive because it is a mission.
>>7852355
if you don't mind commuting go to scarborough there are plenty of cheap grocery stores there. the -tai stores are hella cheap but if they're too out of the way for you the no frills are still accessible.
the only downside with no frills are that they're often kind of run down or their meat sections don't have a huge variety. it's not a huge deal if you're not a gourmand/bbq fanatic
and they don't have fresh seafood like places like metro/chinese grocery stores do
S-Should there be an Toronto /ck/ meetup? seems like there's a lot of us on this board
>>7852382
Are food and transportation free?
>>7852382
im here also
>>7852374
Maybe my walks are taking longer because I'm stopping to look at a lot of store windows since I'm new here. When I bought my vacuum just getting to the Canadian Tire near the Metro took me about that long.
>>7852377
I mean I think I'm in early Scarborough, it's just off Danforth. There's definitely a lot of chinese veggie stores around. Haven't seen any fish in any of them though which is surprising.
>>7852382
I'd bet that at least 50% of the Canadians on 4chan live in Toronto. Whenever I see it mentioned in a thread there's always at least one other guy saying he lives here.
>>7852037
Get most of my veg at a local run grocer. Get some meat and bread etc. from a local shop as well. Both run by azns. Other than that, No frills is always good, but can be a bit further depending on where you live.
>>7852037
downtownish go to oriental harvest or hua sheng in chinatown, or head west to nosso talho for meat it's right by bloor/dufferin
midtown west go to parkway on eglinton
midtown and north go to summers best yonge/sherwood, fruits basket/fresh buy yonge/davisville
if you're lookin for snacks and premade shit to eat you can hit ding dong bakery in chinatown or uhh there's a banh mi place right by oriental harvest with kickass shit
anything else champ?
>>7852439
Well thanks anon, really specific. So mostly in china town then? I think I've been to a few of those places during visits before I moved actually. I'm heading down near Dundas Square tomorrow so maybe I'll make time to stop by Chinatown and pick some things up.
>>7852449
sure thing
for fresh fruit and veg and stuff like frozen fishball you can't beat chinatown senpai. sriracha is also cheapest there if that's your thing
the meat and fish are fine too but ground beef at nosso talho i think still have a major discount when you buy 5lbs worth. lotta shit in that area is overpriced hipster junk now though so be careful.
if you're feeling lazy you can pay pretty good prices and get pretty good stuff with way more selection at any T&T. there's a fucking gargantuan one at the end of cherry street and their hot food counter is great.
unfortunately i don't know your area very well anymore. i remember it as a somewhat dangerous dump where i played baseball. hope it has improved!
>>7852489
Any things I should watch out for when shopping in Chinatown? I'm pretty paranoid about the whole idea.
It doesn't seem so bad. I asked a bunch of people around here before I moved and they said there was never any danger. Apparently there was a murder near the subway station like 2 years ago but the guy got caught.
I noticed there was a Cosco near the North York subway station, any opinions on it or Cosco in general? I haven't been since I was a kid and a 50$ a year membership means I need to really save to make it worth it.
>>7852501
re: chinatown ALWAYS have cash. normal rules still apply such as avoiding stuff that's thick with dust or is suspiciously discounted in price.
re: costco if you can split the membership with a roommate or coworker or smth then it's a no-brainer. there's no cheaper way to get good personal hygiene products in bulk as well as laundry detergent and dish soap. you can take advantage of their meat section by buying in bulk and flat-pack freezing it in ziplocs(which are also very cheap at costco) 3-6 months worth at a time.
if you have any pets their nature's domain food is good and cheap also
>>7852562
I'll ask around if anyone I know wants to split a membership then. Makes sense.
>>7852569
yea do that. you can easily save a couple bills a year buying that stuff and paper products there. also cottonelle wet wipes in bulk for keepin that butthole soft and clean
>>7852382
I'd be In!!
Not really /ck/ but since there's a thread, anyone know a good barber in TO? My scalp is burning up, this shit is too luscious.
>>7852673
crows nest in Kensington. I think thats what its called
>>7852382
I'm in.
New Generation Sushi
Fresca Pizza
Ginger
I say we meet at one of these places and continue on from there
>>7852328
Lol
>tfw I'm a longos produce clerk and I agree with this
>>7852864
>new generation sushi
holy hell that place is so good
>>7852936
bloor, close to bathurst and spadina
>>7852296
Try to visit near the end of the day you'll get a better chance at getting a nice deal on the meat.
30ish mins away by TTC you can visit Sun Valley they have their own butchery section and they do all the cuts themselves. Decent quality and the sales can be pretty damn good
Lemme break it the fuck down for ya.
Loblaw's/Superstore
>God-tier selection but very expensive, expect to pay $1 extra on most things in exchange for the selection, stores are immaculately clean and employees are always around, President's Choice brand is excellent and often cheaper than name brand things
Sobeys
>expensive as all fuck with a worse selection than Loblaw's, expect to pay $2 extra per item because go fuck yourself, stores are also immaculately clean, their store-brand shit generally sucks ass
Metro
>Metro is bizarre, it's about the same price as Loblaw's, but with worse selection, there is a HUGE variance in individual stores where some are very nice and others are disgusting, their meat sucks but they have decent sales
No Frills
>the cheap Loblaws, shittier selection but very low prices and you can get a lot of President's Choice stuff here so that's a plus, stores are generally at a Bulgaria-level of clean
Frescho
>the cheap Sobeys, not much different from No Frills, worse selection and stores are usually absolutely filthy and disgusting, but very cheap
Food Basics
>if you'd like to know what it would be like to live in Kabul come to Food Basics, the absolute filthiest most horrific grocery stores you'll ever find in the western world, Cambodian women giving birth in the frozen aisle, homeless men brandishing knives in the produce section, old Chinese men fondling the chicken, and 2 cashiers, one of which is "on break" her entire shift
>>7852126
>>7852075
>avoiding Chinatown meat
More rectums for me then, fags.
>>7853984
Holy fuck this is true... It's too bad you guys don't have fortinos out in T.O
>>7854012
lol wuuuuuut
I would totally eat those with pig brains. What goes with brains and anus as a side?
>>7854190
can you get your hands on some testicles or polyps?
>>7854190
Well, you got the top and center, so go for the bottom: pickled pig's feet.
>>7853984
that food basics breakdown is so true. i'd rather go shopping in 28 Days Later's post-breakout London.
