RT mart sometimes has western style spices in their import aisle at a lower cost. I bought some red pepper flakes there.
1 Like
Thought I saw garlic powder (not garlic salt, garlic and herbs) at Costco Zhonghe two months ago, but not recently. My wife said garlic prices have just spiked so grab any quick.
Where can I buy cloves in a physical shop in Taipei?
Google search gives you the usual line-up of online shops. Boy, do I hate that. Is there a way to filter those out in Google search results when trying to find a brick-and-mortar shop?
Try baking shops. I doubt you can serch individual shops online to see what their stock is except to call them on the phone and ask, but generally bake shops are going to have ingredients like various spices other than just baking stuff. There is one in xinjhuan near the fujen university mrt station.
2 Likes
Good idea, I think there is one not far from my place, but I remember, a long time ago, I went there to see if they had cardamom, which they didn’t.
2 Likes
You might want to call for anything exotic though… It’s a given they will have Italian herb mix or oregano and garlic powder, but cademon is probably not standard there. Hell even nutmeg is hard to find.
I got whole cloves and cardamom pods from a baking shop in Kaohsiung, don’t give up too easily
Also, traditional medicine markets have been useful for some things that are otherwise difficult to find
4 Likes
Forin Mart near 小巨蛋 had cloves last time I was there.
2 Likes
where are you in Taipei?
trinity indian store
city super (sometimes )
local apice shops (check the traditional market near you for stalls that sell chillies etc.)
4 Likes
Oh, yeah, their website lists a lot of things I want to buy, cloves, anis, cinnamon, fennel, flax seed, turmeric, and cumin.
There are on the fifth floor? Is this an actual shop, or an office (online business)?
2 Likes
Unless they’ve moved it was the ground floor at street level last I went. It’s a bricks and mortar shop, but they do seem to have a lot of online business too. Call before you go on the day you go to make sure they are opening.
2 Likes
Yeah, Trinity should have them. Bigger baking stores likely do too, but I’d try Trinity first, especially if there are other spices you want to buy.
There are a couple of physical stores around Taipei - the one near Zhongxiao Fuxing is on the 6th floor of an apartment building* and the one near Taipei City Hall is at street level, but they’re both physical stores.
(*I find this location a bit weird too, but there’s a clearly marked buzzer and the door has been held open anyway the last few times I’ve been.)
3 Likes
I’ll try this one first, cause it’s closest. Thanks for pointing me there!
1 Like
I went to Costco today and bought a container of McCormick’s Taco Seasoning on impulse. It feels like cheating, but it does address the hassle I described back then
2 Likes
Got my cloves and some other spices from Trinity. Good to know that they have all those spices there. 
5 Likes
Has anyone seen celery seeds anywhere lately? I haven’t searched since the plague but would love to have some.
They seem to have them in Trinity as well.
FYI, it might be that they use the Indian name on the packet in the store (e.g., “Sabja seeds” for basil) - they do this with a couple of them.
2 Likes
Thank you. I’ll have a look.