[froggie]

Hi,

Does anybody know of an Indian grocery store in Wan Chai area. I guess Causeway Bay or Central would also be okay.

I met this really nice guy who works at a ParknShop (he said he comes from Pnjaab) and he mentioned a store near Times Square. He did not know the address or the exact name, something beginning with Gurudev or Gurudas. Does anyone have ideas/tips?

Thanks.

[kombuchakid]

you are looking for the Oriental Provision Store, which is immediately behind Times Square on Sharp St I think.
Once you have made contact and noted what they have, you dont really have to go there as they deliver. Right now they have a brilliant basmati from Dehra Dun.

[froggie]

Thanks kombuchakid.

Just the information I needed. I guess I just need to go there the first time around to check it out and then they can deliver.

[ldmonica]

I guess u r looking for "Indian Provision Store" (contact person -Gurdev S. Brar).
34 Bowrington Road, Wanchai.
Ph:- 2891 8324.
They have fresh vegs - methi and all, u can also order some home made samosas.

[HKFella]

Some days when you visit you may find they have very little stock of anything worthwhile at the shop itself. Awaiting replenishment in a few days (even for dals)! Taking orders over the phone and home delivery seems to be their preferred modus operandi.

[froggie]

Thanks for all your tips, all of you.

I stopped by there a few weeks ago and stock did not seem to be a problem. And for things that they do not have, they just lied to me outright and took the order and payment anyway.

I ordered about $600 worth of things the first time around and besides the fact that they did not call to confirm delivery, like they had promised, they delivered much later that they claimed they could. They sent substitutes (unrelated products) for things they did not have in stock and said they would come "tomorrow" and replace them. They never showed up.

The second time around (a week later), the fellow recognised me as soon as I called and said "o yeah, I forgot to send the replacements". Okay, things like this happen, I had forgiven him even though he did not apologize.

On my second order, again just as large, he confirmed in the afternoon he has stock of these items and then when his delivery fellow showed up, they had not brought everything that was on the invoice. They said they did not have stock and would deliver "tomorrow". Same old story again and when I refused to pay for items that were not delivered, it was a long story and discussion.

I would not recommend these fellows to anyone. It is more like dealing with the Indian government. I'm going to take my money elsewhere. I have orders for between $600 and $1000 weekly for the family, sure they can consider offering better customer service. Terrible, this store.

If any of you know them, you might want to bring this up.

So, my question now is, does someone know an Indian shop that knows what customer service means? If so, please let me know, otherwise I would rather spend more money at some of the more expensive stores who care for their customers.

Sorry for rambling away, but I am just shocked at the attitude of the IPS fellows.

[goodfood]

Hi Froggie

These two stores are the only ones I know of though I've never bought from them as we get our stuff from India whenever people come over. Going by your experience it seems that we've been better off not ordering from these stores. Regarding alternatives it depends on what stuff you're looking for. You might find lots of close substitutes in Hong Kong.

For example you can get readymade chapatis ( patak's brand) and roti-prata ( thats the brand) from any Park n shop supertsore and tortillas ( close substitute again) everywhere. Same for bottled Indian masalas, pastes and spices - P&S and Wellcome superstores. And high-end ones at Oliver's ( Prince's Building) and Great ( Pacific Place) . Basmati rice ( and of course all varieties of Thai and Australian rice) available too. All standard veggies available at wet markets. Some very Indian ones are available in the Bowrington road wet market.

You won't get stuff like ghee or dal but you're better off getting those from India when people come over. As for us there are a few things that feature on my request lists to anyone coming from India - green chillies and mustard oil and Biryani and kababs ( bought from our favourite Muslim joints in Cal and Bombay, frozen and flown over.)

[HKFella]

Thanks for spelling kababs right. My years of research support the following conclusion: 'Kababs' have half a chance of being outstanding in taste and texture. 'Kebabs' are pretty much always a dead loss. No marks for guessing why.

[rani]

Froggie,

I've ordered from 2 other stores which seem ok. Like GF we tend to get a lot of stuff from India as well. So my orders are relatively small.

A couple of things:

- Best to pay on delivery.
- Check the items expiry dates and freshness of veggies before paying. If, anything looks dodgy just give it back to the delivery guy.

The stores are: Kiran's in TST - 2723 6781 and Family General Store in Wanchai/Aberdeen- 2553 0815/ 2553 0915

Good luck!

Rani

[maverick]

Does anyonw know of an Indian /Pakistani store on the Lantau Island?