Nations Fresh Takeaway Dinner

Normally I would not consider doing a review of takeout food from a grocery store, however this situation is a bit different. Tonight I decided to try Jackson Square's new grocery store, Nations Fresh Foods, and their prepared foods for supper and the results were tasty and interesting.

At 5pm on a Saturday afternoon the place was packed. This could be due to the fact that a Rush concert is taking place at Copps Coliseum tonight and all the other places to get food in the area were full to overflowing. However I don't think that was the case because there were a lot of people who did not look like your typical Rush fans buying actual groceries, not just takeout as I was. I'm glad to see this because it brings people and cash into the downtown core. What I'm most pleased about Nations Fresh is that their prices are competitive to other grocery stores in the area. Also, when I compare what we paid for supper tonight to what we'd pay for delivery we actually saved money. For two people and a selection of eight different items we paid less than $25 and there are leftovers for tomorrow.

From the buffet where items are sold by weight I got some of the pork ribs. Three medium sized pieces weighed in at about a half pound and came to $3.77 . The ribs were very tasty and had some sort of an Asian seasoning. I could definitely taste soy sauce and there were delicious spices without too much heat but a very nice flavour. There was no fat or gristle in the pieces that we ate and they were nice and meaty.

 

These beautiful deep fried shrimp purses were very good. Filled with chopped shrimp they were not greasy and had a nice crunch when you bit into them.  I didn't use the package of Miracle Whip because that would have been too rich for my tastes and they were fine as is. $2.79 for four.

The chicken dumplings were plump and full of delicious chicken.  Lightly pan fried after being steamed, they were soft without being too doughy. $2.29 for three pieces.

 

 Not everyone is a fan of eggplant like I am but when I saw that there was a stuffed eggplant dish I had to try it. The baby eggplants were baked and had a meat filling which looked like cooked ham. I didn't care for the meat filling but the eggplant itself was very good. I paid $2.29 for six pieces.

 

Also for $2.29 you get a container with six torpedo shrimp. They were nothing special but were tasty.

 I really liked that there were some prepackaged vegetable salads that you could just grab to add to your dinner. This is seaweed salad. I've never eaten this before and it had a nice flavour although the consistency is a little offputting at first as it's sort of gummy when you chew on it. $2.79 for a container.

 

 We both really liked the Sweet & Sour Carrot and Turnip Salad. It had a vinegar dressing, but was really fresh and not overpowering like some coleslaw salads you might try. $1.99 for a container. I highly recommend this. It's healthy and very tasty.

 

These are "Green Tea Cakes". I assumed that because they were in the hot foods counter that they were savoury, but when I bit into one I discovered that it contained a slightly sweet red bean filling. Very delicious and I almost thought it was a chocolate filling at first. These were so good that I ate two. They were priced at $2.29 for three cakes.

So now I'm very full and have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. I'll definitely go back again because there's just so much to try and there is so much variety. We joked that if the zombie apocalypse happens that's where we're heading because you could survive for years off the food they've got there.