Shalimar India Food Spices

by Jennifer N.

Everything you need -- spices, dals, masalas, parathas, and sweets -- in two aisles- not bad.  Also, you can get a pretty good veg samosa in the back for under $1.  And there's convenient parking.

by Kiwi H.

Food and spice wise, this place is fantastic. Actually, it's amazing for spices, and for someone like me spices are very, very, very important in any good kitchen. Nuts and sauces and breads and things to mix together and marinate things in, yum. The prepared foods are delicious and cheap and it's so great to get the easy-to-prepare foods and things there, definitely a nice change from typical frozen quick-meal dinners and tasty to boot. Nice tea selection too, though I like Timeless Teas on Newbury for that quiet little tea-heaven charm.The goods though, are a slightly different story. I mean, it's cool that they sell some shishas/argileh/hookah pipes and supplies here, but for better price and quality I'd either check out the internet or somewhere like Arax's in Watertown for more selection (and better prices for what you're getting, usually) as well. It's also cool that they actually sell some accessories etc here but the bangles are really expensive! My Pakistani friend wouldn't let me even buy a few because she said it was too painful to watch me spend that much on them when she could get me some for a whole ton cheaper - and then I thought about it and even I could get way cheaper ones next time I went home. So, pretty to look at but personally I can't spend that much on those things knowing I could get them for less at home or elsewhere.BUT foodstuffs-wise, this place is wonderful. Yum. 3.5 stars for the place overall.

by Beth R.

I've never eaten here, but the grocery store is a regular stop to get authentic pita bread(not pocket bread...yuck!)  -- it's in the freezer section with the naan. This is the only place I've found that regularly stocks it. I also love getting the reasonably priced spices and tea. The aisles are narrow, the shelves are crowded and not particularly neat and the cashier can barely be bothered to help you -- but  it's a great resource in a handy location.

by Liza H.

A great place to buy spices. The variety is unbeatable, it will make Whole Foods selection look  for lack of a better term................Bland.  The prices are spectacular.  You will be best served to share your booty with friends, as old spices lose their zing.   The mango kulfi is wonderful but not often in the freezer case.

by Katia M.

Shalimar is not only fun to say, it's the best market market to get your daal, rice, and Indian spices.  The wonder of mixed spices in panch phoran.  The spicy goodness of sambar.  The popping wonder of black mustard seeds.  Oh yes.  Cinnamon!  Peppers!  Curry!  Garam masala!  Star anise!  Thanks for helping me in my quest to learn to cook this great cuisine, Shalimar.

by Hubert H.

I can only speak for the back of the store eatery which houses a deli serving a wide variety of standards like tikki masala and daal. I actually had already eaten beforehand so I was fortunate to sample the meat and vegetarian samosas which were of a high quality, but not textured inside or delicate enough outside to be great.The inside of the eating area has a cool raised area that you can eat with your friends and get a view of the ... deli. The menu is slightly difficult to navigate.Oh, the guys who dished our food are really nice and patient with us.

by Brian S.

I'm a huge fan of Indian food, but due to a tight budget I decided to venture into cooking my own rather than ordering out all the time. This place has a massive selection of Indian specialty foods and common kitchen food items. I really appreciated seeing the wide variety of spices, pastes, grains, and beans they offer. Being someone who has difficulty storing the spices that come in bags, I was very glad to see glass bottles of various sizes with corks that you could buy to store your various spices and herbs. Prices are better than what you'll find in supermarkets, especially on the spices.Their collection of ready-made Indian dishes (the ones that come in a box) was pretty impressive, so if you aren't ready to dive completely into Indian cooking there are plenty of alternatives. My only complaint food-wise was the lack of decent produce. The whole store in general is pretty crammed due to the small size of the property, so it may be they just focus more on the dry goods to save space. I ended my shopping trip in the back of the store where The Dosa Factory makes take-out or eat-in Indian treats.As others have said, I would have given this place five stars if it wasn't for the unfriendly and often unavailable service.

by Brian S.G J J.Samantha D.Sarah M.Kerri O.

I'm a huge fan of Indian food, but due to a tight budget I decided to venture into cooking my own rather than ordering out all the time. This place has a massive selection of Indian specialty foods and common kitchen food items. I really appreciated seeing the wide variety of spices, pastes, grains, and beans they offer. Being someone who has difficulty storing the spices that come in bags, I was very glad to see glass bottles of various sizes with corks that you could buy to store your various spices and herbs. Prices are better than what you'll find in supermarkets, especially on the spices.Their collection of ready-made Indian dishes (the ones that come in a box) was pretty impressive, so if you aren't ready to dive completely into Indian cooking there are plenty of alternatives. My only complaint food-wise was the lack of decent produce. The whole store in general is pretty crammed due to the small size of the property, so it may be they just focus more on the dry goods to save space. I ended my shopping trip in the back of the store where The Dosa Factory makes take-out or eat-in Indian treats.As others have said, I would have given this place five stars if it wasn't for the unfriendly and often unavailable service.Good spice selection. Actually sells spices in bottles and jars. Bit overpriced for some things. It's well worth it.I wish I could give this four stars, and maybe I even should of, but unfriendly and unhelpful employees really color the memory of an experience at a store.  With that said, this is a nice and convenient little shop with many of the basic Indian foodstuffs I need to make my home cuisine.  I appreciated the well-priced spices and variety of beans, dals, and rices.  I will possibly go back here for practicality, but will be looking around for a place where patrons are treated nicely.I went to Shalimar India Food Spices to try and find tea masala seasoning.  They had it, but it wasn't very good.  I just wasn't very impressed with this store.  They had a ton of stuff crammed into a small space, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me.  Also, there was nobody there to help you with the hot food items.  There was a frozen food section but to be honest a lot of the items are available at regular grocery stores and I think they're cheaper there too.This is where I get a bunch of my teas and spices.Why?  Fresh and cheap.  I used to live 1/2 block from here, so it was SUPER convenient.  It's also extraordinarily cheap to get take out here.  All I could want, for about Ten BucksSo, I pick up tea and spices, and grab a couple of Samosas for the ride home, and I'm one terribly happy camper.  I match this trip, with a jaunt to pick up art supplies, at you know where, and it's worth the ride over.I miss Central Square.There is absolutley nothing wrong with that

by Colin N.

Got some lunch there today. $5.50 for chicken curry. When the guy asked me if I wanted it heated, I said yeah. He put the styrofoam container in the microwave for 3 minutes. Am I going to die?The amount of food was pretty good. I've got half left in the fridge for when I get hungry later.It's not the classiest place to get indian takeout, but it's pretty inexpensive and the quality of the food is good.

by Kassia K.

The selection at this Indian grocery/café is decent, though it could be better. I was happy to find things like jaggery (gur), rice laddus, muruku, somph, dosa batter, and curry leaves when I went. They also carry imported copies of Filmfare magazine, which makes me very happy. What I really love about this place, however, is the café - it has the best selection of chaat items in Boston. Pani puri, samosa chaat, and pav bhaji (among others) are all available here. The pani was lacking on the spice kick, but I still drank all of what was left over. The samosa chaat is great, though still not as good as what I've had in India. The only problem I've noticed is that the quality of the chaat varies depending on who makes it. The last time I ate there, an old man put the chaat together, and his spice combination was much better than the first few times I'd eaten there. They also microwave a lot of items they've pre-prepared, so it's definitely better if you go when they've freshly prepared the samosas or aloo tikka.Shalimar Café also has a sweets counter. I had some a few years ago on Diwali - from what I can remember, they were quite good. I've sort of lost my appetite for Indian sweets, but I'd still recommend trying them out. They have gulab jamuns, rasgolla/rasmolai, chum chum, a selection of burfis, jalebi, etc.