I went to the little corner store on the day of my arrival in Nessebar and as expected, the prices were a little elevated. But I was able to gather a few things. Requiring a larger stock for the kitchen I searched for a bigger supermarket. There are a couple of Lidl’s but not close enough for a walk. What I found was a chain called Janet, so decided to give shopping at Janet Grand Market a try.
There are Two
Closer to my residence and the town, is Janet City Market, a much smaller and prettier version of the Grand Market. This store will work perfectly for a short stay in the city of New or Old Nessebar. Curious what the larger flagship store looked like, I took a walk this morning to the Grand Market.
Janet Grand
Basically, it’s a huge warehouse right at the outskirts of town. It reminded me so much of a Costco from back home. I approached from the rear and at first, I was confused. The entire back of the store is selling wholesale to smaller vendors around the city. It was full of hustle and bustle, lorries, people and chaos. I though surly this cannot be the main entrance? It was not. I walked around to the other side of the building where I found a sliding door and the entrance for the public.
I have to say, Janet Grand is not fancy in any way, shape or form. It is extremely utilitarian. There are two floors, the upper being household goods, think TV’s, washing machines, bikes, bedding etc.
The bottom floor is where all the food, liquor, and kitchen supplies are at.
Produce
The produce is terrible. There I said it. The selection is small and what I saw was not attractive or appetizing.
Cheese & Cured Meats
There are loads of cheese and cured meats! I mean loads. If I knew Bulgarian it would have been so interesting to see what all of the cheeses were. Besides the meat and fresh cheese in the deli cases, there were two full cooler isles of each.
Fresh Meat
Quite a small area but it had all of what you would expect from a meat department and more. Europeans definitely eat nose to tail much more than we do in the west. It is always interesting to me to see how these other cuts are displayed. I saw tripe, tongue, hearts, kidneys, well you name it, it was there.
Liquor
Wow, so much supply! Much more than any liquor store back home. The wine selection was to die for. The vodka on sale was only 10 LEV or $8 CAD for 1 litre bottle. 😲🤪 I was not expecting the huge selection of boxed wines and liquor in decorative bottles as well. Some were very pretty indeed.
Grocery
I was astonished at the selection in this store. Yes, it is a huge shop but wow, if you can’t find what you are looking for here, I’m not sure its available down in this part of Bulgaria. Again, I wished I could read the language, to know what I was looking at. Very few products had English on them, but the ones that did were unique and new to me. Protein pudding, protein mouse, apple flour etc. etc. A chef would have a marvellous time exploring these isles.
Deli
If I was able to figure out what some of these items were, my bag would have been bulging with purchases. The ready made food looked really good! Salads, meats, fish, sauces, so many delicious looking things that would make for the best beach picnic!
The Bakery
Okay, saving the best til last. The ready to eat cakes and dessert type goodies were absolutely beautiful. I must admit I was salivating and thinking of my dad. The fresh bread section was tiny, which surprised me. There was an abundance of pre packaged bread products though. I was hoping to find some fresh sweet bread like items for my brekkie, but alas, no croissants or anything even closely resembling them.
I did purchase a cake from the refrigerator section. It was cheap, only 3.6 LEV, and once again Carol, you get what you pay for. 🤣🤣🤣 It is awful! Dry as the Sahara and filled with jam! EWWWW. Oh well, perhaps I’ll return another day to indulge in one of the cased delights.
What I did Buy
2 packages of coffee creamer, awful cake, 1 bag Trolli Kiss candy, 1 box of choco biscuits (for afternoon tea), 1 bottle of protein drink, 2 packages of coffee for the espresso machine, 1 package of coffee for the Turkish stove top method, 1 bottle of fresh orange juice, 1 bunch of green onions. Cost 26 LEV or $19 CAD.
