HG is ambiguous about Whole Foods. The produce is very good but is madly expensive as is almost everything else in the store. Whole Paycheck, indeed. But, there are values to be found. Whole Foods sources great, and very affordable, chicken. Their bread is very good. And, in landlocked Santa Fe, WF is HG/BSK’s only viable source for seafood. Oddly, it turns out that WF makes very good, robust, fairly priced sandwiches. And, today WF gave HG a very welcome surprise. The hungry old guy moseyed around the Japanese carry-out food section and ordered a bowl of “Spicy Chicken Noodle In Broth.” It was a very big bowl by any standard and filled with cellophane noodles, juicy dark meat chicken, straw mushrooms, baby bok choy, lemon and lemongrass. Slices of jalapeno pepper added heat. The broth had taste and body. The big meal in a bowl was totally hearty and delicious. It cost $7.99. Yes, Exquisite Maiko and fastidious SJ would sneer at this quasi-Japanese dish. But, HG intends to get back to WF at least once a week to slurp down this treat.
I have that noodle bowl frequently, so happy there is a WF half a mile from home, on Hampden. Usually start our weekly shopping trip,at WalMart up the street, and finish it at WF.
Glad you’re eating well, Rob. We preface our WF shopping with a stop at Trader Joe’s. The two grocers comprise one foodie heaven.
Well, you are so lucky to have such a lovely WF in Santa Fe. We have a new one on 57th & 2nd in our non-neighborhood (The Middle East) and we call it “Half Foods.” Produce is kind of enh and sometimes seems (is?) weeks away from its original home in Calif or Chile or Budapest. Hot foods are generally AWFUL and look like a bad deli. Oh and they are as over-priced as over-cooked as underwhelming. Lots of green lasagna that lives in the trough from 11am to 11pm. Yum. Service is kind but hapless. No one mans the Cheese Vault – that’s how pricey it is. A Vault of fancy cheeses that wish they lived at Fairway and had a kind word or a cheese advisor near them. And here’s the verbatim dialogue we have at the cash register. Employee: Did you find everything you were looking for? Us: No. Employee: That will be $32.50. Do you want a bag? Oy. Don’t get me started but thanks for sharing!
Well, Stevie, that’s what happens when you leave the West Side–and Zabar’s, Fairway and Citarella’s.