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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Take it home Going international at the Chenal Kroger

Posted by David Koon on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Tired of the tiny parking lot at the Hillcrest Kroger and with a few hours to kill while shopping for groceries, I decided to drive out to the revamped mega-Kroger at 16105 Chenal Parkway recently, just to see if bigger really is better. While I was able to resist the urge to partake of the furniture, candles, toys and fancy cheeses they have for sale, one thing that did impress me is their fairly amazing collection of international foods from around the world.

For example, they've got an Indian section as long as the cereal aisle at the Hillcrest Kroger, full of boxed instadishes, sauces, curries and big bags of India-grown rice. Ditto on separate sections for German, Italian, Middle Eastern, English and Asian foods, featuring drinks, spreads, dips and condiments I've never seen anywhere else. Example: tins of Spotted Dick (seen above, with the author) from the English section. Spotted Dick, it turns out, is a flavorful, fruit-filled sponge cake served with custard, not the CDC-level venereal disease I first imagined upon seeing the label. You learn something new every day.

In short, it's worth the trip out to Chenal Parkway just to pick up some of the cheap boxed stuff and condiments from various sections (I scored some boxed cous-cous, orange chicken sauce, and a jar of hot German mustard in a tiny faux stein). Might be great, might be awful, but you're never going to know until you try.

Tags: Kroger, International foods, spotted dick

        
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Even our Kroger down in Benton has upped their stock of international foods - it's fun going through and seeing what all they've got. My favorite find is that they carry Marmite, which I know a lot of people hate but I think is awesome.

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Posted by Michael Roberts on 02/14/2012 at 2:58 PM

I got a great chair of easy Indian sauce, a Mexican fruit punch, and some good salsa.

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Posted by sammy on 02/14/2012 at 3:30 PM

The Chenal Kroger also carries a selection of DG brand Jamaican sodas in a variety of flavors from pineapple (my favorite) to lemon lime, root beer to cola. I am also appreciative of the fact that they sell HP sauces and other great Brit foods.

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Posted by Kat Robinson on 02/14/2012 at 4:26 PM

Still, for day-to-day best selection of food items and meats, Edwards' Food Giant on Cantrell can't be beat. Besides, I'm not sure my vehicle can make it that far west. Is that still in Pulaski County?

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Posted by cecil on 02/14/2012 at 4:30 PM

Some of us in Batesville call this "Disney Kroger" since it's like going to an amusement park of a grocery store. It's a lot of fun.

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Posted by Bendito on 02/18/2012 at 10:48 PM

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