Nagilah Market

One hundred and eight street (108^th) between the Grand Central Parkway and. Queens Blvd has four blocks of some really interesting business regarding food to shop in or eat at.
Waking to my vision center I stopped abruptly to re-​read a peculiar sign advertising Bagels, Pizza & Sushi, all under one roof. The temptation was there to have a closer look at this odd trifecta, but it was not to be on this day.
Today I walked into Nagilah Market to stroll the aisles and see what was offered behind the large glass paynes of the stores front which looked like a hybrid of Odd Lot meets Wholesale Liquidators with the window dressing of someone on a bit too much peyote.
The inside of the store was disheveled and if you could make out any methodology of rows, your wiser than mouse than I as it felt like some experimental maze for humans. Items everywhere, pricing labels were few and far between and no logic to placement of anything. But after getting my bearings I began to fill my basket with many extraordinarily well priced Middle Eastern products. Cans of sardines, grape leaves, teas, spices, oils and more.
Upon check out I was asked by the man behind the counter what were my intentions with a particular spice I selected. The other four men who were at the counter, seemingly all buddy buddy with the owner stopped talking to listen to my response. «Purely experimental» I stated as was the case. «Oh» he stated, «I thought you were a chef». Whatever the answer, he proceeded to take the plastic container from me, walk to a large area of loose spices and grounded me up a fresh batch. How cool is that?
A full basket of cooking goodies ran me a Jackson and I once again have the coolest contents in my fridge of all my cooking buddies, for now.

A great old style market that does homage to both oriental spice shops of the Near East and Asia Minor as well as to the charming old shops of NYC that are harder and harder to find. Stocked with a plethora of delicacies and spices from Iran, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, etc., along with bulk nuts and fruits, this shop is worth exploring. Its owner is a great Persian fellow who will share wisdom from behind the register. Worth a visit…