Wholesome Choice- Irvine. A Market, and then some.

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog.  Just some friends writing about what they ate. Today, it's Cathy writing after she ate.

One Saturday morning, The Mister and I drove North up the 5, took the 405 a few exits, exited at Culver street, went South two lights and stopped here.
Wholesome Choice.  The location used to be a Wild Oats (Henry's) Marketplace.  It is quite large inside. When you first walk in, there is a line of people waiting for hot Sangak (flatbread) to come out of the oven. I don't take photos of people and so could not get a good one of the ovens. You'll have to go there and see it for yourself.

The bread is four feet long, made from mostly wheat flour,  with a starter from the day before, is topped with sesame seeds,  costs $2.79, is placed on a piece of brown kraft paper directly from the oven, HOT.  I will show you photos later. Here is a story of Sangak .

It is a regular grocery store, with fruits, vegetables, Halal meats and pretty much the normal Mediterranean stuff.  Good prices. Very clean.

Nuts- in all varieties and prices.
Preserved foods and olives from around the world...
Then, at the other end of the store, you notice the cheeses...and what is all that?  Looks like steam trays.

 
Menus above each area (there are Indian, Persian, Chinese, Thai as well as soups, cold deli and bakery sections ) 
In the soup area, there is Haleem.(a wheat-based porridge) 
There is a  Gyros and Schawarma area.
A by- the-pound deli area...
So many different Feta cheeses are available...
as well as any other sides you can think of (fresh hummus is $4.49/lb) 
...so much more that I haven't shown you.  

These are just some of the desserts.  There is a fresh baked, by the piece baklava and in house made croissant case...so much.

So anyhow.  The Mister and I were hungry and bought some stuff, paid at the cash register and sat down (there are tables inside just past the cash register and also tables out in front of the store).
Here is a photo of one large styrofoam tray, filled with half a baked chicken(with *wonderful* saffron flavor) on top of what must be a pound of Addas Polo (basmati and saffron rice with lentils, currants and dates) ($7.99). The rest of the photo is the Sangak bread we picked up when we walked in.  At the midpoint of the Sangak bread...see that hummus in a box...one half pound. The box is 4 inches square...wait.
Here is a photo of the hummus with a normal size plastic fork...the bread is HUGE.  It is soft, slightly spongy in the areas where it is not too thin, tears easily tastes so good...the sesame seeds make it more flavorful.
We also got one Koofteh ($3) Ground beef, rice, herbs and yellow split peas in a vegetable stew.

A wonderful place, not that far from here. There is a location in Anaheim Hills also.  If you have some free time, take a short drive North. Then stop, shop and eat. 

Wholesome Choice Market 18040 Culver Irvine, CA 92612 Open 7-11 daily (Food Court area open 11-8 daily) website

 5755 East La Palma Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 Same hours

(The Irvine location is 84 miles from our East County home and the Anaheim location is 106 miles from here.  The Anaheim store is about 1/3 larger, formerly had been an Albertsons.  That location has a gelato area in the food court.  Really good gelato.)

Comments

[ed (from Yuma)]

Wow! Looks amazin. I love fresh baked real bread. Yum. Do you make deliveries? ;-)

[Darlene]

I love Wholesome Choice! I used to go there once a week when I worked in Irvine. The wait at the Persian food stall can take up to 30 minutes during the lunch and dinner hours. Mmmm... sumac...

[Faye]

That post just made my day! But made me sad that we don't have something like that here in SD (or do we??). All the items looks so fresh and yummy. Nice post!

[Cathy]

I can deliver halfway and meet you in El Centro, ed :). The bread turns into a cracker overnight, however I only made that mistake once. If you freeze it, it comes back to life in the toaster oven. Of course, that would mean you had some left over...
As you can see from the photos, we were there very early, Darlene and missed the crowds. Not all the food was out, but enough for a good meal was available at 10 a.m.
Hi Faye. El Cajon. The only grocer I've found making the fresh bread (besides Ali Baba making it in-house http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2009/12/ali-baba-restaurant-el-cajon.html ) is the El Cajon International Market http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2008/06/el-cajon-market.html, which happens to be on the same block as Ali Baba, just across the street, but is a very small store. It has a small steam tray area that is wonderful, but again, maybe 10 selections...nothing liek Wholesome Choice. However, yesterday I saw new construction a bit farther East on Main Street which looks promising based on signage.

[Carol]

Wow, that bread is huge! That and some fresh hummus would make a great snack right now.

[caninecologne]

hi cathy - wow that place looks fantastic! there's something similar to that (but in much much much smaller scale) at north park produce in chula vista down where i live. they have a wide variety of international items, a cheese, sausage and olive bar, as well as a newly opened mediterranean deli.

[Cathy]

Oh Carol. The baba gannouj I got last week in Anaheim Hills is made with *chunks* of fresh grilled eggplant and is so good. I didn't mention it, but the fresh bread is *hot* through that piece of butcher block paper. It is a wonderful snack that can turn into a meal...
I went to the El Cajon location of NPP just yesterday, CC, and it has gotten better, and there was a fresh flatbread at the registers in front. Not hot, but definitely made that day...and the deli counter was much better than it had been, but Wholesome Choice is the standard to meet. It's worth the nice drive.

[RT]

Hey Cathy,

I LOVE Wholesome Choice, and I'm amazed you managed to get any pictures without people in them. You must have gotten there around opening time because every time I go there there are people everywhere! (Upon further review, I see you were there at 10am.. I'm still surprised at the lack of people) Especially since the aisles are somewhat narrow.

The steam tables also give you an insane amount of rice. I can never finish it all in one (or two) sittings. Some day I will work up the patience to wait in line for the sangak, but until then I will stare at your pictures and drool =P

[Tina]

Hi Cathy,
I'm so jealous. That place looks wonderful. The tacos in Yuma are great, but boy do I miss good food shopping options.
Tina

[Cathy]

The store opens at 7 a.m. RT, and the Haleem (and its add-ins)is available then (see the sign), the ovens are baking at that time also. (The day we went was one of those post holiday sales days, which happens right after a day of a lot of eating and so grocery stores are not crowded). There was there was plenty of parking available in the lot. Leave here early and have an adventure. It's a great way to spend a morning and then still have the day ahead of you.

Hi Tina-we happened upon it and now it is a destination. Love it here.

[Cathy]

Faye- I just went to the re-opened Vine Ripe ( http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/10/episode_fivewee.html ) Market in La Mesa and they are making fresh round flatbreads in the bakery. I got one for 99 cents-it wasn't hot, but definitely was made today. Vine Ripe now also has a steam tray area and "100% Halal" labels in the Meat area. I got a menu and the restaurant attached was very busy at noon.