My Food City Adventure: Lessons Learned and Surprising Finds

Hello everyone. I wanted to share my experience at Food City and offer some tips for planning your visit.

Let me start by saying that I made a few mistakes during my trip, and I hope that by sharing them, you'll be able to avoid some of the same pitfalls.

Food City reviews

~ Food City - wholesale and retail food center ~

Address and working hours:

MOCKBA P.SOSENSKOE, 22-ND KM KALUZHSKOYE SHOSSE, BUILDING #10 (55.600632, 37.470790)

02:00 - 21:00 (NO DAYS OFF)

Food City is a massive wholesale and retail center.

It has 17 entrances, a bus stop, a huge parking lot, and 2 floors with products and services.

We visited Food City on May 9th in the morning without a plan, which was a big mistake.

On the first floor, we found the huge dry fruits department, which alone takes up about 1/6 of the market.

Food City dry fruits The dry fruits department was impressive, with a vast selection of products. The vegetable and fruit departments are also huge, offering a wide variety of fresh produce.

Foods City Fresh Fruits & Veggies Meat, Seafood, Kolbasy, Meat Delicacies, Cheeses & Dairy Products.

Foods City MeatKolbasy, Meat Delicacies, Cheeses & Dairy Products.

Bakery, Canned Goods

Baked Goods, an insane amount of loose-leaf tea.

Weighted tea in Food CityWe skipped the massive liquor section, but it was definitely worth a look.

The elevator to the second floor in Food CityThe second floor had clothing, shoes, home goods, and a food court – but we didn't check it out.

Food City second floor

Things we could've done differently.

Mistake 1 – we didn't plan our trip ahead of time. What to do instead: make a shopping list, research prices, and have a sense of when it's not worth buying.

It's also a good idea to team up with someone to buy fruits and veggies in bulk.

And even better, go with a friend who knows the market and can help you plan an efficient route. Here's a map of Food City.

I have to admit, I fell for the ad again, and the market looked like a pristine space with neat vendors in a uniform style.

But in reality, it's just a massive and scaled-up version of a regular market. Most of the products are the same, it's just that there are 10 times as many vendors as you'd find on a typical market in a medium-sized city.

Each vendor has their own stall, their own setup, and prices scribbled on cardboard, often without price tags – and the vendor will quote you the price from memory.

It's the same calls to come and take a look, to buy, to visit, and so on. The same confusing gatherings of 2-3 people at each stall, where you're not even sure who the vendor is.

The chaos, the noise, the smell of street food – it's all there.

Of course, there are some beautifully set up stalls, with veggies and fruits that look like they're straight out of a magazine.

One of the things I love about this store is that you can find all sorts of delicacies from around the world, like cherries and watermelons out of season, which is a real treat.

Syrian olivesAnd if you dig through the rows of similar products, you can find some really unique offerings, like exotic sweets and parts of game meats that I've never seen before.

Or, you know, just weird stuff that's fun to look at.

But what really stands out to me is the presence of big-name stores with branches on the market. They're all decked out in their signature style and super easy to spot.

For example, Miratorg, Rublevsky, Belovskaya Pastila, Svetofor, and so on.

My second mistake was taking my kids along.

Lesson learned: it's best to leave kids under 10 years old behind.

The scale, maze-like layout, and crowds quickly exhausted my four-year-old. My one-year-old was in a stroller, seemed fine, but I was getting in the way and holding up others. You can walk down the aisles, and the elevators are okay, but there's no infrastructure that's kid-friendly and comfortable for strollers.

And to make matters worse, the kids are tempted by all the merchandise and try to wheedle free stuff out of you – see my rant about the Kinder king size.

Our Purchases

We really liked the products, but by Food City standards, we didn't buy much.

Prices-wise, we could've found something similar, but slightly cheaper, in the stores.

Tomatoes 200 rubles per kilogram. Absolutely delightful. Sweet, juicy, and unlike anything I've had in local stores. We've been eating them for a week, and I'm still blown away by the taste.

Cucumbers 90 rubles per kilogram. Good, fresh, no complaints.

Syrian olives and green olives 400 rubles per kilogram. The vendor suggested we get an assortment of 4-5 types. We got a 500-gram container (200 rubles). I tried a few to see which ones I liked best – ended up eating almost half the container. This is an amazing price for olives, and the taste is unmatched by the canned stuff from the local supermarket.

Mind-blowing assortment of olives and almondsFistfuls of almonds cost 900 rubles per kilo (we paid 500 rubles less) Nothing special, could've gotten them for 100-200 rubles cheaper.

Dates cost 750 rubles per kilo They're huge. I'm obsessed. One date fills up your whole mouth! They're soft, sweet, and fragrant.

Strawberries cost 600 rubles per kilo They're delicious, big, and keep well.

Meat seasoning blend, 20 rubles for 10 grams, we got 50 grams for 100 rubles. The aroma of the paprika fills the whole kitchen - it's so fresh! The seller can even mix a custom blend for you. Aromatic Fresh SpicesKinder Maxi Lady Bug. Price 300 rubles. I picked up the regular Kinder for comparison, and I have to say, the Kinder Maxi is a lot bigger. I asked for a discount, but they said that was the sale price, and normally it's 350 rubles. In stores, this one can cost up to 1000 rubles. By the way, the Kinder Maxi has a full chocolate bar, just like the smaller one, and it comes with two toys - a character figure and a keychain with a mirror.

Kinder Maxi Comparison with RegularHere's what I made with the vegetables and meat in the paprika mix.

Verdict: Food City is just a massive market.

To shop effectively and get a good deal, I'd recommend:

Planning your purchases and knowing the maximum price beforehand;Buying in bulk, participating in group purchases, and mapping out your route through the market in advance (the map above in this review);Going without kids.Thanks for reading!

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