Villa Market

Post by **WBU ALUM** » April 8, 2013, 2:44 pm

I never do beef in Thailand. It's not what they do.

Post by **RLTrader** » April 8, 2013, 6:37 pm

I have had some taste French Thai Beef steaks, 'but to each his own'. On way home stopped by the local thai dealer, so not a complete lost.

Post by **WBU ALUM** » April 8, 2013, 8:53 pm

RLTrader wrote:'but to each his own'

Yes it is.

Post by **Khun Paul** » April 8, 2013, 8:58 pm

Well folks i did actually venture in and yes I can say that they do have alot of foodstuffs i like, not that i would buy as the pricdes are to be honest in some cases absolutly silly, but what really made me smile was the arrier bags they supply. Witht eh sign 'healthy eating' Well if i purchased what I really wanted and could afford, healthy eating i would not be doing , just stuffing myself with all those bad fat bearing and cholesterol laden foodstuffs.
i would pile on the pounds and become very unhealthy.
Good choices but as I said before a lot is available elsewhere now and one can park.

Post by **trubrit** » April 9, 2013, 6:53 am

Went to look yesterday. The VIP parking was in operation, so used it. Incidentally the security told my wife never to use the multi story as "Every day we have to sort out vehicles being damaged" Anyway back to the shopping. Impressive selection of fruit and vegetables, but I wonder at those prices will they sell enough to keep the stock fresh. Meat looked very nice. I especially liked the look of the Pork rack ribs. very meaty, but priced at 260bht a kilo, quite expensive compared to other places, but they were worth it.Most of the dried goods were a few baht dearer than around town, did notice a proliferation of Mexican type products, which I've never tried, but should please our American friends. For me , being the wino I am, The highlight was the spirits and wines dept. A very good selection of everything including those hard to find names. I love a good dry sherry and a drop of port occasionally, but have never found anywhere that stocks them, but here , I was spoilt for choice. Luckily it was after 11o'clock., so ended up spending more than I anticipated.
Got my parking ticket stamped and left within the allotted two hours free.
Overall impression. Not many customers, Farang or Thai so I do wonder about the freshness of some products in the future, the prices will not be the attraction on other goods, so we are left with , like myself, those that pop in for stuff they can't get elsewhere, if of course they can park safely . If the Vip is in use as a market, I will simply drive off to , maybe try again another day .

Post by **bumper** » April 9, 2013, 8:54 am

Meat Chern Chen for me.

Post by **mak** » April 9, 2013, 1:08 pm

The Frito Bandito will be here next week. That's fritos corn chips for the uninitiated.

Post by **papaguido** » April 11, 2013, 1:08 pm

jingjai wrote:
pompui wrote:Tis sad their VIP parking area lasted days not months,had a look again this morning while on the way to shop at Tops
From what I could gather this morning about the VIP parking area, Land Mark Plaza is setting up some kind of "special" event for the upcoming holiday. My wife agrees, she said the security guy told her, only "tempolarry" . VIP parking will return after the holidays.

The wife and I dropped in today. Heading for the VIP car park a security guard informed my wife that the VIP car park will be closed every Wednesday & Thursday for a "Walking Street" type event. He also indicated that it was a permanent arrangement.

Post by **WBU ALUM** » April 11, 2013, 1:13 pm

papaguido wrote:a security guard informed my wife that the VIP car park will be closed every Wednesday & Thursday for a "Walking Street" type event. He also indicated that it was a permanent arrangement.

Probably "temporary" as in only Wednesday and Thursday.

Good to know. Might be two days to avoid.

Post by **bumper** » April 11, 2013, 1:23 pm

Well I found my tortillas in the refrigerated section. Some whole Dill pickles. The wife found some slim Jim type treats she likes. The carry El Charro good brand the also had taco shells not my thing.

Tried some Australian Potatoes. Everything I else I normally use is already here. But, nice to have.

Post by **papaguido** » April 11, 2013, 4:54 pm

bumper wrote:Well I found my tortillas in the refrigerated section. Some whole Dill pickles. The wife found some slim Jim type treats she likes. The carry El Charro good brand the also had taco shells not my thing.

Tried some Australian Potatoes. Everything I else I normally use is already here. But, nice to have.

They also carry tostadas, 4" round. I bought the last 2 packs this morning, excellent with ceviche.

Post by **bumper** » April 11, 2013, 4:58 pm

A bit off topic I did see a sign about Citi Bank in the complex, didn't see the bank.

Post by **howard** » April 12, 2013, 5:24 pm

Paid my first visit to Villa Market. Quite impressed with the range of Farang foods. Little bit pricey as are most imported goods but I would say a little better than Tops. I won't shop there every day as there are supermarkets such as Nee Soon and Macro which offer better value for money. I still find Papa Farang excellent although his range of goods is a little limited.
One thing that troubles me is with such a strong Baht imports should be considerably cheaper but it doesn't reflect in the retail price

Post by **pompui** » April 12, 2013, 5:39 pm

Always wondered why they have been the most expensive place to shop over the years I have lived here,even more so than Tops.Can only conclude they want a higher profit margin on imported goods.
Even locally Papafarangs,you mentioned before large loaf 50 baht if you buy at Papafarangs, yet buy the same loaf in Villa from Dean and it was priced at 75 baht,see my post.

PS Thanks to posters advising when cannot use the vip parking area,so avoid wed and thurs also sat and sun for the Laos crowd so mon/tues/fri for my shopping of the products not found elsewhere =D>

Post by **merchant seaman** » April 12, 2013, 6:37 pm

howard wrote:Paid my first visit to Villa Market. Quite impressed with the range of Farang foods. Little bit pricey as are most imported goods but I would say a little better than Tops. I won't shop there every day as there are supermarkets such as Nee Soon and Macro which offer better value for money. I still find Papa Farang excellent although his range of goods is a little limited.
One thing that troubles me is with such a strong Baht imports should be considerably cheaper but it doesn't reflect in the retail price

If you want to compare prices for value you need to go no further then Chern Chims. Check out his beef prices compared to Villa or any where else in Udon. Another all important food staple HP sauce only 90 baht at Chern Chims. Villa is good for those hard to get never seen imported items and nothing else. Fresh fruits and veggies, the local market. Bakery items can be bought locally a lot cheaper and fresher. If you are impressed with Villa Market range of products better buy them now as I don't suspect that range will last for long.

Post by **bumper** » April 12, 2013, 6:53 pm

With this large of an expansion, I'm sure they need the profit margins. They added five stores. My guess is the Lao crowd will spend more the we do. No doubt about the beef Chern Chen has high quality Thai beef. Great price and excellent meat.

But, I wonder if it's the retailer or the importer who makes the real money. Actually when I shop these kind of places I really don't think about money, just getting what I want. Food is a very small part of our budget.

It's nice that we do have another option these days. But those of us who have been here for years. Will go for quality and price.

I will shop there again.

Post by **tamada** » April 17, 2013, 11:22 am

pompui wrote:...
Even locally Papafarangs,you mentioned before large loaf 50 baht if you buy at Papafarangs, yet buy the same loaf in Villa from Dean and it was priced at 75 baht,see my post.
....

Where is Papafarangs? The bread choices at Villa are abysmal... I hope that isn't his stuff.

Maybe been done to death already but where is the best bread in Udon? Not the local, sweet, tapioca flour nonsense and not heavy, stodgy German black breads either.

I usually grab 4 each of Foodland toaster and sandwich loaves when down in Pattaya and bung them in the freezer up here but out of stock right now.

Post by **JMT42** » April 17, 2013, 11:47 am

When Carefours opened they had a similar line of imported cheezes and all kinds of horse c*$k, Big C carried some of the cheeze for a while but now all of this is gone. Get it while you can because Villa market will not last long as nobody will buy staples there just the odd treat.

Post by **Perra** » April 17, 2013, 12:07 pm

If we talk about bread loaf for e.g. toast, Chern Chim is the best in my opinion

Post by **jackspratt** » April 17, 2013, 12:15 pm

Perra wrote:If we talk about bread loaf for e.g. toast, Chern Chim is the best in my opinion

+1