Friday, September 25, 2015

american/market: i strongly recommend WELLMAN'S MARKET



WELLMAN'S MARKET
No. 472 Zhongshan N. Road,  Sec. 6, Tianmu
台北市士林區中山北路6段472號
(02) 2871-4454
Sadly, Wellman's closed in 2019

MRT: Shipai

Hours:

Visit reviewed: 9/24/2015


Have you ever looked for Pop Tarts, Rice Krispies cereal, hot dog buns, Spam, enchilada sauce, food coloring or corn meal in Taipei? I know you have since I've gotten your emails over the years about "where to find..." and I've been looking too. 

Now you'll have at least one place in Tianmu to go to- Wellman's Market. I'd heard of it for years, but never made the trek out to investigate, but I'm telling you if you're a long time resident of Asia and willing to pay a little extra instead of loading your luggage with groceries from the states, then it's worth the trip. Instead of doing a scavengers hunt around Jason's/City Super, Carrefour, Wellcome and your local market's "import aisles", the entirety of Wellman's will look familiar to those of us from the states. It's probably how our parents felt discovering the local Ranch 99/Nijiya/Korean market rather than shopping the sad instant noodle aisle at Ralphs. Lol! There is even a  small selection of personal care goods like Irish Spring soap and various shampoos and deodorants.


Let's just walk through the aisles- there's only three since the market isn't huge, but it's packed from top to bottom.

Duncan Hines cake mixes- chocolate Devil's food, fudge marble and Betty Crocker fudge brownies sit in rows below Old El Paso, Snyders and sour cream, garlic dips.


Lots of salsas, nacho cheese, canned beans, taco shells and sauces for Mexican food DIY. Even corn meal to make your own tortillas! It's actually really hard to find corn meal in Taipei.




Tomato pasta sauces and jams and jellies like apricot, green fig, lemon curd and raspberry. I also spotted cherry, blueberry and apple pie canned fillings- I remember my mom used to use the cherry filling to top homemade mini cheesecakes.


The cereals! Rice Krispies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Smacks, Frosted Flakes and more. Note a box of Rice Krispies is almost NT$300 so you will have to really love it to buy it. Imagine the rice krispy treats you can make!!!


Small packs of hotdog and hamburger buns so you don't have to buy the megabucks from Costco.


Candies like twizzlers and Oreo Hersheys.



Poptarts and lots of them. I remember going through a pop tart phase in college but haven't really touched them in the past 10 years. Who's been looking for pop tarts in Taipei? There's also spice mixes and seasonings, and funnily enough, brown paper lunch bags and Reynold's aluminum foil, supplies we take for granted in the states.


Here we have the dressings, mayonnaise, mustard, honey, Hershey's chocolate syrup. Sriracha.



Spam and turkey spam to make your spam musubis.


Baking supplies like food coloring, active yeast, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract, strawberry extract. I know you can find these things here at the DIY shops too, but some of the comfort is being able to recognize brands you like and read the English instructions that aren't covered up in a Taiwanese sticker for translation.


Different types of Swiss Miss hot chocolates, even with mini marshmallows since that's the best part of hot chocolate right?



Wellman's has a small refrigerated goods section, with small tubs of sour cream, heavy cream, whip cream, and some deli cheeses, chorizo, salami. The chorizo iberico is actually quite addicting.  Next to the front are also some root beer and other beverages.



So good luck finding what you've been looking for at Wellman's. Doesn't hurt to ask them if you don't see what you are looking for. I asked them about Jello, but they said that Taiwan doesn't import Jello anymore. For those of us who've been living in Taiwan a long time, you might find yourself oohing and aahing at something you forgot that you wanted/needed on the aisles at Wellman's. 

What have you been looking for in Taiwan/Asia that you couldn't find? Comment below and maybe we'll find it!

10 comments:

espressophile said...

I know Huy Fong is located and produces their products in SoCal, but I still find it humorous that one would have to go to an American-specialty store (is that what we could call this?) in Asia to find it.

sean said...

tacos.

sean said...

tacos.

kate said...

Hummus! I tried to find it at the Jason's near Taipei Main Station, but they didn't seem to have any. :(

Ell P. said...

cottage cheese? perhaps that small dairy fridge contains cottage cheese? I'll have to go see.

Anonymous said...

Hi, your posts are very useful for a foreigner like me. I'm wondering if you know any shops that sell imported fresh/ UHT milk? Such as from Australia. I'm more used to the milk brands overseas. Thanks!

Trent said...

Imported Anchor brand (NZ) UHT milk at a DIY store near the Minquan Bridge in Songshan, around 55-60nt/litre. Its usually in boxes next to the counter at the front.
I only have Chinese info for it though:

義興西點原料行
台北市富錦街574號 (Fujin St)

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately Wellman's has recently closed.

B4 said...

Oh no! Sad to hear, it was a real institution.

Matt said...

I moved back to Taiwan in August after 2 years in the states. I just read where Wellman's has shut down. Are there any other supermarkets in Taipei where I could get similar products like Wellman's had. I recently went to Jasons and walked out without buying a thing. The selection at Jason's, Costco, and other supermarkets are terrible. They do not carry half of the products they used to sell. They are no different than the Taiwanese supermarkets.


:)