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On Monday I got to visit Jungle Jim's International Market!
Jungle Jim's started out as a parking lot fruit stand in 1971...
and today it is the largest international grocery in the United States.
With 180,000 square feet of product from 70+ countries, it's as large as some shopping malls.
They carry 15,000 wine labels, and 4,000 types of beer.
There is a map specifically for the beer & wine section so you don't get lost.
Then there's a map for the "general grocery", and another for the "international section".
The place is so big, each aisle is mapped on Google Maps as though it was its own store!
It's been described as "a foodie amusement park".
There are only two locations, both outside Cincinnati.
Sounds like my kind of place. Let's go!
------------------------------------------------------
I woke up early and met my friend Katie (our covid officer) in the hotel lobby.
From there we walked to pick up a rental car, and drove the 30 minutes to Jungle Jim's.
Here is a compilation of the video that I took of misc sections in the grocery, and the animatronics that you can see scattered about.
CLICK HERE to watch
As you can see, this place is HUGE.
It's one thing to say "180,000 square feet of product" and try to visualize it.
It's another to be standing in that space and trying to get your bearings!
( CLICK HERE for Jungle Jim's!! )
Back at the hotel I had a good look at my haul.
The list of things that I bought, and reviews of what I've tried so far:
- Hot Ones hot sauce
- Simply Sweet Mustard
- Manila honey collagen: very good! Sweet but not too sweet, and only 25 calories. Would drink again.
- Drinkable konjac jelly
- Kiwi watermelon soda
- MacFuddy pepper soda
- Empire spruce soda
- Banana coconut milk drink
- Local black raspberry milk: Very good! I don't think it needed so much sugar though, it's like melted ice cream.
- Chocolate bitters
- Masala chai (2 kinds): I tried the regular tea and it's pretty standard. I wish they'd had a larger variety of chai tbh.
- German Haribos: Very good. The texture is different than the American version, and I think the fruit flavors are more prominent.
- French Leone pastilles
- Pan Pasan hard candy: I didn't care for these. Floral/Rosewater and menthol...not for me :p
- Curly Wurly: These are a delicate caramel swirl coated in milk chocolate. Simple but delicious.
- Cadbury Flake
- Bubulubu
- Jones carbonated grape candy
- Meiji gummy choco green grape
- Joray grape fruit roll
- Jammie Dodgers
- Glenfarclas whisky fudge
- Hokkaido melon caramels: Not a caramel but a candy with a chewy texture. Very good! Nice melon flavor.
- Pandan mochi: This was my first time trying anything with pandan. Love the flavor! It's like a "grassy vanilla" if you can imagine that.
- Pop candy almonds: Almonds with a vanilla/white chocolate coating and pop rocks! Fun to eat and tasty.
- Ube soft cookies: These are a Filipino treat. I didn't care for the chalky texture, but the flavor was pretty good.
- Aunty’s sticky toffee and spotted dick
- Rice murukku snack: Deep fried spirals of rice and chickpea flour seasoned with spices and seeds. Super hard snack but satisfyingly crunchy. The flavor is excellent. Enjoyed these very much!
- Khatta meetha snack: This was the BEST. I could eat a whole bag. "khatta meetha" means "sour and sweet" and this snack mix made of chickpeas, peanuts, and soy had a tartness that made my mouth pucker in the best way. I want to get this again!!
- Grenadilla pulp: It's just passionfruit pulp, I'm sure it'll be very nice :)
- Tomato risotto
- Wild boar jerky
- Coconut sesame crickets: review below
- Chocolate silkworm pupae: review below
- Misc flavors roasted crickets and worms
- Colgate Vedshakti toothpaste
- Buckeyes
- Maple bacon truffle: Delicious and decadent! I wish the bacon flavor had been more prominent but otherwise it was delicious.
- Caramel apple truffle: Equally as good as the maple bacon, the peanut crumble on top brought it all together. So good!
- Breadfruit: I had to throw this out :( First of all I didn't realize it was overripe, and secondly you have to broil or roast it to eat it, and none of my hotel cooking equipment can do that. Womp womp.
Most of this is going to my stepmom, sisters, brother, nieces and nephews, aunt and uncle, and Jameson.
I opened the snack mixes and candies and divided them up into seven piles, repackaging things in Ziploc bags or containers as needed.
Here is what I kept for myself.
The coconut sesame crickets are very good! A nice flavor and crispy texture. I'd eat these again.
The silkworm pupae were disappointingly chalky. Luckily there were literally only six in the bag and they were very small.
I cooked up the ground kangaroo the next day, and it was good, like lean ground beef.
It cooked up kind of crumbly, so for the second batch I rolled it into little meatballs.
I'll be using it with soups, or with some BBQ sauce as a sort of sloppy Joe sandwich.
Here is what Jameson's getting in addition to candies and snack mixes from the larger bags.
He likes grape candies so I had kept a special eye out for that.
He specifically requested the hot sauce and cocoa bitters.
Here are some of the snacks that family are getting, all of it described in the list above.
The spicy pickle popcorn is for my brother in lieu of some candies, because he doesn't prefer sweets.
This was a fun and exciting adventure. I've visited lots of Asian and international groceries in my life, but never one this large or this over-the-top. It was exhausting but fun, and I'd definitely go back again! Ohioans should be grateful to have such a huge global variety of treats available to them, without having to pay for shipping!
I'm looking forward to working through my goodies and trying lots of new things as the show wraps up here in Cincinnati!
Jungle Jim's started out as a parking lot fruit stand in 1971...
and today it is the largest international grocery in the United States.
With 180,000 square feet of product from 70+ countries, it's as large as some shopping malls.
They carry 15,000 wine labels, and 4,000 types of beer.
There is a map specifically for the beer & wine section so you don't get lost.
Then there's a map for the "general grocery", and another for the "international section".
The place is so big, each aisle is mapped on Google Maps as though it was its own store!
It's been described as "a foodie amusement park".
There are only two locations, both outside Cincinnati.
Sounds like my kind of place. Let's go!
------------------------------------------------------
I woke up early and met my friend Katie (our covid officer) in the hotel lobby.
From there we walked to pick up a rental car, and drove the 30 minutes to Jungle Jim's.
Here is a compilation of the video that I took of misc sections in the grocery, and the animatronics that you can see scattered about.
CLICK HERE to watch
As you can see, this place is HUGE.
It's one thing to say "180,000 square feet of product" and try to visualize it.
It's another to be standing in that space and trying to get your bearings!
( CLICK HERE for Jungle Jim's!! )
Back at the hotel I had a good look at my haul.
The list of things that I bought, and reviews of what I've tried so far:
- Hot Ones hot sauce
- Simply Sweet Mustard
- Manila honey collagen: very good! Sweet but not too sweet, and only 25 calories. Would drink again.
- Drinkable konjac jelly
- Kiwi watermelon soda
- MacFuddy pepper soda
- Empire spruce soda
- Banana coconut milk drink
- Local black raspberry milk: Very good! I don't think it needed so much sugar though, it's like melted ice cream.
- Chocolate bitters
- Masala chai (2 kinds): I tried the regular tea and it's pretty standard. I wish they'd had a larger variety of chai tbh.
- German Haribos: Very good. The texture is different than the American version, and I think the fruit flavors are more prominent.
- French Leone pastilles
- Pan Pasan hard candy: I didn't care for these. Floral/Rosewater and menthol...not for me :p
- Curly Wurly: These are a delicate caramel swirl coated in milk chocolate. Simple but delicious.
- Cadbury Flake
- Bubulubu
- Jones carbonated grape candy
- Meiji gummy choco green grape
- Joray grape fruit roll
- Jammie Dodgers
- Glenfarclas whisky fudge
- Hokkaido melon caramels: Not a caramel but a candy with a chewy texture. Very good! Nice melon flavor.
- Pandan mochi: This was my first time trying anything with pandan. Love the flavor! It's like a "grassy vanilla" if you can imagine that.
- Pop candy almonds: Almonds with a vanilla/white chocolate coating and pop rocks! Fun to eat and tasty.
- Ube soft cookies: These are a Filipino treat. I didn't care for the chalky texture, but the flavor was pretty good.
- Aunty’s sticky toffee and spotted dick
- Rice murukku snack: Deep fried spirals of rice and chickpea flour seasoned with spices and seeds. Super hard snack but satisfyingly crunchy. The flavor is excellent. Enjoyed these very much!
- Khatta meetha snack: This was the BEST. I could eat a whole bag. "khatta meetha" means "sour and sweet" and this snack mix made of chickpeas, peanuts, and soy had a tartness that made my mouth pucker in the best way. I want to get this again!!
- Grenadilla pulp: It's just passionfruit pulp, I'm sure it'll be very nice :)
- Tomato risotto
- Wild boar jerky
- Coconut sesame crickets: review below
- Chocolate silkworm pupae: review below
- Misc flavors roasted crickets and worms
- Colgate Vedshakti toothpaste
- Buckeyes
- Maple bacon truffle: Delicious and decadent! I wish the bacon flavor had been more prominent but otherwise it was delicious.
- Caramel apple truffle: Equally as good as the maple bacon, the peanut crumble on top brought it all together. So good!
- Breadfruit: I had to throw this out :( First of all I didn't realize it was overripe, and secondly you have to broil or roast it to eat it, and none of my hotel cooking equipment can do that. Womp womp.
Most of this is going to my stepmom, sisters, brother, nieces and nephews, aunt and uncle, and Jameson.
I opened the snack mixes and candies and divided them up into seven piles, repackaging things in Ziploc bags or containers as needed.
Here is what I kept for myself.
The coconut sesame crickets are very good! A nice flavor and crispy texture. I'd eat these again.
The silkworm pupae were disappointingly chalky. Luckily there were literally only six in the bag and they were very small.
I cooked up the ground kangaroo the next day, and it was good, like lean ground beef.
It cooked up kind of crumbly, so for the second batch I rolled it into little meatballs.
I'll be using it with soups, or with some BBQ sauce as a sort of sloppy Joe sandwich.
Here is what Jameson's getting in addition to candies and snack mixes from the larger bags.
He likes grape candies so I had kept a special eye out for that.
He specifically requested the hot sauce and cocoa bitters.
Here are some of the snacks that family are getting, all of it described in the list above.
The spicy pickle popcorn is for my brother in lieu of some candies, because he doesn't prefer sweets.
This was a fun and exciting adventure. I've visited lots of Asian and international groceries in my life, but never one this large or this over-the-top. It was exhausting but fun, and I'd definitely go back again! Ohioans should be grateful to have such a huge global variety of treats available to them, without having to pay for shipping!
I'm looking forward to working through my goodies and trying lots of new things as the show wraps up here in Cincinnati!
