Spiceland Indian Groceries — Attraction in West Columbia

Stocked with goodies from various parts of India, Bangladesh and even middle east, this grocery store is surely a go-to place for oriental folks seeking to touch base with their craving for home food. I love it for their collection of fresh frozen fish, usually from Bangladesh. The frozen blocks mostly pack fish that have been descaled and entails removed i.e., ready to cook, once thawed. One would also get halal beef, mutton and poultry here. Their dry spice section is quite huge, with a commendable variety both in quality and pack size. Frozen ready-to-eat dishes are a soul saviour on long, busy workdays when you loathe cooking dinner. This place has a clean restroom as well as a spacious parking lot. The shop owners are genial and politely remind you to double check if they think you might have picked an item that is commonly confused with something else, for example, they asked me if I really wanted roasted (and not raw) fennel seeds and also about ginger/ garlic paste since both look identical in glass jars. The only flip side is that the variety of vegetables and milk products isn't that great here (compared to other Indian grocery stores...

In Columbia area, you would probably find a few Indian Stores. Among them this one is the best for a few reasons: 1) Items are always fresh, 2) wide selection of items, they also have a separate section for Bangladeshi foods, and 3) People in the store are very friendly and helpful. The best thing is, if you request them to bring a certain item, they try their best to get them.

The price of items may be a bit higher than the other ones but it's always quality over quantity for me...

I love Spiceland! The staff is always nice and helpful if I have any questions, and they never make me feel stupid when I'm in there for an hour going up and down the aisles looking through all the spices and trying to remember which ones I'm low on at home. You truly cannot beat the spice selection and the amount you get for the price. I didn't even know bay leaves could be as big as the ones I bought here! Spiceland really is the perfect name...