Sultan Market halal — Local services in Tampa

Today I was on a mission to find the best pita bread, hummus, olive oil, olives and zaatar to try and re-create the wonderful flavors the wife and I had at Chef Yousef's restaurant The Olive Tree.  Success!!

This is my 2nd visit to Sultans Market, the last nearly 2 years ago. The guy that helped me is likely the manager or owner, I did not ask. But to my delight he was a friend of Chef Yousef and was able to direct me to the olives, zaatar and olive oil I needed to complete my mission. The olive oil was freshly pressed Palestinian Extra Virgen oil very high in polyphenols (43 X) for you health aficionados. Better, less expensive and larger quantity than the expensive "polyphenol-rich" version (34X) sold online and advertised in social media. It was a perfect match and compliment to the hummus. Also found a delightful jar of olives from Jordan, packed in olive oil with lemon, bay leaf and slightly zesty yellow pepper that paired nicely with my other ingredients. Then, the perfect resealable package of Zaatar to mix will the olive oil for dipping pita bread. Last I bought some halal mediterranean style seasoned chicken for the air fryer at home. The last picture shows the results of my adventure today, I can not believe how many olives I ended up eating!

Stopping at this Mediterranean Market was an impulse for me as I drove down Busch this morning. A pleasant surprise for an adventurous cook.

There was some beautiful fresh lamb. I bought cryovac greek olives, some Indian Spice, baklava, hummus, fresh zuchini and other items. I disliked the cryovac olives intensely, not sure of their purpose but avoid them.

That area of Tampa appears to be an area with Middle Eastern people, stores and restaurants. This place was well stocked, diverse, somewhat busy and fun to browse. A nice lady shopper volunteered cooking advice on items I bought.

As I venture into that genre of cooking, this store is going to be essential with their treasure trove of spices, fresh lamb, veggies and chicken and myriad of other products. The more I learn, the more I like this place. One large advantage is the variety, cost, quality, scope and breadth of products compared to the tiny amount of shelf space dedicated to these items in a grocery store. A place to broaden your horizons. Come...

This is my favorite eastern Mediterranean grocery store. The friendliness and total honesty of the employees sold me on it before I had even purchased anything. They treat you like family and that alone makes you feel great about supporting their business. I would suggest purely out of respect to go in dressed modestly - no shorts, distressed jeans or open shirts. Although nothing will be said if you come in dressed otherwise that feeling of family is enough to convince me that I would not ever want to disrespect them. Everyone there works hard but enjoys what they do. Invariably you are always greeted either when you enter or as you bring your items to the counter. There have been a few times when the regular cashier will tell me that I might want to reconsider buying a certain item (cardamom in one instance that I remember) because the price had risen significantly and he knew I was on a fixed income. The variety of food for a store of roughly 1200 square feet is amazing. They carry food from cultures as far afield as Serbia and Bulgaria to Iran and Pakistan as well as Morocco and Algeria. You name it, they’ll likely carry it. Cheese, chocolates, spices, coffees, halal meat (with a butcher on the premises), fresh fruit and vegetables, all types of pasta, teas and nuts. I love Sultan’s as much as I love libraries and bookstores. I’ve been a bibliophile ever since I was a child. They carry cooking equipment - coffee makers, metal bowls for stirring ingredients, cooking and baking utensils. They also feature gift sets (espresso cups and saucers, boxed candy, etc.) which vary depending on the time of year. There’s plenty of parking in front of the building so that’s never an issue. They’re located between E. 40th and 46th Streets on the south side of...

Sultan Market is the king of top quality meats at reasonable prices in this metro area. My sister lives in Largo and makes monthly trips here to stock up on the meat. It’s well worth the trip as all prime meat (beef, chicken, lamb) is slaughtered locally and within a day or 2 ensuring that it’s super fresh. It’s halal which means it’s super clean, no smell, no blood and trimmed of all the excess tendons and fat. The butcher takes a lot of pride in cutting, trimming and grinding the meat fresh upon your order as well. Don’t worry if you don’t speak Arabic, the owner is super friendly and speaks perfect English. Just tell him what you want or bring a list as we do and he will make sure you get exactly what you want. Sultan Market has a very nice variety of middle eastern spices and groceries too. The store is kept clean, tidy and well organized. It’s worth the trip here and all prices are very reasonable for the quality you get. Sorry, My pictures don’t do the...