Spice Up Your Boring Grocery Routine With Global Goodies from West Cobb's International Farmers Markets

Looking to add some new flavors and extra spice to our regular meals, we visited three of West Cobb's international grocery markets. With a wide variety of fresh offerings and global brands, the stores offer a cornucopia of new flavor choices for those bored with a standard food routine.

Forget that ONE case of fresh seafood options at your local market. At West Cobb's international markets, there are tanks of live fish!Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

For those accustomed to shopping at the US megabrand stores like Walmart, Kroger, and Publix, these international grocery markets harken back to the days when real regional and local groceries offered local shoppers a wider variety of choices. Plus, the plethora of international brands, spices, foods and flavors offer the curious an opportunity to venture into shopping for regional cuisine from Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Indian and other cultures. At most of the stores, you'll even find recipe cards to help you get started.

An even if you're accustomed to shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, the varieties and specialties at these international markets will astound you. That includes the cases of swimmingly-fresh seafood, and an incredible array of other fresh ocean products.

The aisles are lined with a wide variety of brands, flavors and spices that you won't find at Kroger, Publix or Walmart.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

Our three-market visit included our West Cobb favorites:

City Farmers Market, Powder Springs Road. Close to downtown Marietta, Asian flavors plus Central and South American specialties are the drawing card here. We browsed through the fresh food section, selecting some peppers, veggies and fresh chicken for a home-made Southwestern-influenced dinner. City Farmers Market has five other convenient locations to in Atlanta, Chamblee, Duluth, Norcross and Snellville.

Nam Dae Mun Farmers Market, South Cobb Drive. We're eager to return here, with a pre-made shopping list of our favorite Asian dishes. With out our list, we made notes about some of the specialty spices we found. Now operating eight locations, Nam Dae Mun -- named for a famed city gate and neighboring market in Seoul, South Korea, opened it first market in 2005 in Duluth.

Austell International Farmers Market, Austell Road. Plan to visit this store because you won't find a working internet site or useful information elsewhere on the web. When you go, expect a broad variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, international brands from Central America, South America, and Africa. Plus, check out the butcher shop and the fresh meat cases for unusual cuts of pork and beef, and some incredible prices.

We're coming back with our shopping list for global favorite foods. Or, you can buy regional specialty dishes from the case.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

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