Costco Wholesale, ShopRite trounce Walmart in shopping survey

A quiet day at the Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, above, where members think nothing of leaving milk behind near the checkout counters, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A nationwide survey of more than 62,000 supermarket shoppers ranks Costco Wholesale sixth and ShopRite 26th among 68 stores.

The top-rated store in Consumer Reports' 2014 Supermarket Survey is Wegmans, but they are few and far between in New Jersey.

Trader Joe's finishes third, even though the stores are smaller and the selection is more limited than at Costco and ShopRite.

Walmart Supercenter, such as the one opening in Teterboro soon, is next to last, just above 68th-place Waldbaum's.

The stores were ranked on a scale of 0-100 for the quality of produce, meats and poultry, bakery and prepared food, as well as staff courtesy and store cleanliness.

Time-pressed shoppers told the magazine freshly prepared meals that can be taken home are important to them.

Here is a link to a post describing a 2011 visit to a Wegmans and trying the store's prepared food:

Biggest Supermarket in New Jersey?

The Consumer Reports article, "The Best Supermarkets in America," appears in the May 2015 issue. 

Jeff at Wayne Costco Wholesale says, 'We just want to go home'

A bigger Costco Wholesale in Wayne opened last year across the road from the old one with an in-store liquor department that offers wines from Kirkland Signature, Costco's house brand, as well as imported champagne, below, unlike the Costco near my home in Hackensack. I shopped at the Wayne store in mid-December.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I never shop at the Costco Wholesale near my home in Hackensack on the weekends, when crowds are even bigger and more impossible than on weekdays.

That's probably why I didn't know the warehouse stores in Hackensack and Wayne close at 6 p.m. on Saturdays, compared to 8:30 p.m. during the week.

On Saturday evening, we stopped at the Wayne Costco on the way to a doo-wop concert at William Paterson University, hoping to buy Kirkland Signature wines and Starbucks cocoa, two items not sold in Hackensack.

But an employee named Jeff told us we missed the sign listing the closing hour as 6 p.m. on Saturday, even though another sign said the store was open until 8:30 p.m.

That later closing time is for the Costco gas station in Wayne, Jeff said.

Thinking my Hackensack store stayed open later on Saturdays, I asked why Wayne closed so early.

"We just want to go home," Jeff said.

Then, I said it would be great if Wayne stayed open until 8:30 on Saturday nights, like Hackensack, prompting Jeff to say:

"We make more money than they do."

ShopRite customers must walk through cloud of cigarette smoke

For nearly 10 minutes this morning, this ShopRite employee in Paramus took a cigarette break, oblivious of a light mist falling or customers like me who had to walk through a cloud of his cigarette smoke as they left the store with their groceries. Disgusting. I tried to call the store from the parking lot, but got a busy signal.

Picking up more Costco Wholesale organics, H Mart sale items

My Costco Wholesale in Hackensack carries two canned salmons -- wild Alaskan sold under the Bear & Wolf name from Trident Seafoods Corp., above, and Kirkland Signature Atlantic Salmon, an artificially colored farmed product from Chile, below. Trident says its salmon is not processed in China.

The farmed salmon comes in 7-ounce cans. The wild pink salmon is in 6-ounce cans. The farmed product is $14.99, compared to $12.99 for the wild fish.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss the pricing of organic food at Costco Wholesale, and whether a canned Alaskan salmon sold in the warehouse store is processed in China.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack today, I picked up organic extra-virgin olive oil for about $1.50 less per quart than the best buy at eight supermarkets shopped by Consumer Reports.

Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a blend from Greece, Italy, Spain and two other countries that is delicious on salads, was $15.99 for 2 liters (2 quarts and 3.6 ounces).

In the May 2015 issue, Consumer Reports found the cheapest organic extra-virgin olive oil at a southern chain, Harris Teeter, for $9.01 a quart, compared to $7.57 per quart for the Costco EVOO.

Three half-gallons of Kirkland Signature Organic 1% Milk were $9.99 or $3.33 each, compared to $3.49 a half-gallon for organic milk at Safeway, the lowest price  the magazine's shoppers found.

I also picked up Coleman Organic Chicken Drumsticks for $1.99 a pound, and 1-pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix for $4.99.

Among non-organic items, I bought six 6-ounce cans of Bear & Wolf Pink Salmon, a wild fish from Alaska, for $12.99.

A 3-pound bag of U.S. No. 1 sodium-free raw Almonds, which I roast at home, was $16.89, a hike of nearly $1.

The Kirkland Signature farmed salmon is artificially colored. 

Processed in China?

This blog occasionally receives comments from readers who have "heard" that food sold in the United States was raised or processed in China, which has a terrible food-safety record. 

I just got this anonymous comment:

"I wonder if you've heard that Trident salmon in cans is processed in China? I just found the product in our new Costco and was totally disappointed at fish processing being done in factories overseas. Thank you."

The apparent reference is to the canned Bear & Wolf Premium Skinless and Boneless Pink Salmon, which is labeled as "Product of USA," that I purchased today at Costco.

The canned salmon is from Trident Seafoods Corp., which is based in Seattle, Wash.

But there is no evidence in the comment, besides what the person "heard."

I sent an email to the company's Consumer Affairs Department, and got this reply from a woman named Trev Foley:

Some, but not all, of our items do have initial processing done overseas, with final processing done in Washington State. Our canned salmon items, such as the Bear & Wolf Pink Salmon, do not have overseas processing. The salmon are harvested in the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, etc.) and canned in Alaska, within 24 hours of being caught. Please be assured, we maintain strict oversight of all of the fish we sell, from start to finish. For those items which have partial processing done overseas, the fish are processed in contracted facilities where we have on-site Trident Seafoods operations and quality assurance personnel insuring the safety of the food. Additionally, the facilities we use are inspected and certified to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

 In 2012, I opened a can of this same pink salmon from Costco, only to find mold on it. See:

Mold in Bear & Wolf canned salmon from Trident?

Coleman Organic Fresh Whole Young Chicken at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack was $2.49 a pound, meeting the lowest price for whole or cut up organic chicken at the Safeway chain in the Consumer Reports survey.

Basmati rice contains less arsenic than other kinds of rice, according to Consumer Reports. Costco Wholesale in Hackensack sells Deer-brand from "the foothills of the Himalayas" (India).

These are the shipping boxes for the low-quality but wildly popular 3-pound Kirkland Signature Rotisserie Chicken sold for $4.99 at Costco. I could not make out the name of a producer or processor on the labels of the boxes, which were behind glass in the butcher department of the Hackensack warehouse store.

At H Mart in Englewood on Sunday, half-gallons of lactose-free milk were on sale for $1.99 or $2 off through April 13, the lowest price I've ever seen for this type of milk.

The Englewood H Mart also carries Earthbound Farm Organic Celery and Organic Carrots. Olivia's Organic Spring Mix in a 5-ounce tub was on sale for $2 or $1 off when you bought two.

At the Englewood H Mart, this package of kimbap, an addictive seaweed-and-rice roll, was labeled as weighing 1 pound, but on my kitchen scale, it weighed more than 29 ounces or nearly 2 pounds. The imitation crab is made from a fish called pollock. The roll comes with pickled radish and jalapeno peppers.

On Good Friday, whole wild-caught black sea bass were $5.99 a pound at the Englewood H Mart.

A large wild whole red snapper, which my wife poached in coconut milk, was $7.99 a pound at the Korean supermarket, 25 Lafayette Ave., Englewood (201-871-8822).

Lan Sheng in Wallington: A serene setting for spicy Chinese food

Lan Sheng Grilled Fish smothers a whole red snapper in meaty mushrooms, celery, seeded hot peppers and potatoes (yes, potatoes). The fish was overcooked, but swam in a delicious cumin-flavored sauce (yes, cumin).

At Lan Sheng in Wallington, we also took home one of the house specialties, Steamed Prawns in Garlic Taste, a spicy preparation of thin noodles, baby bok choy and jumbo shrimp in the shell, all prepared with loads of minced garlic. This photo shows leftovers.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When we pulled up to Lan Sheng, a bright spot on a drab stretch of Paterson Avenue in Wallington, three employees were outside the Szechaun restaurant, cleaning the windows.

Late Saturday afternoon, we were the first dinner customers, and three cooks dressed in white sat at separate tables inside, using mobile devices as soothing Chinese music played on the sound system.

Wallington's Lan Sheng, which opened more than a year ago, is a branch of a restaurant on 39th Street in Manhattan that has earned one highly coveted Michelin star in the last two years.

The dinner we had was terrific, but our whole fish had been overcooked, and my small bowl of brown rice didn't seem fresh and was impossible to eat with chopsticks. 

House Specialties are listed in English and Chinese (on the other side of this table card). A Chinese couple in the next booth were having Spicy Catfish in a Hot Pot, which included tofu and looked delicious.

My wife says Szechuan Pickled Vegetables, a cold appetizer, is reason enough to return to Lan Sheng. We are big fans of kimchi, but this dish gives the Korean fermented cabbage a run for its money.

Cold appetizers, whole fish

We started with two cold appetizers, Szechuan Pickled Vegetables ($5.95) and Spinach with Minced Garlic ($6.95).

My wife loved the crunchy diced carrots in the pickled-vegetable dish, and said she'd like to return to Lan Sheng to have them again.

I was wowed by the cumin-flavored sauce in Lan Sheng Grilled Fish, but the whole red snapper was overcooked ($22.95).

I added the sauce to my brown rice, and ate it with a spoon. The hot green peppers on top of the fish had been seeded, but they still packed heat. 

It's a good thing the server had placed a few paper napkins on the table to supplement the cloth ones, something that many other restaurants overlook.

The waiter had recommended the Braised Whole Fish with Szechuan Chili Miso Sauce, which is shown on the picture menu ($22.95). Next time.

We also ordered a vegetable, Sauteed String Beans and Bamboo Shoots without minced pork ($10.95).

Two dishes to go

Before we left, we ordered takeout, sending the three cooks sitting in the dining room back into the kitchen:

A house special of Steamed Prawns in Garlic Taste ($19.95), which we were told takes 15 minutes to prepare; and Chicken with Broccoli ($12.95) for a family member who doesn't eat spicy food.

As we left, a waitress was asleep, resting her head and arms on a table in the window.

Lan Sheng in Manhattan

This was my first visit to Lan Sheng in Wallington, but it turned out I once stopped at the original in Manhattan in June 2012, though I didn't eat there.

See: What a pisser!

Sauteed String Beans and Bamboo Shoots.

Lan Sheng has a full bar. The restaurant is a bright spot among auto-repair and service garages on Paterson Avenue.

Chinese lessons are given on the back of the fortunes. How do you say, "Great food and service," in Chinese?

Lan Sheng Szechuan Restaurant, 209 Paterson Ave., Wallington; 1-973-773-7100. Open 7 days for lunch and dinner, but closed between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.

Reservations taken. American Express credit cards are not accepted. Limited street parking only.

In Consumer Reports survey, Costco prices for organics are best

Organic eggs from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, served here with organic quinoa prepared in an electric rice cooker, are $6.99 for two dozen, cheaper than at other supermarkets shopped by Consumer Reports.

A hearty breakfast: A Costco organic egg with leftover Whole Foods Market organic whole-wheat shells, prepared in vodka sauce with added red wine, sardines and anchovies.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Consumer Reports shopped at eight grocers for organics -- including bananas, extra-virgin olive oil, milk and eggs -- but didn't price those items at Costco Wholesale.

In a May 2015 cover story, "The Best Supermarkets in America," some of those organic foods are cheaper at Costco than at Price Chopper, Walmart, Whole Foods Market, Fresh Direct or the other stores listed by the magazine.

At $3.99, a dozen organic large brown eggs were cheapest at Whole Foods Market, but Costco sells 24 for $6.99 or $3.50 a dozen.

None of the stores listed by Consumer Reports could match Costco's price for organic bananas, $1.99 for three pounds or about 66 cents a pound.

A half-gallon of organic milk is $3.66 at Costco when you buy three, compared to $3.49 at Safeway (no stores in New Jersey), and $3.58 at Amazon Fresh.

Though I haven't purchased organic quinoa, whole organic chickens or organic extra-virgin olive oil recently at my Hackensack Costco, I believe those items also are cheaper than at the stores listed in the magazine.

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix is $4.79 to $4.99 a pound at Costco, and Organic Carrots are $6.99 for a 10-pound bag or 69 cents a pound.

Consumer Reports didn't compare organic spring mix prices, and the cheapest organic baby carrots listed were $1.69 a pound at Harris Tweeter (none in New Jersey).

I prepared organic quinoa with chopped fresh garlic, organic diced tomatoes and organic extra-virgin olive oil, all from Costco Wholesale, in an electric rice cooker and served it for breakfast with a Jamaican specialty, ackee and salt fish.

A baked sweet potato with  Mateo's Gourmet Salsa from Costco Wholesale, along with roasted sweet peppers and organic carrots, also from Costco, go great with ackee and salt fish.

A 5-pound box of sweet potatoes -- a great bread substitute -- was on sale for $2.99 on Tuesday at ShopRite in Englewoood. I boiled them with whole California garlic cloves from Costco Wholesale and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and other seasonings, including cinnamon and curry powder.