Apna Spiceland

It’s nice to have a small Indian groceries-​restaurant in TO area. The only setback is the wait time for food orders can be long and their «Idli» is frozen packs that you prepare your self.

What’s wrong with these folks… Totally unprofessional… Loud music, no prices for the products. each time I need to take the product to the cashier to check the price… Employees are too slow and the register is equally slow. never going again…

Try the masala dosa here — you’ll like the dosa but not the sambar maybe. You also get roti, sabzi, dal, rice etc. But it’s all vegetarian food — no non-​veg. They also keep an assortment of North Indian fresh sweets that you may like. Apart from this you also get all the Indian grocery under the same roof.

Order ahead if you want more than 5 pieces of samosas. They have part time chefs. Disappointing– they turn away customers just because their backup chefs refuse to cook even in peak business hours.
The food is good. This area needs more competition.

Probably the best lunch for under $ 6.00 anywhere. I am not sure what the other reviewers encountered, but the staff were friendly enough to me. I got a vegetarian curry, basmati rice with a lentil soup poured over it and a dish with green beans that was quite tasty. It is a fact that they no longer serve meat, but that’s not uncommon for a deli/​store like this. I recommend taking a stroll in the store for some items you will not find in most markets.

Price ticket not present on a bunch of products… bought frozen parathas, a pack of 5 which is normally $ 1.99 on most stores, however sold to me for $ 2.99 & 3 days later when I went back for more, they were trying to charge $ 3.99 … Seriously! When I told them how much a paid 3 days ago, no one bothered to apologize and still tried to charge more…(if this was price tagged only) I know that now I’m looking for another honest store

New owners. Very unwelcoming and a bit rude. Tried the samosas and both the red and green sauces were watered down. Not planning on returning, as they didn’t appear to want my business anyway.

OWNERS HAVE CHANGED AS OF DIWALI/​OCT23.
The Food has suffered for it, new owners have implemented an all veg kitchen w new recipes to reflect their personal beliefs and tastes.
Their tastes tend toward oilier, less healthy, and yet somehow less tasty food! Good job new owners on potentially ruining a gem of a place that served home made flavorful and light (calorie wise) Indian fare.
Please consider using LESS OIL in all the food. It adds nothing as far as taste or texture and for this area of SoCal it might not resonate at all. Considering there are better Indian restaurants in the area for those who dont mind all the oil or arent looking for a healthy option this place might not find a customer base at all. This would be unfortunate as the grocery selection is useful for an Indian ExPat.
Seriously though, please consider LESS OIL, it wont make anyone other than some Guju grandma happy to see their food swimming in a layer of grease.

Beware. they serve you stale food. Most of the food items are not fresh and you should be lucky enough to get fresh food here. I know people who have got food poisoned after eating here. They get fresh vegetables once a week on every Wednesday. Their snacks and other packed spices are sitting there for many days, please check the expiry date before picking them.

For all your Indian spice needs this is the best I have found in TO. Located in a small strip mall with easy parking out side, this place is also a small café where the Indian food is also awesome. They make lamb and chicken curries, lots of daal on the premises with fresh rotis and papadoms.
The is a full selection of Indian spices, rices, lentils and also pre prepared Indian pastes and chutneys. There is also a fresh produce area with everything from tomatoes to fresh curry leaves and cilantro.
There are refrigerators that have yoghurts and unmade Indian breads and naans way better than the stuff at regular groceries stores. There is also a section of English stuff with Heinz beans, robinsons cordials and tea… A throw back from the British rule. This is a great place give it a try for all your Indian spice needs.

This place serves very stale stuff, period. If you must shop, then you are safe to pick veggies and curry leaves (which they sell in bulk), but beware of the snacks and fried food and lassies, they have been sitting there for donkeys years. I bought some goat meat, it tasted weird. I know of people who got food poisoning here.

I am not a fan of this grocery store as it’s small and doesn’t have everything I need. There was only one person working here so we had to wait for a long time while she juggled as the grocery and the restaurant cashier. I usually get my Indian groceries from India sweets and spices around woodland hills. But this review is mainly for the Chicken Biryani. Apna spiceland has the best Chicken Biryani (flavored rice with spices) I’ve had in a while. It was fantastic and i’ll be coming back for more. The quantity is really good and more than I had expected for $ 8. Just make sure you don’t add the spicy yogurt thing they give on the side as it was very very very spicy.

This small Indo/​Paki market is great for cheap spices and other unusual ethnic groceries. Sure, the usual Thousand Oaks/​Westlake resident is going to be intimidated by the things that they see in this market. Don’t be! Here’s my white girl breakdown on stuff that would be fun to buy and try:
Gram flour? Check! Use gram flour instead to make yummy gluten free/​grain free delights with a lower carb count and more protein than flour. Hello Paleo-​eatin’, Cross-​Fit junkie! Buy a bag of this stuff! Gram flour is just dried, ground up garbanzo beans. Use it for pancakes, cookies, carrot cake, crepes, veggie dumplings, pizza crust., gnocchi… the list is endless.
Paneer? Check! Paneer is a great vegetarian subsitute for meat in many veggie dishes. It’s basically whole milk soured with lemon juice, then strained using cheesecloth into a semi-​firm cheese, very similar to Mexican queso fresco. Simply cut it into small cubes, season it, fry it lightly on all sides, and add it to your favorite prepared veggie dish.
Spices? There is literally an aisle of spices available for purchase, and at rock bottom prices. Forget Penzeys. Spend ¹⁄₅ of the amount here and get more than you could ever imagine, then get your nails did with the money you saved. Try some cardamom. Cardamom is used in all sorts of european baked items. Add some to your next latte for a totally new taste profile. Oh, and, white cardamom is just green cardamom that’s been bleached.
Also pick up some tandoori masala for a quick dinner. Squeeze lemon and sprinkle salt onto raw chicken thighs and drumsticks and let sit for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix up some tandoori masala with some plain yogurt and a bit of cayenne pepper to taste. Pour the yogurt mixture onto the chicken parts, allow time to marinade (8 – 24 hours is best), then throw onto a well oiled 400 degree grill for about 15 minutes or until chicken has reached an internal temp of 165. BOOM. Homemade quick chicken tandoori without the red food color of the stuff at the restaurant. Oh, you want the red color? Add a ton of red food coloring (like 10 – 1 drops) to your initial lemon juice bath.
There is a take-​out counter here as well, but I didn’t have a chance to try it. Next time. Owner was working at the counter and was friendly and helpful. I love it! Definitely will be back.

This was the first time we had a veg and non veg combo. The food was terrible, not edible literally. Tandoor roti was yesterday’s pulka. Waste of money and time. I will never have food here again. Am giving 1 star because cannot give ZERO

Perfect store for anything related to Desi (Paki/​Indian) food and Spices! They have it all! Great value of money specially the species!

I happened to be in the shopping center and dropped by to check out the market. I am happy I did because I came out with a new recipe. I loved the great selection of gluten free flowers including chick pea (channa) and lentil (dal). Since I try to cook and bake with gluten free flowers I will be back to pick some up.
I grabbed some paneer (a hard Indian cheese) and hoped to pick up one the premaid mixes for saag paneer because it is my husband’s favorite dish. I didn’t see one so I asked the sweet lady at the register if she knew how to make it. She gave me a wry look and told me that of course she knew how to make it. When the steady flow of customers died down she gave me step by step (thorough) instructions on how to make the delicious spinach dish. I can’t wait to try it!
Minimum purchase to use a credit card is $ 10 so bring a debit card or cash.

Just discovered that this place has vegan dishes. Today there were 5 different vegan items from which to choose. It was delicious and it is so convenient. I will definitely be back soon

Do you ever have those days where by the time you break for lunch you start having a sneaking suspicion that your stomach might actually be a monster when you are hit with an appetite fit for a dinosaur?
You haven’t had one of those days? I have. A lot. And sometimes I am able to make it home for lunch and realize that my tummy needs something special… STAT.
On these special occasions, APNA Spiceland comes into play and saves innocent people (driving aggressively from hunger, saving an innocent soul from my moodiness when I’m this «special» hungry). Their food does wonders on my hunger pains.
APNA is an Indian grocery store that also has a counter that you can order from that kind of looks like a buffet but the store clerk gets your food and you can either eat there or take out. From what I can recollect, I think the counter is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week, not sure about the weekend. You got your pick of Samosas, Garlic Naan, Tandori chicken, Daal, Chole, and honestly, sometimes I just see and smell an item and say, «I’ll take one» even though I have no idea what it is. The menu changes every time I go, but there is always a traditional/​popular dish prepared. It’s first come, first serve so basically you snooze, you lose if you go after 6 p.m., they may not have a lot left (if you ask them for something they don’t have, they might be able to make it for you, that happened to me when they ran out of Samosas, not sure if it’s the same story for other items)
Their food is always flavorful but slightly greasy. (well, some dishes are really oily, some not, depends. They have meat and vegetarian options) Thank the Lord for this place and the fact that it always satisfies my sometimes voracious hunger. Not to mention you should always grab a refreshing drink like a mango lassi or lychee juice to help soothe your gastrointestinal tract from any unforgiving spices.
The store is located in the Palm Plaza, right off T. O boulevard, next to the Exotic thai café, Mongolian BBQ, and the fish/​aquatic shop.

This is a small and modest Indian grocery store located in Thousand Oaks! I am so grateful it is here. Since it is small, it does not have all the varieties of items, and quantities of items I would wish, but at least they carry most items. The vegetables can be hit or miss in terms of freshness, but that is to be expected in a small business. If you time it right, it is fantastic. They also have a prepared food/​deli section — I’ve tried the vegetable samosas and they were pretty good. They also have some frozen items. I wish we had a large Indian Super Mart but, since we don’t, this is the next best thing.

This is my Indian Food shopping place. I get my tea & Indian spices here. Best Samosas I ever had. Besides being a market they also have prepared Indian Food that is really tasty. Dosas and Chenna Batura are really tasty, but it’s good to order by phone as it takes some time to make them.