Ashi Food Store

I have visited this place a couple of times as it is close to where I live. I have found every time I go in, the man that runs the store is always bumbling around restocking the shelves or keeping himself busy, he’s never stood around looking bored, which I think is a good sign! When I first visited this store, it was a bit overwhelming as there was so much stuff all piled into the place, which is not that big. However, it stocks a range of fresh fruit and veg, some of which is stored outside during the day, so I often get a box and help myself. It states outside that it is self service. It is not so cheap, but then again he is competing with a range of other stores that stock similar items on the same road.
One of the things I like most about this store, is that it stocks a range of Asian products, such as herbs and spices, which is handy when I attempt to make my own curries!

This small convenience store run by a friendly husband and wife team carries all the things one would expect, including essentials such as milk and bread, cleaning products and a small range of alcohol and tobacco, but it is particularly well-​stocked with ingredients for more exotic cooking — they carry a wide range of Asian spices, Garam flour, and the like.
It’s by no means the cheapest of shops, but this is made up for by the long opening hours (he can be open as late as 10pm in the summer months. They carry a small selection of fresh vegetables which are displayed in front of the shop.

Ashi Food store is fairly typical of the many Asian run convenience stores that can be found in most parts of Birmingham. There’s a little bit of everything — cleaning products, soft drinks and confectionery, cigarettes and tobacco, a small selection of alcoholic drinks, cereal… what makes these shops more interesting than usual convenience stores is the bias towards Asian and Indian products. For instance, can you buy curry spices in your average Spar shop? There’s also the traditional selection of fresh fruit and vegetables outside the shop, a visual quirk of many such shops that goes a long way towards brightening up the streets of Birmingham. Me, I always buy my chillies from these shops (the thin, small, mean looking green ones) as the ones from supermarkets never have as much flavour and are much more expensive. Ashi food store may not be anything particularly unusual but it’s presence and that of similar shops around Birmingham is very much welcomed in my book.