In the spring of 2008, South China Seas added a second store in East Vancouver’s Commercial Drive neighbourhood at 1502 Victoria Drive (2 blocks north of First Avenue at Grant). The stylish Victoria Drive store incorporates a commercial kitchen facility where we grind our spices, blend our proprietary spice blends and prepare products such as our Junko’s Japanese Style Salad Dressings. The kitchen also provides a venue for our cooking classes, wine and food tastings and hands-on culinary workshops.



Clockwise from upper left: Nutmeg with Mace Blades (photo: Tracey Kusiewicz), Long Pepper, Cubeb Pepper

Over the past two decades, the our initial focus on South East Asia has expanded to include everything needed to prepare the foods of Asia, India, the Caribbean and Mexico – an astonishingly diverse array of products including fresh and fragrant herbs and rare spices, sauces and condiments, fresh and dried chiles, exotic fruits, vegetables and mushrooms, curries, chutneys and pickles, fragrant teas, fresh and dried pastas, uncommon rice varieties, seaweeds & sushi ingredients, dim sum & dumplings, fresh tortillas, Mexican cheeses and much, much more.

South China Seas also offers a growing range of rare and hard-to-find ingredients from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere – preserved lemons, pomegranate molasses, orange blossom water, Middle Eastern and North African couscous, truffle oils, truffle butters and fresh Alba and Perigord truffles from Italy and France– to name but a few.

We carry an extensive selection of cookbooks with a focus on global culinary traditions, the work of ground-breaking chefs and books for culinary professionals.

Specialty cookware (including huge granite mortar and pestles from Thailand) and tableware to enhance the experience of preparing and sharing a meal rounds out our inventory at both locations.