MARKET Royal BAKERY, an international tour of food

selection of products from Royal

I happened upon MARKET Royal BAKERY recently when I was hanging with a friend in the Richmond District of San Francisco. I used to live in that neighborhood, but much has changed since I was last there. My friend and I had just finished our coffees from the Royal Grounds coffee shop on 17th Ave. and Geary. Since I had some free time, I thought I’d check out this cute bakery nearby that I hadn’t been to before. This part of the Richmond has a lot of Russian businesses, churches and shops. MARKET Royal turned out to be a little jewel of place!

Upon first entering the bakery, I noticed a gazillion kinds of vodka besides the usual Sky, Absolut and Kettle One.  You see the liquor section when you first go inside; at least, I did. I’m always running out of interesting vodka, so I was excited already by this discovery. I love getting the real stuff, AKA Russian vodka, especially in such an authentic setting. The one I brought home was one we’d tried before called “Russian Standard Platinum.” My hubby and I once got this at the Frankfurt airport duty free on a lark. It’s so smooth! Also, they make it with a silver filtration process which must be why it’s so perfect. They carry the regular and platinum versions of Russian Standard at MARKET Royal BAKERY. There are also beers from Eastern Europe and other places. They even have cherry flavored vodka from Lithuania, a country my father’s dad’s parents came from.  It had cute packaging with a piece of red cloth at the top to indicate it had cherry flavor.  If you like Vodka this is the place to go!

The shop name is deceiving because it’s not just a bakery. They have a variety of sections, each featuring different products: meat, fish, produce, liquor, sweets, canned and jarred goods, baked goods, as well as dairy. They have an amazing deli case too with fresh salads like hummus, cabbage salad and other Russian type salads that looked good though I didn’t have time to try any. I bought a tub of real sauerkraut and sour pickles. I ate some of both and they tasted like they were homemade, no vinegars, just pure fermented cabbage and cucumbers. They make hot foods there too if you want to take something away. If you call ahead, you can get them to cook up kabobs or get some hot soup like borscht or a vegetable soup.  The bakery has a lot of unique items too like all kinds of fresh breads and piroshkies with many different fillings.

Fresh fish is placed on ice with the full head and all, if you care to take the whole fish home. They have these huge grey sturgeons displayed in a glass case that you can get by the pound. Meats are there in all forms you can imagine, and the dairy section is a full aisle of cheeses, Kefirs, and milk drinks. They carry butter from France called “President,” at 4-bucks for a tub.  You can probably get President elsewhere, but I impulsively bought two of them just because it’s so creamy and reminds me of the butter in Paris.

MARKET Royal BAKERY offers a variety of prepackaged sauces and things that are not labeled in English so it might help to get the clerk to translate if you have questions, especially about stuff in Russian.

Russian vodka and chocolate

I asked for help with a few items and the owner or manager dude was really informative.  Don’t be shy about asking! Their English is good.

The cookie and treat selection is extensive and the huge chocolate selection is a lot like shopping in a European market. Milka, Perugina, etc, etc….all the good stuff, is offered and you can get dark chocolate with over 70-percent cocoa! And last but not least, for it should be mentioned first they have a great produce section with all your fibrous needs available.

I’ve already been to this place twice since discovering it a month ago. I will definitely return as I like the kraut and want more and would like to try their fish and cheeses. I’m very curious about this feta from Romania and another from Bulgaria and also some real Swiss from Switzerland….  Whatever you fancy you can find there. And shopping at this place feels like traveling around the world. It’s way more than another dull Whole Foods or Cost Plus experience. Check it out:

MARKET Royal BAKERY
5335 Geary Blvd
Phone 415 221 5550
Get there by Muni on the 38 Geary or by a vehicle, bike, motorcycle, car hybrid, taxi or ride from your friend!
There’s no web site….yet.