Best place to buy kitchen equipment

[blueparrot]

Where in Girne area (I'd rather not go to Lefkosa) are the best places to buy kitchen equipment? I will be visiting TRNC soon and would like to see what is available there and what I should bring from UK (ideally as little as possible).

By kitchen equipment, I mean small utensils and cake/pie tins, and also electrical items such as spice grinders, vegetable choppers, blenders etc. Nothing too fancy like sous-vide machines, blast freezers or deep fryers!

Is it Arcelik and Halos (which I have seen on this forum)? Or are there any others?

Many thanks.

[mrsgee]

Housewares in Catalkoy is excellent for kitchen ware. In the same row as Botanica, and Hur Deniz I think.

[sophie]

You get what you pay for here, so I wouldn't go to places like China Bazaar and Stormax. Şa Market have a lovely selection of kitchen equipment both good quality stainless steel but also silicone, cake tins, etc etc - the lot. Again its best to buy the best you can with regard to electrical stuff. Arcelick and Halos yes for your other needs, but we go to a small Blomberg store at the bottom of the GAU road. They stamp, date and honour 2 or 3 year warranties for all their goods, plus for a very minimal cost they safely remove the 2 pin plugs and fit a good quality 3 pin plug (not the cheep tatty ones you get in supermarkets)

[fatouche]

Stay well away from silicone for cake pans; it's absolute rubbish! It was originally intended for use in conjuction with blast freezers (for those French mousse-type desserts). Use aluminium.

The knives here are no good, and the electrical stuff costs a fortune.


I'd bring the stuff over from the UK if I were you. It will work out cheaper, and the quality will be superior.

[blueparrot]

Thank you for all your comments. Very helpful.

[sophie]

O'h well, that's my suggestions shot down in flames. I'll still continue to buy my electrical goods from our Blomberg shop. Of course if you're eventually bringing a container over then you will have no problem. I'm not a big baker myself, just going by what some of my cake baking colleagues have said.

[mrsgee]

No Sophie, not shot down in flames, I agree with you, have bought from Blomberg, very good, and it is possible to get excellent quality kitchen.cooking equipment here, it is just that a lot of people look in the wrong places. As previously mentioned Sah Market has a good range too, and if you are into serious cooking there are a number of smaller specialist catering shops that have good quality.

People should not think UK bought products are the be all and end all, I bought a NEXT pyramid kettle back last year, lasted me about 6 months before springing a leak....I have a matestar one, brought over here, cheaper and still going after a year..........

[fatouche]

Sophie I apologise if I offended you; it really wasn't my intention!

It's just that electrical items here tend to cost much more than they do in the UK, and the choice is limited.As for the bakeware, I bake a lot! During my short period of employment at Şah, I had the benefit of the experience of an Italian pastry chef who had come to train us to use the Electrolux equipment. He didn't subscribe to the enthusiasm for silicone bakeware either, and Şah had spent a fortune on it for their own kitchens. I only use the metal variety as it conducts heat more evenly and silicone still needs greasing, so there is no advantage to it.

[sophie]

My mistake then, I thought the whole point of silicone was that it didn't stick. I love my silicone spatulars and spoons. but of course they don't go into the oven. I think I'd be a bit apprehensive about the gloves as well!!

[fatouche]

Yes, I love the spatulas and spoons too! The bakeware does stick though, and yes, the bakeware has been marketed as being non stick.

Even the silicone mats are a nuisance as they expand in the heat and crease up on the baking sheet. Definitely not worth having; give me good old fashioned silicone paper any day!