When you’ve been living in Qatar for more than a few months now, you probably know the feeling of homesickness. You miss everything about the Philippines, even the things you never really appreciated when you’re still back home. One thing that Pinoys truly miss when they are abroad are the food and other grocery items found in Filipino grocery stores. Fortunately, in Qatar, there are a few Pinoy grocery stores that expats really love.
When you find your nearest Pinoy grocery store in Qatar, you must immediately save its location in a maps app or keep a mental note. That’s because this place will soon become your favorite. Once you get in, even the smell of the grocery stores makes you less homesick.
5 Places Where You Can Buy Pinoy Groceries in Qatar
1. Philippine Store
The Philippine Store is a fruit and vegetable store as well as a wholesale grocer. The Philippine Store is located in Al Defaaf Street, Al Sadd, just behind the Royal Plaza Mall in Doha. It used to be open 24 hours a day, but now a recent update in this tweet shows its latest store opening:
2. Pinoy Food Center
The Pinoy Food Center is located in Al Nasser, Doha, Qatar, located in the same road as the Mirqab Mall. It is both a convenience store and a grocery store. It sells many of the food products Filipinos have grown accustomed to having in their dining tables. Everything from familiar brands of breads, local bakery goods, spaghetti, spaghetti ingredients, milk, mayonnaise, spreads, biscuits, desserts, vinegar, soy sauce, canned goods, chips, and more, are sold here. It will surely bring you back home to find such products in the shelves of the Pinoy Food Center
3. Kabayan Supermarket
Kabayan Supermarket is one of the busiest Pinoy grocery stores in Doha. To go there from the Souq Waqif, take the Underground pass leading to Fanar building, go around Souq Faleh to the Al Tarbiyah Street, where the Kabayan Supermarket is. It is located in front of the City Souq. Like any big supermarket, it sells everything from fruits, vegetables, and all the grocery items that we are used to seeing in the grocery stores of the Philippines. Some reviews mention it could have a lot more to offer for the wet market section, but for everything else, you can find almost any Filipino product that you need.
4. Amana Puregold
Amana Puregold is located at Al Difaaf Street, Doha. The Puregold supermarket is one of the more popular supermarket chains in the Philippines. This particular branch in Doha is a little smaller than most Puregold stores, but still has many of the items Filipinos are looking for in a grocery store.
5. Lulu Hypermarket
Lulu Hypermarket is located at several locations in Doha, including those in D-Ring Road, Al Gharrafa, Al Messila, Barwa City, Garaffa and Al Rayyan. While not exactly a Filipino grocery, you can shop for lots of Pinoy grocery items here, and you can even do it online. It probably has most of the Pinoy grocery items you are familiar with: canned goods, ketchup, spreads, sauces, and so much more.
Indeed, buying at a Pinoy grocery store in Qatar really helps in removing homesickness. We should also appreciate the fact that our local products are finding a home in one of the richest and most internationally diverse countries in the world.