Vancouver's first Indonesian convenience store opens on East Hastings with a two-storey ramen wall

Toko Convenience has opened at 977 East Hastings in Strathcona, and the first thing you'll see is a wall of instant noodles stretching up two stories. Fresh ready-made food is planned for as soon as Friday, November 13, with rendang, Indonesian-style fried chicken and vegetable curries for grab-and-go, and seats at the front. An in-house noodle bowl, where customers add things like meatballs or onsen eggs, is planned but not yet running.

There are more than 30 brands and varieties on sale, most from Indonesia, with some from Korea. Co-owner Angela So, who was born in Vancouver, says the shop exists because Indonesian products were hard to find in the city. The shelves hold several varieties of sambal, frozen torch ginger, stink beans, Indonesian bay leaves, palm sugar and keluak, a nut used in soups. The baking comes from a local Indonesian baker rather than being imported.

Not everything is Indonesian. Locals asked whether milk and eggs would be carried, and So says the store stocks those too, for shoppers who just want something familiar.

Toko plans food events and demos on spices and dishes, and a collaboration with Lucy's Frozen Custard using its palm sugar and coconut products. Visits from the Indonesian Consulate General in Vancouver and local Indonesian church groups have been welcoming, So says.