Tops, Has It Improved?

[Wellington]

Lots of Razz Matazz at Tops today as they launched the "new look'.

uniforms,enlarged selling areas by about 75% and more products with food outlets surrounding.

But is it any better than two months ago?

We had very tough pork this week, and they cannot make decent bread,

all the imported "Waitrose" products are nice 'till you look at the prices

What does anybody else think?

and how does it compare to Villa, ?

[maichai40]

The bread is much better than Villa Market for me.

I go to Tops mainly to look for special offers. I use a lot of cookies and the Waitrose are good quality and always find at least two or three kinds on special sale (50-70% off), so good deal.

[g00dgirl]

Too soon to notice if they have any new products in tops, for now it's just very stressful to search for everything I am looking for, I got used to where everything could be found over the past years and that's why I liked to go there. Now I don't feel 'home', I feel like I am away, somewhere in Bangkok maybe, and when I finish paying I realize I am actually in Central Phuket.

With a small, sometimes impatient child in tow it's often impossible to browse through the aisles and search for something, you can just rush through and quickly grab what you usually get. Right now I buy less because it is impossible to search for everything. I also go to Villa more often because it is less stressful, knowing a bit better where everything is.

The new, black shopping trolleys are good because the old ones were always stuck together and very hard to separate.

They have more food shops in front of tops now, I tried the Sushi place and the Sushi was nice, that's something I would get regularly.

[thaigerd]

I could not find my old chocolate I used to get there

[Valentine]

It is now called Central Food Hall & is only one of 4 in Thailand although one is closed after a fire at Central World in BKK during the recent troubles. I like the new look & the fact there are more fast food choices just outside such as the sushi place & Woody with his bagels. Yes it will take time to get used to the new layout just as it did when Lotus & Big C changed in the past. It seems like part of a larger revamp as Au Bon Pain has gone but Oishi Ramen, which I really enjoy, is still there although moved upstairs.

[pmgthailand]

Yes it looks nice but it is oh soooo expensive. I went in to get a pound of mince (380 baht) and four Italian sausages (520 baht) to make spaghetti sauce and if you include the jar of sauce with it, my spaghetti sauce would cost me more that a thousand baht to make. I put the stuff back, probably good stuff but just not worth it to me!!!

It is now called Central Food Hall & is only one of 4 in Thailand although one is closed after a fire at Central World in BKK during the recent troubles. I like the new look & the fact there are more fast food choices just outside such as the sushi place & Woody with his bagels. Yes it will take time to get used to the new layout just as it did when Lotus & Big C changed in the past. It seems like part of a larger revamp as Au Bon Pain has gone but Oishi Ramen, which I really enjoy, is still there although moved upstairs.

Edited August 12, 2010 by pmgthailand

[katabeachbum]

Yes it looks nice but it is oh soooo expensive. I went in to get a pound of mince (380 baht) and four Italian sausages (520 baht) to make spaghetti sauce and if you include the jar of sauce with it, my spaghetti sauce would cost me more that a thousand baht to make. I put the stuff back, probably good stuff but just not worth it to me!!!

Hmm, Italian sausages S&P 3 pack (180g) is 70 baht and very good, minced beef can be had for 199 baht/kg (thats 95 baht/pound) and a jar of Heinz spagetti sauce (comes in 4 different spices/flavours) is like 48 baht, all prices in Central Food Hall. 5-10% can be saved in places like Tesco-Lotus, minced beef at 150 baht/kg (70 baht/pound) is good at Villa and Tesco

If you want airfreight japanese/OZ minced beef, airfreight italian sausages and imported tomatosause, you pay a premium in any foodstore:)

[MisterMan]

Went today and was excited when I saw the organic food isle.. and was even more excited that they had organic Pepperidge Farm Soft Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies on that shelve.

New online health food store has just been launched. Some products are available in Villa but they have some other products that I have no seen elsewhere. No meats of course.

Based in Phuket as they offer deliver and pick up service for south of Phuket only.

www.healthfoodthailand.com

I have not ordered yet but will soon, 1 thing they have is organic gluten free soi sauce. Today I looked at Tops for the same thing but found, low sodium OR organic OR gluten free but not a combo.

They did have some healthy oyster sauce and fish sauce though at the new Tops..Central Food Hall.

I also found the fresh fruit shake lady outside and ordered an avocado smoothie. They are really good in Bali.. but she asked if I wanted some passion fruit with it. I figured she should know...

Also Woody has a sandwhich shop and Lady Pie has a stand too out front.

[WarpSpeed]

As far as I'm concerned Waitrose is expensive, bland junk never buy it after the few items I've tried it the price just doesn't justify it..... They used to have a decent selection until they ultimately exclusively went to using them for imported branding..

Edited August 12, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[MAJIC]

Maybe slightly better than Tesco Lotus,

But their prices are well overpriced compared to the Quality.

[Wellington]

Maybe slightly better than Tesco Lotus,

But their prices are well overpriced compared to the Quality.

Looks aren't enough, pretty it is, but the Waitrose imports are well over priced and nothing like the quality in the UK

The only thing in it's favour is it's in Central, which is the best positioned Mall here, but parking is becoming a problem

we have twice in the last week had to give up and leave .

[BillR]

off topic, but anyone know where to get reasonably priced granola? Ive seen at sandwich shoppe but thats it.

[g00dgirl]

I agree that Waitrose products are very expensive, also always check the expiry date on them, I have seen Waitrose products very close to expiry date on the shelfs at tops often. I

I also agree that parking is a big problem, many times I spent half an hour stuck in traffic in the carpark without finding a spot. They double-park and several times after finishing shopping I had to find a guard to help push cars away that blocked my car, not fun while carrying a baby and shopping, it's hot in the carpark.

On weekends and holidays you need to be in the carpark well before or right at 11 am. On weekdays it's not as bad and even at noon you should still find parking.

Sometimes I would like to go to Central in the afternoon, but I don't even bother because it is a hassle to find parking.

[schlog]

I agree that Waitrose products are very expensive, also always check the expiry date on them, I have seen Waitrose products very close to expiry date on the shelfs at tops often. I

I also agree that parking is a big problem, many times I spent half an hour stuck in traffic in the carpark without finding a spot. They double-park and several times after finishing shopping I had to find a guard to help push cars away that blocked my car, not fun while carrying a baby and shopping, it's hot in the carpark.

On weekends and holidays you need to be in the carpark well before or right at 11 am. On weekdays it's not as bad and even at noon you should still find parking.

Sometimes I would like to go to Central in the afternoon, but I don't even bother because it is a hassle to find parking.

Parking is no problem if you park at HomeWorks and walk some meters..........

[g00dgirl]

Parking is no problem if you park at HomeWorks and walk some meters..........

Yeah right with a full shopping trolley from tops downstairs and baby stroller up across the bridge .. not really .. I need parking in P1 or P2 close to the elevator only

It's another thing that makes me prefer shopping at Villa Market in Chalong lately, they always have someone to push my trolley to the car and load all the bags into my car for me, a real big advantage if you shop with a small child in your arm. It's closer to home anyway.

So, tops Central would be more competitive if there was more parking, if they would help to carry the shopping to the car and if the Waitrose products were cheaper

[Wellington]

Parking is no problem if you park at HomeWorks and walk some meters..........

Yeah right with a full shopping trolley from tops downstairs and baby stroller up across the bridge .. not really .. I need parking in P1 or P2 close to the elevator only

It's another thing that makes me prefer shopping at Villa Market in Chalong lately, they always have someone to push my trolley to the car and load all the bags into my car for me, a real big advantage if you shop with a small child in your arm. It's closer to home anyway.

So, tops Central would be more competitive if there was more parking, if they would help to carry the shopping to the car and if the Waitrose products were cheaper

Agreed, and we don't fancy walking 200m in the rain even if there is a roof on the bridge the wind soon soaks you at this time of year.

The other thing is that generally we have found the meat at Villa far better than Tops.

[HDRIDER]

Hi

Villa it is, miss that place right now, have not seen Tops finish but i think i liked it better before

[merijn]

Villa is indeed the place to go but to far away for me

[Valentine]

I can usually find a handy park in Central most times but avoid it like the plague after noon on weekends & public holidays. It is hard to get a handy park in Lotus just about any time of the day their & idea of placing concrete blocks to stop people parking next to the curb is ridiculous as everyone parks there anyway thus making a narrow passageway for cars to move freely.

Edited August 14, 2010 by Valentine

[Idler]

Can't disagree with all that has been said above but I would like to add one thing - the wait at the checkouts. Before, when it was TOPS, one got used to a wait of up to ten minutes but since it has become CFH the wait has almost doubled. I was there yesterday to pick up a few things and waited twenty minutes to pay. On a Public Holiday they had four checkouts open. Many people with one or two items just gave up. I asked if they could open more checkouts which was greeted with a shrug. If anyone from CFH management reads this, please could you have an '8 items or less' aisle as they do at Tesco and Big C and, perhaps, more checkouts open during busy times.

[woodyleonhard]

off topic, but anyone know where to get reasonably priced granola? Ive seen at sandwich shoppe but thats it.

Email me.... Some good surprises coming...

[Valentine]

Can't disagree with all that has been said above but I would like to add one thing - the wait at the checkouts. Before, when it was TOPS, one got used to a wait of up to ten minutes but since it has become CFH the wait has almost doubled. I was there yesterday to pick up a few things and waited twenty minutes to pay. On a Public Holiday they had four checkouts open. Many people with one or two items just gave up. I asked if they could open more checkouts which was greeted with a shrug. If anyone from CFH management reads this, please could you have an '8 items or less' aisle as they do at Tesco and Big C and, perhaps, more checkouts open during busy times.

They do have an express checkout but do not see fit to open it. I agree the checkout system needs to be streamlined as it is pathetically slow right now.