Even if your summer plans keep you close to home, you can get a taste of the world by shopping at specialty grocery stores in Newton. 

We’ve found local stores that offer ingredients and prepared foods from far-flung places. If you go shopping, bring a sense of adventure and maybe even challenge yourself to try something new. Here are some of the tempting possibilities:

Newton Asian Mart, 22-28 Langley Street in Newton Centre (no website at press time)

Specialty: Asian foods

This store opened in June to offer fresh and packaged products for Asian cuisine. One wall is lined with tanks of seafood, including fresh eel and lobster. A display of meats features pork for char siu (Cantonese-style barbecue) as well as other cuts of pork, chicken and beef.

Vegetarians can find at least six varieties of tofu in a refrigerator case. The freezer case contains dumplings in assorted flavors. Rice (some in 15-pound bags), condiments, tea, snack foods and canned goods line the shelves. The produce aisles in the center of the store are filled with snow pea tips, green radishes and dragon fruit along with vegetables more familiar to Westerners, such as scallions and watermelon. 

Don’t miss: Glass jars near the store’s entrance display dried ginseng, sea cucumbers, morel mushrooms and other foods thought to offer medicinal benefits.

Baza Newton, 30 Tower Road (off Needham Street)

Specialty: Russian and Eastern European foods

It’s common to hear staff and customers speaking Russian to each other at this store. Language skills come in handy for reading labels on packaged goods, too, but you won’t need them in the produce department, which offers sour cherries in season. 

Baza Newton off Needham Street. Photo by Clara Silverstein

The dairy case is well stocked with several varieties of sour cream, kefir, farmer’s cheese and yogurt, including one brand from Belarus. Other displays contain smoked fish, wurst and several kinds of deli meats (salami, knockwurst, bacon, ham and sausages). 

The bakery department features rye and other dark breads and a display case of cakes and pies. Bottles of kvas (a drink made from rye), beer, wine and spirits round out the offerings. 

Don’t miss: If you don’t want to cook at home, pick up prepared blintzes, latkes (potato pancakes), borscht (beet soup), kebabs or stroganoff.

Walnut Market, 20 Lincoln Street, Newton Highlands

Specialty: Craft beer, products from England and Ireland

Owner Matt Santarpio describes the Newton Highlands store’s selection as “eclectic.” The many styles of craft beer range from brown ale to sour beer. You can also find wine, sake and hard cider. 

Matt Santarpio at Walnut Market in Newton Highlands. Photo by Clara Silverstein

Products from England and Ireland, especially jams and chocolates, are a specialty here. “Anyone who traveled to these places or grew up there will find a taste of home,” Santarpio said. 

Several chocolate bars line the shelves near the cash register, including Starbar (milk chocolate with a caramel and peanut center), Picnic (a crisp wafer and caramel covered in peanuts, raisins and milk chocolate), and Aero (chocolate that contains air bubbles). 

“We get special chocolates in for Christmas and Easter, and that’s when business really goes crazy,” he said.

Don’t miss: Bagels from Montreal, baked in a wood-fired oven, which gives them a special flavor. Look for them in the freezer unless a fresh delivery has just arrived.

Market Tiamo, 36 Langley Road, Newton Centre

Specialty: Italian products

Not surprisingly, shelves here are lined with dried pasta and several varieties of tomato sauce—some in bottles, some in cans. Cookies come in packages with Italian names, such as Chicche (cocoa biscuits) and Grisbi (shortbread). 

A popular spot in the store is the deli counter, which offers a selection of cheeses, olives and cured meats, including prosciutto (pork) and bresaola (beef). Sandwiches are made to order. 

Monthly wine tastings pair wines sold at the shop with “foods that go well with the wine—cheeses, crackers, meats,” said Phyllis Cusenza, who has worked there since the shop opened four years ago. “People also come in for gift ideas,” she said. Since the store’s motto is “put Italy in your basket,” there are lots of possibilities.

Don’t miss: Deli sandwiches made from Italian cold cuts and cheeses.

Clara Silverstein is a cookbook author with extensive knowledge of Newton history. She can be reached at clara@clarasilverstein.com.