Borderless European Market (BEM), Austin TX

I have really enjoyed BEM in the past, but today I purchased a Piknik cheese from them, and it was moldy. The cheese is supposed to be submerged in a brine, and the brine seems to have leaked from the container, leaving the cheese exposed to the air. Green and fuzzy mold covered the whole thing when I opened it at home. I was very disappointed

Edit:
The cheese is meant to be sealed, so the store couldn’t have known that it was moldy until it was opened. It was likely an honest mistake, and BEM has been very kind to offer a full refund.

There is a lot of stuff for us Europians, in somma a great place, nice staff members a little bit pricy but maybe because they have to bring in all items from Europe or most items and they have to pay tax for it. You can find there smoked meat products, European farmer cheese, Kefir, types of soup noodles, pickled red beets, cucumbers pickled in the European way, types of sweet stuff and chocolates, frozen European food ect.

Update:
Lowering the stars because some vanilla wafers we got here after we returned for another visit were almost a WHOLE YEAR expired! I used to be a cashier at a grocery store. Although I was only a cashier, and 17 years old, I took pride in my aisle being clean and tidy, and that the candy was not expired. We were responsible for doing this check whenever business was slow. We were even supposed to venture to aisles nearby and turn all the cans around to face the front if it was really slow. This store seems to have plenty of downtime as a specialty store. There should not be anything so beyond its sell by date. It's like, a basic ask I ask of a food store.

Original review:

Everything is imported from what seems like Eastern Europe, so that's pretty cool! I saw this fermented bread soda that a Ukrainian friend introduced us to there. I didn't end up buying it because I wasn't totally sure it was the same drink. We got some Italian pasta and sauce we're looking forward to cooking. I expected to find some more snacks that I would have recognized from my 6 weeks stay in Portugal, but didn't find anything specific. The wafers are close! I love European wafers. I also bought an herbal tea because I feel like any country in Europe probably makes tea 10x better than America does. We might try some of their frozen dumplings next time! They had veal dumplings, which looked good!

Hands down, the best destination in Austin for Eastern European and Russian groceries. Very authentic, always fresh foods and great variety.

Unfortunately, purchased food, especially frozen food, often turns out to be spoiled and moldy. We have already thrown away so many new packs that we have no particular desire to return.
Pros: the store is clean and neatly laid out

Very clean and reasonably priced. Staff was courteous. And I found several things that are difficult to find in this area

For those who came from former Soviet Union states, you can find many things you remember from your childhood. Not the greatest selection but it is "the only game in town" so it's hard to complain.

Great place to shop if you come from other countries. Lots of Russian foods and many European things

There is no other facility like this in Austin. You will find all the best of the best European food and ingredients here you will need. There are a lot of sweets you absolutely cannot find anywhere else even remotely nearby. Highly recommend, 10 stars if I could rate higher

Store is very clean and well organized with high selection, also Nastya was very friendly. Definitely recommend!

Definitely check expiration dates, especially on items that are on sale. They are most likely expired like this box of chocolates. Now it's obvious that expiration dates are arbitrary and it doesn't always mean that something is spoiled, especially a piece of candy like this and especially just a month or two pass it's expiration date but you definitely have to watch out for anything with meat or dairy in it. The prices are also up there.

Found lovely products and delicious snacks, will visit again, the cheese ice cream was absolutely unique and yummy.

This is a Russian food store. It used to have more variety before 2022 and now has a very limited number of products. You can still find Russian dumplings and cereals like buckwheat here as well as cookies, candies and certain types of canned food. However dairy products and meat (like smoked or jerky meats and sausages) have very basic choices.

Best place to find a good selection of European (especially Eastern European) food and drink. Nice, clean, organized store.

After cooking, we throw out 3 packs of pancakes with chicken (photo attached), since the filling gives off a lot of acid.
Edit, replying to the owner's comment (advice to write to the pancake maker). If a store sells stale or low-quality products, then I, as a buyer and client of the store, evaluate the store. And the store can already choose suppliers and do quality control.

Deducted one star for products being kind of limited (given the space the store has) but regardless of that I can buy things I wouldn't be able otherwise, as big chains like HEB don't care to carry. (farmers cheese would be just one small example)

Clean small store. Definitely a bit to expensive. But this is the only Russian store that is around me, and i do get a bit nostalgic for some things.