Jump to content

Best Asian Markets


Karen Resta

Recommended Posts

Certainly make you think about it a bit but its like saying who is the best looking man/woman. Different stroke for different folks.

However I do have my favorite based on what I'm shopping for.

Seafood - Great Wall and El Grande

veggies - Great Wall (especially unusual greens for stir frying)

Fruit - EEMart and El Grande

Beef/Pork/Chicken - El Grand and H Mart

Kimchi - HMart (one in fairax and go on the weekend when they make the stuff in front of you)

Tofu - Lotte (By far the best and freshest tofu around)

Bulk beans and lentils - EEMart (I just score 5Kg bag of red lentil for really cheap and they have a large variety of beans in bulk)

Today, I hit Great Wall and Super H. $4.99/lb lobster cannot be beat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some great leads there, Soup. Thanks. You're right - the influence of the heart upon the head (or if we must put it in food terms let's say the gizzard upon the kidney) in these matters counts enormously!

I wonder if the lobster price you mentioned is due to the current lobster distribution problem or whether it is always that cheap at that place . . .

One of the other things I'm looking for in a market is the availability of a good selection of kitchen tools and serving pieces. I'd like to stock up on some of this stuff but the places near me offer a very limited selection. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fresh World International Supermarket/ El Supermercado Grande on Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie is Japanese and Korean Heavy - in a good way.

There is an aisle of kitchen tools and serving dishes. This market is fab, big and fairly new.

The fish section is a field trip. Fresh fish, live fish, whole fish, dried fish, smoked fish, salted fish, pickled fish, frozen fish, fish fish fish.

I've never seen so many varieties and brands of rice noodle or beans (most of one aisle is dedicated to beans).

Produce friendly. Gobs of greens and herbs.

They have a crazy little Korean Bakery. The Tiramisu was fetching. I said 'ahhh tiramisu." My mother said "That's Italian." The shopkeeper said "No, it's Korean!" It was completely charming and sapid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:P

Red fish, blue fish. The place sounds Seuss-ian.

I love those big places. I remember several in NYC's Chinatown that were on two floors, the stairs (tight and angled strangely) rather frightening admittedly, but fun. And good when time is short, also.

Great tiramisu story. It would have been fun to ask him why tiramisu is Korean. (And even more fun to discover if there was a kernel of truth somewhere in his story, which is entirely possible!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, that is an extensive list. I wonder if most of those shops have survived since the posts . . . (?)

I might try the supermarket place. Not little and cute, but maybe effective.

Besides, there's a good chance I could actually find it in a day trip. (You may not be aware of this but DC and its surrounding areas have a specially devised force-field that purposely repels and confuses all ex-New Yorkers, sending them into driving their car in endless circles of confusion for hours and hours on end trying to find the location of any place at all. And then it is the same once you find it and try to leave to go home. More foggy endless confusion.) :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seuss-ian. Yes. That's exactly appropriate.

Karen, if you make the drive to Fresh World International, you might also want to stop at Cynthia's in Severna Park (also on Ritchie Highway) for lunch or dinner. it is in a strip mall - next to Annapolis Seafood. Cynthia is constantly well-reviewed and has the best bread pudding.

http://cynthiassevernapark.com/

Two great culinary destinations in one field trip.

Please let us know if you succeed in your quest and what you thought of your destinations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Asian is a very general description to me. I've found some similar, but a number of different things at Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Filipino-specific markets. I just thought I would point out that "best" is relative to what types of items you're looking for.

I would think "best" is an indicator of consistent happiness as one leaves. It's going to be different for everyone. For example, I'd say Hana Market (a tiny corner japanese store) is the "best" for me, because I can walk there and back and I never get a migraine like I do in large stores.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, 'Asian' as a catch-all term is much too catch-all indeed. I thought about that before posting but then couldn't find a way to post what I meant in the length of a subject title.

The word 'ethnic' is even worse.

And of course in any category of definition with words one runs into problems. 'American'. That is too catch-all and entirely confusing, if looked at for the briefest moment.

Even 'redhead' has severe problems in terms of categorizing.

But thank god for words, anyway. For as confusing as they may be, they are a thousand times (exactly a thousand I believe it to be - there must be a study on it somewhere) better than numbers.

I was throwing a wide net to see what would come in.

Some good stuff did!

Exactly. Happiness when you walk out the door. A perfect phrase. And a different thing for each of us, and even for each of us at different times! :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I guess I was just thinking I know that I really love salted, sesame-oiled seaweed that I can pretty much only can find it at the Korean market. But if I wanted my preserved tofu and pickles, I can only find them at the Chinese market.

I guess I just wanted to throw it out there because the big Asian markets around here tend to be Korean, and tend to dominate the conversation. I'm a big booster for Maxim and Kam Sam, especially the warm pan-fried buns at Maxim on the weekends. Yum!

I've always been quite curious about a number of the items in the market that was attached to the old Nava Thai space, and I've liked trying out some of the things in the very small market in the same plaza as Max's Kosher Cafe. Danny's Tindahan on Wisconsin near Van Ness is also fun to explore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to go to the Chinese market next door to the Annandale A&J if I couldn't find what I was looking for in Grand mart. They had some unique cuts of meat, BBQ, pretty good Zhong Zi. It closed its door several months ago. Anyone know what became of the empty space? New restaurants? New market?

However I do have my favorite based on what I'm shopping for.

Seafood - Great Wall and El Grande

veggies - Great Wall (especially unusual greens for stir frying)

Fruit - EEMart and El Grande

Beef/Pork/Chicken - El Grand and H Mart

Kimchi - HMart (one in fairax and go on the weekend when they make the stuff in front of you)

Tofu - Lotte (By far the best and freshest tofu around)

Bulk beans and lentils - EEMart (I just score 5Kg bag of red lentil for really cheap and they have a large variety of beans in bulk)

Does Great Wall have live dungeoness crab?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

However I do have my favorite based on what I'm shopping for.

veggies - Great Wall (especially unusual greens for stir frying)

Grover and I stopped by Great Wall on Saturday. If you're looking for veggies, I'd suggest you go elsewhere (even Giant). Green peppers WAY past fresh and into deterioration. Oranges that had seen better days three months ago. Mold on misc. veggies...yuck!

$4.99/lb lobster cannot be beat.
This was still going on last Saturday even though the price had increased by $2. Even $6.99 is a good price. We stopped at the Annandale Super H and got 4 really nice, feisty lobsters who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to go to the Chinese market next door to the Annandale A&J if I couldn't find what I was looking for in Grand mart. They had some unique cuts of meat, BBQ, pretty good Zhong Zi. It closed its door several months ago. Anyone know what became of the empty space? New restaurants? New market?
I was at A&J a few weeks ago and there is a market in the back of the little 'mall' - not sure if that's the one you're talking about. They had a wide variety of items in the seafood and meat departments - including fresh bamboo 'cones' and pig uterus :P . I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but there were lots of interesting things to see - in a space that wasn't totally overwhelming.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've scoured this thread and others but wanted to put the question directly: If you were stocking a Chinese pantry with the kind of ingredients used in Fuchsia Dunlop's magnificent Szechuan and Hunan cookbooks (chili bean paste, shaoxing rice wine, vinegars, etc.) where would you go? What's the best place in the area for Chinese ingredients?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See Jamie's post upthread. For Chinese supplies on the Maryland side of the river, Maxim (460 Hungerford Dr AKA MD355 in downtown Rockville) has been a mainstay for decades. Kam Sam (located a block behind, at 300 N. Washington St.) is the other go-to.

There was a time when the folks would periodically take us to shop DC's Chinatown for items you couldn't get in the suburbs, but that era came to a close about twenty years ago when the last few Chinese butchers closed up their downstairs markets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies. In addition to Great Wall, Kam Sam, and Maxim, I've also heard Happy Go in Annandale is pretty good. (In fact I think I was there once already years ago when I first started getting into Chinese cooking.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grover and I stopped by Great Wall on Saturday. If you're looking for veggies, I'd suggest you go elsewhere (even Giant). Green peppers WAY past fresh and into deterioration. Oranges that had seen better days three months ago. Mold on misc. veggies...yuck!

In my experience, the best vegetables at an Asian market in NoVA are to be found at the Fairfax Super H. I work very close to the El Grande on Backlick, and every time I go there, I am repelled by the lack of cleanliness. The El Grande in Falls Church? Fageddaboudit.

Honesty compels me to report that the freshest, best vegetables anywhere are to be found at Whole Food, at four times the price of Super H. The Whole Foods in Fair Lakes is particularly good with fresh vegetables. But I digress.

If I am not up for the trek to Super H in Fairfax, I will go to one of the really huge Shoppers Food Warehouses, which can be very good with vegetables. The one at the corner of Beulah Road and Manchester Lakes is good, and I have to drive waaay past El Grande to get there.

Lotte in Fairfax also loses points on cleanliness. It's not much further to Super H. I've lived in Fairfax for 20 years, pass Lotte on the way to Super H, and never stop.

Overall, if there is a better Asian market in NoVA than Super H in Fairfax, I am all ears.

But I agree that the Super H in Annandale is better for lobsters. There is something unsettling about how cheap they are, but they are very fresh, and very lively, and very tasty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Naniwa in Mclean is also gone, apparently it closed a few months and the owners 'retired'. Other than the new place on U Street, Hana Japanese Market, the Washington DC metro area has lost its Japanese grocery stores. While Super H Mart and other Korean or Chinese super grocery stores have Japanese products usually they are lacking higher quality ones.

There's a Japanese market above Temari Cafe. I just don't know the name. It's not really much better than the place on U Street, but it might be more convenient for some folks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For Chinese, your best bet is probably Great Wall on Gallows Road.

I have been very pleased with the quality of the vegetables at Great Wall recently. The only thing that hasn't been fantastic lately is the ginger. They also have an excellent lunch counter.

I have also been pleased with Happy Go, for the lunch counter, as well. The vegetables are good, as well, but it's a much smaller store. I think there might be more freshly cut meat you can order from the butcher, while at Great Wall, more seafood and more already packaged meats.

Great Wall has more customers who are not Chinese, Happy Go customers mostly Chinese. I like both places very much.

At Great Wall, to order lunch (or dinner), you say "combo", and you get rice and three toppings. At Happy Go, you say "lunch", same thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Korean Corner in Silver Spring makes an excellent spicy marinated pork belly. We threw it on the grill this evening and it was really really good...the kalbi ribs ate also supurb on the grill

I saw this place on a drive-by en route to Silver Fountain and was wondering what people's experiences were there??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lotte Plaza, 13955 Metrotech Dr. , Chantilly, VA 2015, 703 - 488 - 6600, has astonishing diversity. What impressed me the most was the variety of items oriented towards the foodways of India and Pakistan.

One expects these Korean-owned-and-operated markets to carry Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese foodstuffs, and Lotte in Chantilly does not disappoint.

As a Chinese-American man of my acquaintance states, "they have everything."

(Not true, I could not find Pixian doubanjiang, so back to Great Wall, but they did have black chickpeas in one of the IndoPak aisles, yes, that's right, one of several IndoPak aisles. And the aisles are nice and wide, too.) (I look forward to exploring the frozen foods section, too. Globalization rocks.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happy Go is gone, alas. Doors shut and locked, lights off.

When I saw that they were only taking cash, 10% off everything, I thought that was a very bad sign but did not post in the hope that they could turn it around. Alas.

I will miss the lunch counter, especially the discs of bitter melon cut crosswise, then stuffed with ground pork and black beans, then braised. Those were tasty. Never seen anything like that on the menu of a Chinese restaurant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Need to be in the Georgia Ave. - University Boulevard area this weekend and going to hit up H-Mart. However, my shopping list includes some SE Asian items which they may not have.

what other well stocked asian grocery stores are in the general area of the Georgia Ave H-Mart?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't the asian market where old Nava Thai was located still near there? (Is that Hung Phat? 11315 Fern Street, Silver Spring, MD‎ )

There is also a "Korean Korner" at 12207 Veirs Mill Road, Silver Spring, MD‎.

ETA: Washingtonian has a Filipino Bakery & Grocery listed in their guides, mainly for Filipino pupusas, but maybe you could call the grocery to ask if they have what you need. ( 11222 Triangle La.; 301-942-2800)

Edited by goodeats
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I poked my head into the asian grocery store (former Nava Thai location) when we had the DR dinner several months ago. I was thinking about hitting there as well.

I need some product for Indonesia cooking.

There's also another Asian grocery in the same plaza as Max's Kosher Cafe that I think might be more south Asian. You'll probably have better luck at those places than Korean Korner. That Korean Korner is also a mere shadow of what it used to be. There's a Lotte at Georgia and Aspen Hill. There's also a Thai grocery that I haven't visited near Bonifant in Silver Spring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reporting back...

H-Mart was great, lots of the Asian produce. Stocked up on galangal, curry leaves, fresh turmeric, lime leaves, fresh noodles, kimchi dumplings, now know where I can get about 7 different types of choy, chinese chives etc.

Then swung down to Hung Phat (the grocery store connect to Mi La Cay, on Fern St at Georgia Ave.) and picked up some of the SE Asian-centric stuff that I was looking for. The staff was very helpful and patient with my list...daun salam leaves anyone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been excited by the rumours that the Smitty's Hardware site on S. Rt. 1 was sold to a group of Korean investors & that they would be putting in a supermarket-yay! no more driving across town to hit H-Mart. Then, I heard they were putting in El Eden Supermercado-makes sense, much greater Hispanic population around here-I just want something as an alternative to Safeway & the commissary....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Made a run out to the burbs this weekend to hit the Rockville Patel's Bros. (a little less ghetto set up then the Patel's in Hyattsville)...was able to score most of what I was looking for, although they needed to restock some of the smaller packets of spices...I definitely don't need a one pound bag of turmeric powder! Gotta love the samosas (75 cents each!) and other fried snacks at the check out counter.

Then swung thru Maxim's...picked up a hupcap sized scallion pancake (it was huge!).. For breakfast on sunday we split the pancake down the middle, grilled it, and topped it with a couple fried eggs...soooo good!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My commute takes me right past Grand Mart on LRT in Annandale, and sort of close to Super H in Fairfax. No contest. The Super H has been consistently good with the fresh produce, and Grand Mart has slowly been deteriorating in both freshness of produce and the overall cleanliness of the whole store. I wish they would be more competitive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not exactly sure why we don't have a thread for Maxim's market in Rockville, but apparently we don't. The current rumor is that when their lease is up at the end of the year, they are planning not to renew. Bodes badly for that little shopping center, not to mention closing of small business.

The GW in Rockville has taken a lot of business away from Maxim and Kam Sam. Not sure how KS will continue to survive either....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mom went to check out the Maxim's closing sale yesterday. It was a total zoo. People were just jamming stuff into their carts like the zombie apocalypse was on the way.... Mom looked at the prices and noticed that they were raised then "reduced" for the sale. She was out of there in less than 5 minutes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Korean Korner (on Viers Mill and Randolph) isn't as large or as clean as H-Mart or Lotte, but it's a short drive and they stock a lot of the Korean goods I need. The produce is...okay. But very cheap. 50 cent bundles of scallions, $2 for a huge bunch of basil.

But like I said I mainly come here for Korean goods. Their prepared kimchee is good, although I usually need to age it an extra week or two before it becomes as sour as I like it. They have a great fish section. You can buy whole snapper, spot, sea bass, Spanish mackerel, etc. Like most other Korean supermarkets they also stock a lot of Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Latin foods.

There's also an attached cafeteria I find to be decent and inexpensive. I like the grilled mackerel and the hwedupbap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mom went to check out the Maxim's closing sale yesterday. It was a total zoo. People were just jamming stuff into their carts like the zombie apocalypse was on the way.... Mom looked at the prices and noticed that they were raised then "reduced" for the sale. She was out of there in less than 5 minutes.

To update, someone took over the business/bought it from the old owner, so the market is still there, but renamed MeiXing (美新). Most of the staff and stuff still look the same, so I don't think much has changed....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not ready to say, 'best', but they are putting in a G-Mart down the street, in the space previously occupied by a Bottom Dollar. I hope it will be a good addition to the local alternatives (Safeway, Best Way, Aldi's, although I mostly shop at the Belvoir commissary).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...