This store definitely lives up to its name! I was visiting my friend in Lexington and I wanted to test out a new pho recipe with her since we used to eat so much pho together when we we both lived in Hawaii. Our kids LOVE anything noodle! Now, if you have ever made pho or have ever eaten one, you know that even though it seems like a simple noodle soup, there are a few key ingredients that are crucial. For instance, the Thai Basil CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT be replaced with regular basil, the one you use typically in Italian cooking. So, good ol' trusty Yelp came to the rescue and found me this little gem close to her home to get all the supplies we needed to make our pho.
Parking: they have their own lot.
Selection: This store gets 5 stars alone for having beef bones, a rare find in most conventional grocery stores. Beef bones are an essential ingredient for all kinds of soups for all asian cuisine. Here we also found the Thai Basil that is an absolute MUST to top the pho. We also found the rice noodles there too, the star of the dish!
As we zig-zagged through every aisle, I couldn't help but be a tad jealous of my friend for having this kind of store in Columbia. I noticed that there was a good selection of ingredients and products needed to cook dishes all across Asia. I am no expert in the other Asian cuisines and cook mainly Korean, but I have cooked a few dishes here and there and they seemed to have everything that ai have needed in the past like rice paper to make spring rolls, thai curry pastes, dumpling skins, a variety of different vegetables used in Asian cooking like mung beans sprouts and garlic chives. I was also impressed at the Korean selection as a lot of these specific ingredients are found at korean grocery stores. They also had snacks from all over asia. I recognized a lot of Korean snacks, but there were others from other asian countries as well. I can't read the other languages, but recognized the writing like Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino.
When you walk in, the far right starts with all the refrigerated stuff as well as frozen items and continues with all the snacks, sauces, etc and ends with the gadget section. I LOVE checking this section in all asian specialty grocery stores bc they have some cool things and gadgets you can find in Asia and just reminds me of my childhood in Korea.
Prices - everything seemed very reasonably priced. Nothing outrageous. For example, The beef bones were $1.50/lb and my friend bought ready-to-eat, seasoned Seaweed Papers in packs of 3 that was on sale for $1.25.
Service - there was a nice lady at the cash who was very helpful with all of the the questions I had.
Overall, the store was clean and service was friendly. I forgot to take pictures of the store itself but I did take pics of the final product.
If you live in the Columbia area, lucky you for having a store of this kind to find what you need to cook up some delicious food from all across Asia! So jelly! read more