Stopped by this small oriental market recently and had a pretty good experience overall. Parking was easy to find since the store is located near a few other businesses, so that was already a plus before even stepping inside. I came here to Ben Thanh with a specific mission: finding shrimp paste that I couldn't track down at another oriental market down the street. Thankfully, they had exactly what I was looking for, which immediately earned them some points in my book. It's always a relief when a place carries those harder-to-find items. While browsing the aisles, I was pleasantly surprised to spot a few other things I'd like to come back for in the future, like different varieties of rice and Chinese sausages. One thing that really caught me off guard was that they sold baklava here! I decided to give it a try and, honestly, it tasted pretty good. I didn't do a full grocery haul this time, so I can't really comment on how their prices compare, but for convenience alone it's a great little shop to have nearby. Since I live fairly close in Lacey, I can definitely see myself stopping by again to check out more of their selection. There wasn't really a line; the cashier spoke both English and Vietnamese, was polite, welcoming enough, and quick to ring me up. Overall, a nice little market that came through when I needed it. read more

Ben Thanh Market - Shrimp paste and Baklava from Ben Thanh - International Grocery Near Me - Olympia, Washington

What a great selection and excellent pricing packed into a modest sized store! It makes shopping easy. Everything was cleanly shelved and the aisles made sense in terms of product layout. Caters very well to southeast Asian cuisines, notably Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai. I quickly grabbed a big jar of kimchi from the cooler, a bag of jasmine rice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, and of course dehydrated shitake mushrooms. This allows you to get started with a bare bones Asian meal of rice with sides. Anyway I was well pleased with the prices. I didn't have to sift through massive choice like at H Mart, and I could get shopping done quick! read more

Easy to park and shop at Ben Thanh. Best rice selection I have found in the area. Friendly staff

Insanely high-priced for an oriental market. A 3-piece lobster tail pack was over $33 which unfrozen would barely yield 6 ozs. of meat. Rice, tea, frozen fish all way overpriced. You may attribute it to inflation, but it reeks of gouging. Sadly, there are some who will buy. Good luck to the store owners ! read more

Was looking for a nice little Asian grocery store in my area and found the Ben Thanh Market. Has a great selection anything you are looking for. We picked up a bunch of restocks like rice, ramen, Chinese sausage, and rice noodles. If you are looking for an Asian market this is your place! They accept credit/debit Plenty of parking read more

Sold my wife phone cards that were already used. Then refused to refund her money. They lose money in the long run because she won't be buying food there anymore. read more

I needed asafoetida also called (wild hing) for an Indian dish, they looked to see if they had it over the phone. They did. Saved me having to order from Amazon, very polite, very helpful, and local. read more

The cashier was yelling at an old Asian lady right in front of the store such bad service

Service really bad, I came here a lot and never get service from lady cashier, she does not say anything to me, such as "hi or do you need the bag or your total is..", all she does just scan items and look around. This is worst cashier or employee read more

This halal food market is perfect. Halal meat for Muslims is available at a reasonable rate.

I bought Jicama here last week here for $1.39/lb and this week it's $2.49/lb? They don't have prices in the veggie bins so it's a crapshoot what you'll pay. Too bad, I liked this store. read more

This is a good and clean market. I had found some things that are normally offered in Guam where our family is from. This was our first time here and it's close to my bro-in-laws home. I like Lacey so far! read more

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First of all...this Asian Market doesn't smell like the other Oriental Market in the U.S.A. This has to be the best Asian Market in 1500 mile radius... I found what I needed. I love cooking and I found all of my "hard to find" ingredients right here in Halai Market. Thank you Halai for making my rainy Sunday afternoon a success. I'm about to cook some fried chicken, steam some eggplant/baby bokchoy and wash it down with some coconut fresh drink. read more

This is a great little market for Southeast Asian as well as some Middle Eastern food supplies. I've been looking for Sumac (a spice) all over the place in the Tacoma/Olympia area, and finally found it here. Though I only came in for the spice, I ended up with some other unplanned treasures. Liked it so much that I had go back less than a week later with my hubby in tow. The owners seem super nice & helpful and their prices are spot on. read more

KN's produce is usually pretty good. Occasionally there's something rotten or close to rotten, but they're definitely one of the more reliable providers of fresh Thai produce. Being Cambodian Muslims and having termed theirs a Halal market, they venture a little wide of the Thai and Cambodian, but not to their detriment. Some Indian and Middle Eastern staples including often fresh Baklava and a good assortment of frozen Halal meats. (They also have some non-Halal meats that feature prominently in Southeast Asian cooking.) They also have tiffin boxes and numerous other bits of cookware and whatnot. Their selection of sauces and canned goods is basically the best I've seen in Olympia. Moreover, unlike a few of the Thai markets in Olympia, they are very clean. I wouldn't want to eat that one fish that's been sitting unwrapped in the freezer for six months, but the floor is not filthy and everything is not covered in dust. It's even well-lit. Definitely a worthy stop, especially since one just has to go a block down the road and across it to hit up the Korean market, who have a number of Japanese and Hawaiian staples, too. All the area needs to do now is grow a serious Chinese market and something South Asian. It will be unstoppable! read more

My wife and I live in Olympia and have an Asian market nearby, but we travel to KN Halal Market in Lacey for our Asian food needs. It's a decently-sized store, is clean, and the friendly staff help us track down the ingredients for which we are searching. And for the most part, we usually find everything that we have on our list. We'd highly recommend this store if you are looking for those exotic ingredients that the normal grocery store does not carry. read more

I don't need to try to describe everything they carry, because the other reviewers already did a good job with that. Let me emphasize that they do indeed have the best selection of canned and bottled SE Asian items that I have seen in the area. Very good prices too. I tried shopping at a couple of other places that were closer to my house, but those always lacked some key produce item for Thai cooking. KN Halal market always has it all, despite the fact that their overall produce selection is not as large as some of the other places. But one of my favorite things is that the people working here are so friendly and helpful - and often chat with you too. read more

This place has a lot of south east asian spices, broths, and other hard to find items. I found Laksa paste here! Other items: - Tons of Vietnamese soup bases includng bun Bo hue, Hieu tieu, and various other pho flavors. - There was an abundance of Thai seasonings (pad thai, laarb salad), pastes, and curries in cans. - Many types of south east asian noodles & cup noodles were in stock. - Filipino pastes and seasonings including mud fish sauce - Hard to find produce. - preserved duck eggs I asked the owner how to pronounce the store name, and she told me "K. N. Halal" K & N are the initials of her 2 grandsons, and Halal means, everything but pork! read more

I LOVE this place! Keep in mind they are a small family owned Asian market, which means things are not well labeled and that produce is of mixed quality. They have a very interesting variety of foods. I come here especially to buy fresh lemongrass. They also have fresh tumeric. They have a wide variety of foods and other items. You should definitely come check them out if you are into Asian foods. read more

Always friendly service and good prices. You can buy more reasonable portions than Hong Phat.

Love the proprietor and his wife, very friendly and helpful. Their store has ingredients for Asian cooking and Middle Eastern cooking. I can find things there that I would never find normally or would pay a premium price at a regular grocery store. I am new to Asian cooking and so love wandering through their store to find things that I didn't know existed like yard long beans and lotus root (I knew about the flower, but I didn't know its root was edible) and to find things that I have only heard of like curry leaves and bitter melon. When I bought some bitter melon I asked about it and I was given tips on how to cook it. It proved yummy and true to its name! I paired it with spicy sausage and lots of rice. She also made sure that I knew what I was buying when I picked up a package of rock sugar. Apparently there is a product that looks very similar to rock sugar, but is a salt and since I don't read Asian languages she wanted to be sure I had what I thought I did. read more

I absolutely love this Asian market! They have foods from a variety of Asian backgrounds. My favorite is the ube ice cream! They have a freezer full of different flashes of ube such as coconut or pineapple! I have never seen so much variety of ube ice cream in one Asian store in Olympia! Fresh veggies and good meat assortment as well. read more

The only place in Olympia that I was able to find on a late afternoon that sells real basmati rice, not the fake, California or Texas 'basmati'. Also curry leaves! Very friendly, helpful staff. Good little grocery and open later than the few oriental markets I've seen. read more

OK- so over the last 3 days I have been visiting every little Asian Market I can find around here. This place is clean, has a decent amount of fresh produce, basic staple items and a good layout. After comparing prices- KN Halal probably ranked in the middle. HOWEVER- there is nothing at this particular market that I needed that was not available somewhere else. Well- who cares?! Why mention that? I will not be returning here based on one thing only- The pushy( and I mean that even LITERALLY) woman who works there. This was worse than visiting a used car lot. Seriously, this lady starts an argument with me because I didn't care to purchase the "fish ball and triangle tofu" mix that she recommended, shoved into my hand and started telling me how to cook. I told her that I have eaten fish balls and I simply do not like the way they taste and also do not eat frozen tofu. This lady tells me that I don't know how to "Cook Asian" and keeps asking "Why you don't like fish ball- this is Asian." Then she tells me I have only had fish balls "American Style" and not "Asian style" HOW ...HOW.. DOES ONE COOK FISH BALL AMERICAN STYLE? Like put it on a bun with ketchup, tomato and lettuce?Now- for real- I could go ON and ON about this woman following us around the store and picking up items, putting them in our hands. Lady- if you are reading this- that is NOT customer service. In fact- I almost put my basket down and walked out of your store. A few tips: Don't insult the customer, Don't harass the customer, Don't stalk the customer. And no, it wasn't a language barrier- she was pushy in any tongue. read more

little mom and pop store. i enjoy going into this market whenever i need a few things. I'm not much of a cook so i get the Asian packaged foods. i am always willing to try something new and the owner always suggests something, they haven't gone wrong yet. read more

Love this place! My mom and I always go here to the point where the owners and I believe it's their son who runs the registers know us by face. They have all the things basically necessary for Asian cooking. My family is filipino and we get our filipino vegetables here such as mallungay and ampalaya ( bitter melon). I feel like I'm here way too often to cook up my meals. lol. I'll always come back here. read more

Helpful service. Good selection for the size of the store. Decent prices. They're produce selection has a lot of the Asian fruits like rambutan and jack fruit. read more

Very clean, pleasant folks, well stocked. nice variety. decent prices. will definitely go again

Not too bad, however they really did not have much of a selection that I was looking for. They do have your basic asian stuff such lots of selection of ramen noodles and asian vegetables read more

I went into the store today. I am allergic to pork and it's nearly impossible to find somethings pork free. I also had my tonsils out last week so jello is something I really need right now!!! I found many things I could enjoy including marshmallows; you have no idea what it's like not to be able to touch a marshmallow; I just ate one so delicious. The owner was so super sweet I explained my situation with my throat and not only did she show complete compassion she found a few products for me to try to help with pain and eating. I will defiantly be making the trip up to this store many more times. read more

The K N Halal market has a little bit of everything - the owner is a Cambodian muslim, and tries to cater to both Asian and Muslim clientèle. You shouldn't come here with a shopping list and expect to find everything on it, but if you come and just poke around, you will definitely find something you like hidden in the mazelike layout. Date cookies, durian, halal marshmallows, frozen fish you've never heard of, raw peanuts, pandanus extract, rice cakes, bright purple preserved eggs... read more

Great owners. wide selection of ethnic foods catering to Asian ,Arab ,African, Pacific Islander and Muslim communities.

Folks looking for a Mediterranean market in the Olympia area this is a great option. It's an international market serving various ethnicities but you can find the most common needs for Middle eastern cooking. There is an entire section dedicated to Arabic staples like fresh pita bread, produce and specialty Mediterranean ingredients you can't find at traditional stores. The owners were so accommodating and even helped us find every item we needed. They even spent time with us recommending healthy pregnancy food upon learning one of us was expecting. Amazing service and clean organized grocers. read more

Great store for fresh veggies and the best prices in town. Owners always friendly and helpful to all. First stop for ingredients for Coconut Fish Soup. Thankful for such a sweet spot near Lacey. read more