We came around 1 pm on a Monday. We were impressed by the…read morevariety they carried and the spacious store. The staff were friendly and helpful, and they checked us out efficiently. We were able to find free street parking across the street.

This is a wonderful shop for Chinese herbs, and I was told they've been open for 30 years! I am…read morefirst-generation Chinese American so it's great to be able to access herbal medicine and knowledge at local shops like this. I usually get some of their dried sweets like orange peel, hibiscus, and ginger, and some cooling herbs in bulk. The people at the counter are friendly and knowledgeable, and they also speak Cantonese which makes it easy for me to communicate with them. Great shop, will continue visiting in coming years!

Gainer's Grand Opening is today! The specialty spice shop is tucked away next door to the Fire…read moreStarter in the Safeway parking lot. The owner is so kind and was very passionate about his own line of specially blended spices as well as all the products he sells. We left happily with more than I expected (3 different Gainer's seasonings and 3 different hot sauces) and I am so excited to try them! I loved that he has a sample bottle of each of his own spices to smell. If you love to cook or know anyone who loves to cook, this shop is sure to impress! Special side note - you can tell this shop owner really cares. I am not a family member or friend of his. I saw him personally advertising outside a few days before and appreciated his commitment to sharing his products. I really hope if you've read this whole review that you stop by!

We stumbled to this newer Asian supermarket after lunch today. The inside of the store was clean…read moreand bright. I was pleasantly surprised by it. It has produce, dry food, frozen meat section and live seafood area. We saw some big live spot shrimps in the tank and decided to get some. The older gentleman helped us was really nice and not only is he friendly. The most important part is that he was HONEST! He actually took out 2 dead shrimp from the net before weighing it for us. It is a much higher level of service than I have ever expected in the area. We will definitely be back.

Lulu Market is the newest small scale grocery store in the Chinatown portion of International…read moreDistrict. Lulu took over two spaces - Golden Hong (a tiny market) and a noodle shop that has vacated long time ago. (This is the same location as the old China Gate restaurant, so the façade is ornate.) The combined space makes for a more comfortable shopping space, bigger than the nearby (and old) Dong Sing Market, smaller than farther Dong Hing Market (with a parking lot). All this matters because many elderly locals can only walk to buy groceries. Having more grocery options is pertinent to serving this dense and elderly community. I am excited for the locals, and I hope Lulu can keep the prices low (like Golden Hong was). While Lulu is currently open, it is still work in progress with several cases in place but empty. Having the business open is important for the community (and their own bottom-line), so they have been partially opened for a while now. The outside (as of this writing) still has the signs of the previous businesses. The only Lulu sign is a screen at the window. The interior is brightly lit. The produce areas are particularly abundant and well-stocked, perfect for their clientele. The freezer inventory is much larger than Golden Hong. Good for stocking up a bit during the cold season and shop less often. They have a modest though sufficient amount of non-perishable, shelf-stable goods and also a selection of small item household goods such as gloves, sponges, etc. This market is sized and stocked for the immediate community. I thought the produce area is excellent. When I was there yesterday (on a Sunday), not one but two ladies were busy sorting through the boxes of produce before putting them on shelves. Nice! I will return even if just for produce. Credit card purchases require a minimum of $10.

I stumbled into Hau Hau while looking for a different grocery store, but I ended up doing all my…read moreshopping here instead. I was looking for the ingredients to make Taiwanese beef noodle soup at home, and not only did I find all the aromatics and soup base spices I needed, I realized they carry pretty much any of the more exotic ingredients one typically needs for most Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Viet, and even Filipino dishes here. I've started making a regular grocery trip here as I've reembraced my Asian roots and food tastes. So glad it's within reasonable distance from home, prices are great, and I can take as long as I need to find just the right product here!

Through three travails and even assails, Taiwanese Canadian mega-grocery T&T Supermarkets opening…read moreat Factoria, Trump's wacky tariffs on Chinese imports as high as 145%, and Seattle's periodic rousting of encampments and sweeping the unhoused onto Jackson, 12th Ave, and King Streets, like musical chairs where Chinatown never even had a chair, this enduring mom-and-pop Chinese grocery unfailingly imports old-world foodstuffs alongside locally-sourced fruits and vegetables, and meats and fish. We should commend surviving even one such struggle, which has decimated other businesses. The overall quality of their meats and their buyer's sourcing has grown better and more consistent over the years, executing a strategy available only to small wholesalers. Not only have this and other small ethnic grocers survived the profound impacts of Reagan dropping enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act, they've executed remarkable niche marketing Jujitsu where other groceries have abandoned neighborhoods to become food deserts. Across King Street from similar Vietnamese-focused Lam's Seafood and other ethnic shops down King, 好好 retains its old-world, minimal packaging, small-store ambiance and charm. Seattle should honor such astute businesspeople and give kudos to employees who've worked here two decades going.

This place probably does have all the spices in the world. Walking in, it smelled like a spice…read moregarden. There were so many spice and tea options to explore. If you head down to the lower floor, you can sample some of their spices with chips or popcorn. They also offer samples of two featured loose teas. My friends ended up buying some chocolate and spices. We were told that visitors can also order online as well.

I have been shopping since it opened decades ago and it just keeps getting better. Love to sniff…read morethe spices and teas. I mostly order online now but recently visited the store again. Take a look at my pics to see how much they've got going on.

Follow your nose to the back of this African grocery store to a darkly lit dining area. Order a…read moremeat or veggie combo to go. Once home, open the container to a stack of injera. Store the two injera on top for a base layer in a homemade sauté later that week. Uncover the final layer of injera to a heaping pile of flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth combinations of diced beef, lamb, lentils, cabbage, and more. Enjoy.

Food - The veggie combo was a 5/5 for me! I thought the portions were really generous. You…read moredefinitely won't need extra injera (we did take out so we weren't sure). My partner got the Meat Option 2, which he liked but thought was a bit too spicy for him. I think if you are a meat eater but don't do spicy, your options might be a bit more limited. But otherwise I thought it was great and the right amount of spicy in my veggie combo. Service and Ambiance - N/A because take out but it was packaged well!

Wismettac is the conglomerate parent company of big brands Shirakiku, Mum's (a Hawaii-exclusive)…read moreand China Sea (Chinese products). They're also the exclusive distributor of Asahi beer. Other products they sell include food ingredients, sake, shochu, cutlery, food packing supplies, fresh produce, even roach traps. MISO SOUP: The Miko Brand of instant miso soup can be found at most grocery stores. I bought from Costco, which sells their soup with tofu. Tear open the packets of miso paste and dehydrated garnishments (tofu, seaweed and green onions), add 3/4 cup of hot water and you're done! Personally, I think the tofu has the nastiest taste (like the smell of old plastic ware) so I pick them out and add fresh tofu or white rice instead. The tiny bits of seaweed grow about 10 times their size after being hydrated. It's the perfect light breakfast, hangover remedy or chicken noodle soup alternative when you're feeling under the weather. ROACH TRAPS: The Hoy Hoy brand of roach traps are great. The super sticky floor of the "motel" often traps more than disgusting cockroaches, baiting them with a perforated bag of food in the center. Toss when there's no vacancy. TOILET DROPS: Drop 1 - 2 drops in the toilet prior to doing your biz. The concentrated liquid forms a scented layer and barrier on the water's surface that's supposed to mask the stench. I'd say it's 95% effective! OVERALL: Skim the back of your Asian product packaging and you're more than likely to see the Wismettac name.

pros... one of the many little herb shops in the international district/chinatown. was somewhat…read morestocked for an herb shop. if you are a chinese herbalist in search of the raw herbs, i think this one is a good place to go. it also has a lot of other stuff like tea cups and pots and the like. also has a good choice of some loose teas. cons...patent chinese med selection is quite sparse. and if you only know your formulas in mandarin than you will need to bring in the actual chinese characters so that the people here will know what you want. as they only speak cantonese and can't really understand the mandarin pronunciation of the formulas. but nice people none the less. i think if they had a more complete selection of patent herbs i would have given one more star

I had initially headed to the International District early on a Sunday morning in search of another…read moreherb shop, favorably reviewed on Yelp. However, it was closed (long story). So I walked one more block, just to see what else might be open. I was in serious pain from a UTI, and I knew the right herbs would help. Mai smiled at me as I walked in. I explained my symptoms (and mentioned Damp Heat) and Mai took me to the back of the shop-- a glass counter in front of an enormous wall of drawers (all labeled with Chinese characters). She took my pulses and looked at my tongue-- then asked me questions about my digestion, my bowel movements, and a few other technicalities. She took notes the entire time on a yellow legal pad using Chinese characters (which I thought was pretty awesome). She then told me it would be 12 dollars per tea preparation (that is me paraphrasing). I said, "Absolutely." She then got out five paper plates, and proceeded to open drawers and measure out herbs on one of those cool old fashioned scales. As she placed each carefully measured herb on the plate, she told me what it would heal/how it would impact me/why she was giving it to me. As she weighed, we chatted about niceties-- family, children, living situations, etc. She then tipped each paper plate into a little brown paper bag. She also took my notes and put them on one of those spiky paper-collecters (where it joined a sheaf of other similar papers . . . "lots of customers!" she said. I thought that was a good sign). At some point, she asked me if I had a slow cooker. When I told her I did not, she told me she sold them. The slow cooker I purchased is shaped like a tea pot, and it is especially made for medicine. :) There's a word here I'm supposed to use, like "Detocting" but I cannot remember right now. :) Anyway, it is a deep rich blue, with Chinese characters etched on it in gold. It's very, very pretty, and it takes the guesswork out of boiling five cups of water down to one cup. The drink itself smells quite savory and tastes like the inside of those gunpowder pellet pills (i.e. sort of sickly sweet and disgusting). However, I felt an immediate relief after my first dose. The second day I felt even better. The third day (today), I felt an strong return of my symptoms (although I think me getting cocky and eating a bunch of dampening foods AND alcohol AND feeling really, really hot at night was at fault here). I am drinking my tea now and feeling my symptoms recede. I also scheduled a session with an acupuncturist here in Seattle. No more dampening or heat building foods! I should have known better. Holistic means WHOLE, and I can't undo the work of the herbs by not making good choices regarding food. A few more details of the transaction: my herbs were tucked into paper bags-- Mai wrote her cell phone number on one of them. She also had very charming customized bags-- red with gold lettering. I realize that I am a white girl with enough knowledge of TCM to be dangerous . . . but I loved my experience. I am grateful to Mai for her care and obvious knowledge.