Christina M.
Yelp
Only 3.5 stars here? I didn't read the lower starred reviews but I just went yesterday and I had a great experience there. It's super clean, bright, and no fish smell. Which is basically my bar for how enjoyable an experience is at an Asian market. Doesn't mean it's the cheapest or has the most types of items, but for me it's pleasant to shop in. The staff were friendly when I checked out. I am Filipino and going to various Asian markets is something I've done my whole life, here in US and in Philippines itself, so I've been to many.
And this new trend of having "fancy", beautiful, and uber clean establishments such as H-Mart and Ranch 99 is a nice upgrade. Don't get me wrong, there are bigger Asian markets in Mesa that are good in their own right and I highly enjoy those as well :) but I like the fancy ones best lol.
However if I'm looking for specific ingredients for a dish from a particular culture, then I know I might need to check elsewhere. It appears that this market is predominantly Korean? If not correct, my bad! It just reminds me a lot of H-mart and I know they are mainly Korean influenced.
I haven't been to a Ranch 99 in a few years since living in cali, so I went in even though I didn't need anything in particular. I found some great buys and I look forward to going back when they have their food court open. At home for dinner I cooked up a spicy miso soup with fresh noodles, tofu, Bok Choi, seaweed, and egg. It was delicious! I also tried a package of the tteokbokki, added some cheese on top. Really yummy!