Daniel B.
Yelp
Not going to lie, coming from Atlanta, we were not impressed with Grand Asia Market. However, practically speaking, for the Triangle, I think this market will get you most of what you're looking for in terms of Asian groceries; Chinese and Taiwanese groceries, specifically. This market is an example of, "Don't judge a book by its cover."
Grand Asia is a typical, old-school, Asian grocery store. It doesn't look as new, shiny, modern, and clean as some American supermarkets or Asian markets like some H Marts. It even has that unique Asian grocery store smell which instantly brings back memories for me of Dynasty market in Greensboro (still open, by the way). Grand Asia has it where it counts: inventory.
The market is modestly sized, but it still has a meat and seafood department, complete with butchers and fishmongers, and a small food court selling classic Cantonese street foods like roast duck and BBQ roast pork with rice ($11.99) and beef chow fun ($9.29). There's a small bread, pastry, and dessert counter selling everything from cakes to smoothies to egg tarts. They also sell cold Taiwanese dessert soups featuring grass jelly, taro, boba, red bean, and other ingredients a la chain Meet Fresh (which has a location nearby in Chapel Hill).
A huge plus to Grand Asia Market is they carry one of my favorite vegetables: ong choy. Ong choy is known by many names including water spinach, water morning glory, and Chinese watercress. I also know it as pak boong in Thai. When we visited Grand Asia Market, they were selling it for $3.99 per pound. Another one of my favorite veggies, snow pea tips, were selling for $4.99 per pound. We picked up some of both. Ong choy can be hard to find, especially in other states like Georgia where you really have to know where to look. The quality of both veggies, especially the ong choy, was fresh and tender. Not many bad pieces had to be cut or thrown out when my wife started prepping the veggies for cooking, which was great.
Something else we picked up from Grand Asia recently, which has been more of a fad over the last year or so, are Brown Sugar Boba Ice Cream Bars. They sell boxes of four for $7.69 each. If you like bubble tea and have never tried one of these boba ice cream bars before, they're actually quite good. I was skeptical at first, thinking the product was more of a gimmick than anything, but I was wrong. It's amazing to me how the makers were able to maintain the soft, appetizing, and chewy consistency of the tapioca pearls inside a frozen ice cream bar that really tastes like milk tea. It's good stuff.
Examples of other grocery items we've purchased from Grand Asia include gai lan (Chinese broccoli, $2.49/lb), a container of Thai bird's eye chilis ($1.49), eggplant ($1.49/lb), assorted seeds ($1.09 per pack), Thai eggplant seeds ($1.29 per pack), bean sprouts ($0.99/lb), daikon ($0.79/lb), Japanese Tomoshiraga somen noodles ($2.99), Jasmine brand rice (10 pound bag for $13.99; not a great price, but not terrible either), light soy sauce ($3.39), Squid brand Thai fish sauce ($3.49), Sambal Oelek chili garlic sauce (small bottle, green cap, $1.99), hot chili sauce ($2.79), oyster sauce ($3.39), and Kadoya brand sesame oil (11 oz bottle for $5.49).
Grand Asia doesn't carry all the Asian sauces and condiments both my wife and mom like to cook with nor do they carry my favorite brand of jasmine rice: Three Ladies Brand. However, all things considered, the selection is decent and I foresee us coming back here many times during our time in the Triangle.
TL;DR - Grand Asia Market is a serviceable grocery store for the Asian community in the Triangle, especially Chinese and Taiwanese people.