Shannon Y.
Yelp
This used to be one of the only Asian groceries that had food from both my parents' countries and cultures, that was clean and well-organized. I remember going as a child in the 80s, getting to pick out either bulk Japanese crackers or one small candy as my one treat, dad getting his Japanese and Taiwanese ingredients and telling me stories of scarcity of treats when he was a child, then going across the street to Coastal Seafoods.
A lot has changed, even from just five years ago or this year. The store has completely reorganized. Instead of by country, culture, or region, ingredients are categorized by noodle or hot sauce, so where before it was easy to find things based on what you were cooking because those items were grouped together, now it requires wandering around confused, asking around to people who have little to no personal experience with the food culture or language and have no idea what you're talking about, to try to find thick black vinegar, tofu skin, a veggie version of bakso, or the ingredients to make mee goreng, beehoon, kenchinjiru, or specific spring roll wrappers.
Also, lots more white people as customers, frozen ready made things, desserts, and candy. Lots of young couples and international college students. Fewer families with kids, but could be when I went.
Positives: Super lovely selection of very fresh herbs and vegetables. That section is fairly easy to navigate. Mushrooms are fresh and a reasonable price. Vegan kimchi from Yon's! Can't find that anywhere else. Good vegan mock meat selection in the freezer case. Usually I prefer anything else fresh to mock meat and this is actually good to the point where my omnivore friends like it in hotpot and ate it all. Compostable flat packaging instead of styrofoam, though still has plastic wrap. Plenty of palm sugar and coconut milk. Clean.
Challenges: Confusing to navigate where things are located. I can't find my hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sambal, tofu skin, Indonesian spices, cold noodle sesame paste, and specific dals. Are they no longer being stocked, out of stock, or just relocated? Some shelves and freezer cases were completely empty the last few times I was there and things were moved around between the last three times I was there. Some things are also significantly more expensive than other Asian groceries, like tofu, gobo, nagaimo, and the fruits. Bigger section dedicated to Japanese bowls, cards, hygiene products, and cooking utensils, which are way out of my price range, but very pretty. Other friends and family have also had similar struggles with trying to find ingredients, to the point where I get phone calls or texts of I've wandered around for ages, where the heck do you find x?
I suppose they are catering to what turns over and sells and perhaps I'm not necessarily part of the target market. Maybe they are in a time of big transition. Really struggled between two or three stars.