Hong Kong Supermarket

As usual, my husband left me in charge of directions and I got us lost. We found Hong Kong Supermarket by accident and I insisted we stop. We are big fans of all worldy foods and usually get our fix at World Market. HK supermarket had a lot of the things we buy at World Market for a fraction of the price, plus a million other things. The store is kind of a hot mess though, dingy and unorganized, with very few things priced. As stated in another review, do check expiration dates (I didn’t read it until afterwards and had already bought a bottle of ponzu sauce that expired in 2009 haha). They have everything from herbal teas, cookware, noodles, chinese herbal medicine, meat, frozen fish, kimchi, thai energy drinks, jelly grass drinks, rumi sodas and japanese cookies. I will say that I wouldn’t buy meat from their cooler. It didn’t feel cold and the meat didn’t look refrigerated and had that gross brown look to it. I’m also not sure why they named it Hong Kong Supermarket, as they had mostly Korean and Thai products, but whatever. We bought $ 60 worth of stuff that would have cost us $ 200 at world market. I will definitely be going back on a regular basis.

I happened to be driving by and saw Hong Kong Supermarket out of the corner of my eye. Cue sharp right and into the parking lot I went.
The bad:
As I walked in, the first thing I noticed is the smell. Awful. My sense of smell is meh so if I was this grossed out, you should expect to be even more grossed out. Additionally, you need to really pay close attention to expiration dates. Some stuff is long expired, while others still have a good shelf life left to them.
The good:
If you can get past the smell, the prices here totally beat any of the other markets I’ve been to. There are also items I haven’t seen in other markets. This place is super authentic. I was the only non-​Vietnamese person wandering about.
Extra plus:
The cashier here informed me that you can get authentic banh mi at Vietnam Café in Columbus Market. It’s not on the menu so you have to ask. They make them in the morning and when they run out, you’re out of luck. If you head there Saturday morning, make sure you come as early as you can.
Next door is a Vietnamese night club and some restaurant. The restaurant could be Chinese but could be Vietnamese since the whole complex is Vietnamese. If anyone heads that way, let me know.