Chinatown Market

I was super excited visiting this place because I’ve been dying to buy a Chinese bean paste along with other Asian ingredients that Giant doesn’t have. Unfortunately, this store didn’t have it and I only wanted one item. Imagine if I needed a few things. I mean, c’mmon, THIS ISN’T A MARKET! Its simply a convenience store filled with Asian stuff. But not even ALL of the usual Asian ingredients you buy in an Asian market aren’t in this store. To make things worst, not only that this place is so small, majority of the items are $ 10 and up. Don’t go here if you’re planning on making a dish for the fam because chances are, you won’t find what’s in your grocery list.

Mom & Pops Convenience Shop. Variety of items. Very convenient and reasonable prices! Hope it will survive the impeding development going on all around. This store has been around for some time. Two thumbs up! Support the small shops!

This isn’t a Chinese market. It’s a liquor store that happens to sell a few dried/​canned Chinese items.

I wanted to hunt for moon cakes for the mid autumn festival, which is quite challenging since the Washington DC Chinatown is practically nonexistant. I called in advance to ask if they carried mooncakes. They said that they only had 2 boxes left, so I asked them to hold a box, but they refused. I got all nervous and booked it over there, but it turns out that I didn’t need to be worried.
This is literally the only grocery store in Chinatown, and it doesn’t even qualify as a grocery store. It’s more of a convenience/​liquor store since the only people I saw walking in and out were those buying beer. It’s so cramped inside that it’s difficult to get anywhere. There’s a very small selection of items and there’s no fresh fruits, veggies, or meats. It took me about an hour to get there, and both boxes were still there by the time I arrived to purchase it. I’m sad because I thought that I found a nice, accessible Asian market, but this isn’t it.

This should not be filed as a grocery store. It’s just a small corner/​convenience store with a very limited selection. If you’re looking for Chinese groceries, this is not the place — you will be wasting your time.

I was preparing for a long, difficult search for Yang Jiang Preserved Beans (for my Beef & Broccoli Stir-​Fry) because it appears that they cannot be bought online and there are NO Chinese groceries in the DC area (Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese… but not Chinese).
Then, I found Chinatown Market.
Although it’s true that the entire store feels like it’s about 9 feet square in area, and that this is crammed with a limited selection of merchandise, the merchandise that is available is what you want. Case in point: two cans of one variety of preserved beans — Yang Jiang.

Pretty cool area in DC. Close to Ford Theater, Spy Museum, Madame Toussauds.
Walking distance from the National Mall, Smithsonian Museums, etc.

Reminds me of the corner markets in Manila. A ton of products in a small space.
I saw some common Asian items which I’m sure makes it a convenient place to pick up a missing ingredient.
We were looking for some Asian fruits to snack on but only saw overpriced apples and bananas.
Boo.

like people said, more like a convenience store. I did find a couple of Chinese sauces but disappointed that in Chinatown, I can’t find a Chinese grocery store (like I could in Boston). I miss that.

They have four loko in DC. Cash only.

It’s nothing but a convenience store, with really little groceries.

This is probably one of the only authentic things about Chinatown. Tiny but packed. Lots of sauces, lots of different types of noodles, all sorts of teas, tofu, even some veggies, just to name a few things. They even sell beer and Four Loko!
Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area!

OK, gang, let’s face it. DC’s Chinatown is about as authentic as a pair of tits on a ten-​dollar… well, you know what I’m saying. But, Chinatown market is the real deal.
Crammed floor to ceiling with imported fish sauce, dried squid, and various teas, this tiny shop is single-​handedly holding down the fort for poor, gentrified Chinatown. Although walking around the tiny interior can make you feel like a rat in a cage, the ambiance is distinctly old-​world and the friendly proprietors are happy to offer advice and lend a hand in finding a specific item.
As the closest operating convenience store to the Metro, this place has a temporary monopoly on emergency beer and miso soup; however with the impending re-​opening of the CVS catty-​corner to the metro, it is only a matter of time before this place gets replaced by a all-​organic gluten-​free soy latte smoothie enema shop.
INSIDER TIP: If you can’t find something, ask. Not only will it save you time, but also they keep some stuff in the back and you can only get to it by asking.

Chinatown Market, one of the few survivors of the good olé days of Chinablock before the Verizon/​MCI Center gentrified and pushed out a lot of the authenticity.
They have rice paper spring roll wrappers here! Also have basic sauces (eg. bean pastes, chili sauce, hoisin) and some other dried noodles in the equivalent wall space of a 4×4′. Prices aren’t that crazy (1.75 for spring roll wrappers, 3.50 for medium siracha), but the selection is reeeeeally limited. However, in this town, it might get you barely by. Or at least it’s a good start for when you need your shrimp flavored noodle fix that isn’t cup-​o-​noodles.
Considering it’s one of the last Chinese markets on Chinablock (aka metro accessible, in DC), I have to give it a 3.5 stars. Don’t go in expecting a Ranch 99 or H Mart (literally a space about a yard wide and high for everything Asian dry goods), but you can get some decent basics here. I didn’t see any refrigerated asian goods here though.
The rest of the space is basically an American quick mart, but that’s not why you come here.
ATM machine inside.

I would give this store 0 stars if I could. I live next door and have never wanted to buy anything. This is where you might want to go if you are looking to save 10 cents on a bottle of malt liquor and too lazy to cross the street to go to another liquor store. Food options are limited to rotten bananas and 99 cent bags of peanuts. Don’t waste your time.

Considering it’s the last surviver in «Chinatown» inside DC. It’s perfect.
Has a lot of good Chinese snacks and seasonings. The prices are very reasonable, and mostly just 10 to 50 cents more than those chained Chinese grocery stores in VA or MD.