Before joining my friends for dinner at Alice & Friends Vegan Kitchen in Edgewater, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to check out a few of the Asian grocery stores on the way in Uptown to restock my supplies. First I stopped at Broadway Supermarket at 4879 N Broadway, two blocks north of the Lawrence red line stop.
When I went in on late Saturday afternoon there was almost no one there, so I took my time winding up and down the aisles checking everything out. When you have 700 types of soy sauce to choose from, you need a few minutes to think about it!
One of the things I love about ethnic grocery stores like this is that there is just so much new stuff – things you’d never see in a typical mainstream grocery store. I love picking out one or two items I’ve never used before just for the heck of it. Some things are more enticing than others…
Since I was going to dinner afterwards I didn’t want to get anything refrigerated, so I had to leave the delicious looking mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots and frozen dumplings for another trip. I picked up what I needed at a very affordable price, and I’ll definitely be coming back for my future Asian grocery needs when I don’t want to trek down to Chinatown.
I also visited Tai Nam Supermarket a few blocks further north at 4925 N Broadway – while Broadway Supermarket was dead, this place was HOPPIN. It was smaller, so felt much more crowded/chaotic, and had an overall similar selection with prices that might have been a bit lower. If you go to Broadway Supermarket and don’t find what you need there, Tai Nam place would be good to check out.
What do you love picking up at Asian grocery stores that you can’t find anywhere else?