It's Andy Fish!

One of my favorite places to shop is a store in the Woo called Asian Supermarket– offering foods from far away in exotic packages and such interesting and oddball items as Banana Flavored Pringles ™.

So it was that I convinced #2 son to accompany me as we sought to find interesting stocking stuffer items for our wives. He was more than skeptical about going there and I can understand why– when you first walk in your are hit in the face with a pungent smell that can only be described as either very rare produce or refrigerated cases slowly failing. By the time you round the first corner– and be warned the dairy case which you hit as you immediately walk in is set at a temperature of somewhere around -40 degrees because you suddenly feel like you’re shopping outside in February.

Among the items displayed opposite the dairy are huge piles of exotic snacks, the images on the packaging are enough to sell them, and if you can’t always read them bring your glasses because there is often a tiny english label on the back, and if there isn’t you can deduce the flavor by looking at the art– this has saved me from buying Lobster Flavored Crackers countless times.

You have a great deal of fresh options– including duck eggs– I’m not a big fan of any type of egg other than what drops from a chicken– and even then it makes me wonder who the first person was who watched a chicken leave one of these behind and they decided to crack it open and eat it– that would have been a tough sell for me.

Around the corner is frozen food– and I would fight a man that tells me the Gyoza isn’t among some of the best you’ll find anywhere– basically ravioli’s filled with pork or chicken but made more like Peking Ravioli’s than something you’ll find at UxLocale.

In the far back corner are the amazing “silk” cakes in the refrigerator section– these are incredibly light cream cakes that are perfect with coffee or tea– but again watch the label so you avoid a Matcha flavored one or some other flavor other than vanilla. They also have my favorite little pancake sandwiches which are filled with a delicious red bean filling. Perfect snack item.

You can also find utensils, tea pots, chopsticks, and asian new year display items. There is one aisle ceiling to floor devoted to Soy Sauce, there is another aisle the same way but with teas from all over the world.

Down in the last aisle near the ramen noodles– and try some of these if you’ve only had the regular American ones we all ate in college, these are so much better, you can find a selection of yogurt drinks called Calpico which are both soothing on the tummy and very delicious albiet a tiny bit sweet.

The produce section is incredibly cheap, and I’m the pickiest produce shopper on the planet– I get annoyed how many grocery stores put things like apples and oranges on ice or in refrigerated cases– these are fruits that were never meant to feel frost and you retard the growth and ripening when you do that.

Not only is the selection impossible to match, the quality is out of this world. I would shop there for the produce alone if the store were just a bit closer to me.

I usually end my visit by walking the massive seafood section where you’ll find a giant cat fish weighing 60lbs lying on the ice, there are also live fish, live crab (the blue crab are absolutely beautiful) and assorted other sea creatures that you can choose from. You can tell the guys working behind the counter knows who is shopping and who is just entertaining themselves by visiting the Aquarium.

Asian Supermarket on Mill Street in the Woo– well worth checking out.