The huge farmers market makes sense given Sacramento is part of the great California produce basket…which provides like 75% of the country’s produce, and of course UC Davis is a big, major part of that. If I recall, the area is the capitol of canned tomatoes, among other things. My aunt who lives in Sacto grows just about everything…and quite well. In any case, as Bay Area people flock to the Sacramento area, maybe a hipster food writer, or a old school glutton food writer, will take up the region. One person can make a difference…like Jonathan Gold, an old school glutton. He did all the leg work in spread out SoCal.
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Ok, in case anyone is interested in Taiwanese sausages, or oyster omelet (a Taiwanese delicacy if there ever is such a thing), then check out Taiwan Best Mart.
Taiwan Best Mart
2219 10th St
Sacramento
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Wow, I used to get mochi from the place next door! Sometimes after going to that farmer’s market I mentioned underneath the freeway
Osaka-Ya?
I’m sucker for their PB Mochi.
That’s the one! Man, I haven’t thought about that place in years.
When I wrote this I was specifically thinking of Koreana Plaza in Rancho Cordova. I haven’t had a chance to visit the Oakland branch but this one is incredible and I can confirm we don’t really have an equivalent in Los Angeles.
That’s not to say everything they have is unique and unobtainable in LA but I definitely haven’t seen a similar store in our area. We made a quick visit this weekend (no pics, sorry) and saw a broad variety of Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, etc. groceries on one side of the market. The refrigerated Filipino grocery section was almost as large as the equivalent area in our local Seafood City!
As far as things we can’t get in LA, I found the Lao sausage my dad kept telling me about and it was sitting with a couple other variations from the same distributor in a refrigerated case. Not quite the Lao grocery section I was hoping for but still interesting and impressive.
That said, the thing I don’t recall my dad mentioning (he probably did) was the whole other side of the store that was western groceries, particularly eastern European. It makes sense for the area and although it wasn’t quite as stocked as Pacific Coast Co. earlier in the thread it was very impressive and I want to get back to check it out.
Finally, there was a food court we didn’t have a chance to try- I have to say it only looked okay but I shouldn’t prejudge it and they had a large banner for Karaoke room rental and food packages I was curious about.
All in all, pretty thrilling grocery store if you’re into that kind of thing.
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I actually go to that market (KP Marketplace), and I am surprised that you cannot find things in LA that KP has.
While you may not find one store in LA that has a panoply of ethnic foods (Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc.) in one centralized store, the variety of ethnic foods in entirety of the LA/OC county would put what KP Marketplace offers to shame.
As to the Lao sausage, have you tried Thai Loa Market in Anaheim, on La Palma and Euclid?
As to a centralized market that is akin to KP Marketplace, have you been to the Westminster Superstore (née Shun Fat) in Westminster, on Beach Blvd, right off the 405 fwy? It’s arguably bigger than KP Marketplace, but without the food court.
Yeah, that’s my point. There are definitely many stores that include some variety of pan asian groceries all over Los Angeles and a lot of specialists but I haven’t seen one like Koreana Plaza. You definitely could go to several stores to get the same stuff but at KP it’s all in one place and for sure I haven’t seen such a comprehensive asian grocery attached to an Eastern European grocery section.
I haven’t been to Thai Loa Market in Anaheim or Westminster Superstore but I’ll check those out! I was thinking more San Fernando Valley-Central LA-San Gabriel Valley when I said it couldn’t be found in LA. That’s certainly not representative of all of SoCal but that’s where we’ve tended to shop along with some South Bay areas that we’re only somewhat familiar with.
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Yes, I think if you really wanted SE Asian foods (Lao, Viet, Thai, etc.) you really have to cross into the OC and visit places like Westminster, Santa Ana, etc.
Places north of the "Orange Wall 
" like SFV or SGV are really not hotspots for SE Asian foods, good for things like Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Thai and Japanese (although both OC and LA are very good with Thai and Japanese).
That’s a totally fair point. I’ve seen more than a few comments in Eater LA listicles over the years lamenting the Orange Wall that seems to hem in food coverage. That said, after many years we live, eat and shop within that same general LA radius so rightly or wrongly that’s my mental map of the area. Realistically, we probably get to the deep SFV as often as we get to Anaheim so they should both be included in that radius…
Come the revolution, LA foodies will be first against the Orange Wall.
EDIT: I realize it’s kind of funny admitting to my geographical limitations because I took (mild) umbrage to your comment below:
As someone that works in the media, I do think worthy dining options exist well before coverage finds them (if at all). Ironic that we haven’t explored Orange County more but I’ll go to the mats for Sacramento.
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I grew up behind the Orange Curtain but things have changed, a lot. Use to be the only place to get Asian groceries in SoCal was LA Chinatown and Japantown. No Little Saigon, Koreatown, Thaitown, etc, or 99 Ranch, H Mart, Mitsuwa, etc. and if you didn’t live close to Chinatown or Little Tokyo, you drove there. Ironically now that LA Chinatown is under change/gentrification, there’s very few groceries stores in Chinatown serving locals still there. It’s become somewhat of a food desert, which is sad.
Conversely besides all the Asian groceries and places in the OC, they have Michelin star places and lots of places getting buzz. Costa Mesa in particular has two 1-star places…which is amazing if you grew up there. Frankly it’s crazy…but makes sense geographically and from an urban design POV, and population density…Irvine doesn’t have cheap strip malls for mom and pops to open, same with Newport, so it’s CM northwards. Also different demographics from South county. In any case, nothing to complain about in SoCal food scene. The geographic spread and relatively more reasonable real estate prices have allowed more places to open, and they have. It’s just spread out like the region. Only way to open a place in the Bay Area is have a bank roll…or do a pop-up.
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Yeah, as someone that lived in Chinatown for years until very recently I can confirm this is the case. If you have a car it’s no problem but it seems pretty hard for older folks that may be less mobile. Anecdotally that seems to be quite a lot of people that live in Chinatown.
Agreed! To be clear, I’m not complaining and we’re constantly pushing into new areas for the amazing food people recommend. Just trying to raise a little awareness for Sacramento as a place I grew up in and saw change a ton over time as well.
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The food scene will continue to grow more interesting in Sacramento as work from homers and many others move there. Being part of San Joaquin Delta means a lot of agriculture nearby and growing weather. My Aunt lives in Sacto and what she can grow is quiet amazing.
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Yes!
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LA Chinatown is now in SGV (or the 626)
And while there may not be grocery stores in Chinatown DTLA anymore (there are still a few), there aren’t many locals in Chinatown DTLA that actually would shop in a Chinese or even Asian grocery store. As you say, gentrification has taken its toll.
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That’s a bit hyperbolic. I don’t want to soft shoe how Chinatown has been impacted but unless there was a sea change in the last year and a half there are plenty of Chinese folks still living in Chinatown. The apartment we lived in was owned by a Cantonese family that also lived in the apartment and the park still had a gaggle of old Chinese men every day as well as a basketball court filled with asian children the whole day light hours. When the pandemic started we donated meals to a non-profit that was specifically asking for food that wouldn’t be jarring to older Chinese recipients.
I’m not trying to post to be argumentative but to point out that changes in the neighborhood aren’t complete yet and there are still populations that are underserved in the area.
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Have actually been avoiding this thread because I could feel a rant coming on! Which has to do with the endless bashing the Sac area constantly gets. Lived in Reno for a decade, and either bypassed or drove through, sometimes to eat on our way to SF or Napa. Always enjoyed all the trees and vibe of it back then. Fast forward 20+ years, and long after we moved to the PNW, our oldest daughter lived there for about a decade, so of course over the years, we visited quite a few times. I can tell you we found it to have a vibrant food scene, and enjoyed many good to excellent meals there. Two that I remember well are The Firehouse in Old Town, and Magpie, both of which were memorable in their own way. Excellent taquerias, cantinas and nice Mexican restaurants, as well as good Chinese and Thai. Also love the proximity of Napa/Sonoma, Amador County, of course SF too. Always thought I could live there in a heartbeat. The Delta is fun too.! What really bugs me are the people who trash it without ever having been there. SMH Sorry, no current recs, as the daughter moved back to Seattle, but she does still visit. Nice to see others that share my feelings about Sacto and surrounds.
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Yeah!
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Yes! Really good place Magpies is! Also the tomatoes and other produce is so amazing there, great grocery stores, with excellent wine selection and great prices on liquor, fantastic choices of olive oils too. I could go on. 
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