All hail to @LindaWhit who posted this on the Weekly Menu Planning thread but I think it also deserves a spot on our regional board. It is long but funny and very opinionated. And truly eye-opening!
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The writer spent a LOT of time compiling this write-up, so kudos to her!
But it proves MB reigns supreme in our area…and my love for Wegmans is not misplaced.
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I love both Wegmans and Market Basket too, but alas none of them are that convenient for me, especially being car-less. When I’m near one, I do hit them up. I understand her not hitting the Asian markets (you’d need a completely different grocery list), but they have become my source for a good 50%, sometimes more, of where my groceries come from.
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Which do you recommend and for what items"
I’m car-less, so that affects a lot of where I go. I also live in Quincy which of course has a sizable Chinese and Vietnamese community (and relatively decent Indian and South Asian population too).
99 Ranch is by far my default - easy to get to, and has wide array of products I want. While mainly Chinese centric in its groceries, it actually has a decent selection of common Japanese and Korean pantry items, and also for Vietnamese and less so Thai. It’s sometimes a tad more expensive then it’s neghbor, C-Mart, but it’s far less crammed and it’s brighter and cleaner overall. A more comfortable shopping experience. When they have sales, they are quite comparable to C-Mart.
C-Mart is fine, but where I go if I can’t find something at 99 Ranch or if there is a special sale. The narrow aisles, almost ensures I’m annoyed at a lot of oblivious older ladies or gents whenever I shop there. But their prices often a few cents lower on most items (a few specialty items, maybe a full $1-2 cheaper). Leans heavily Chinese, and I’m sometimes weary of some of their Korean/Japanese items - not sure if they turnover quickly enough.
Kam Man - few and far between for me, because it’s either a bus ride or a long walk from 2 stops away. Kam Man is huge, so sometimes there are certain specialty items only they carry (as far as I know), like my super special extra oyster-y oyster sauce. Actually has a strong international selection of groceries. Great if you have a car, but prepare for parking battles like no other. Just park farther away to the side of China Pearl where there is little competition.
Lucky Mart (Market?) - right across the street from Kam Man. Generally, very good competitive prices, and I would go more often if this were easier for me to get to. Better for Chinese goods. Doesn’t have the food stalls like Kam Man has. Parking may be even worse, if that’s possible. Just hard with one way in and out, and not very big lot. I usually just park at Kam Man and walk over if I want to check something out there.
HMart - the place for Korean and Japanese pantry items in the area, and a lot of Chinese and Vietnamese items too. Is a bit pricier than the other options listed. Go here for those specialty items or to enjoy their food court. As with the other bigger Hmarts, love their prepared foods, their banchan and kimchi options, and their pre-marinated meats. This definitely requires a frustratingly infrequent bus ride for me, so I don’t go here unless my sister is driving. It’s next door to where the Walmart is (took over the old Roche Bros space), so it’s got easy parking. It’s actually easier for me to take the train out to Central and to hit the smaller HMart there if I really need something. They have big one in Burlington too.
I don’t know the stores in Malden well, but I know Malden has several local Asian markets too. Their 99 Market (if it still exists) is not affiliated with 99 Ranch at all.
I would avoid the Hong Kong market that is in Allston. The last time I was there, it was sad looking and the frozen foods and produce weren’t looking very good.
Mings (New Ming now?) is still hanging in there in the South End. It’s shabby looking, but it mainly still serves for Chinese groceries. When I checked out their produce and meats, it looked ok too.
There is a C Mart down the street in the South End too (Herald St?). It was great when it was new and opened up years ago, but I have not been back since C Mart opened in Quincy. I assume it’s still chugging along there too. There were rumors of a lease dispute with the landlord that seems to have dragged on. Not sure how that will end.
Passed by Reliable Market in Union Sq the other day but didn’t go in. That was a great place for Korean and Japanese groceries back in the day (one of the few for Korean in particular). I didn’t go in, but it may be worth a visit if you’re in that area.
Maruicihi in Brookline / Coolidge Corner. Maybe the best of option for a wide array of Japanese grocery and pantry items. Pricey, but that seems to be the case for most Japanese markets. With Ebisuya now closed, this might be the only game in town for hard to find Japanese groceries and foods.
Edit: Just wanted to add that I’ve heard several Indian co-workers say there is a wonderful Indian market further down in Quincy (maybe even on the Braintree line). Would definitely be car only, so I’ve never been. There used to be a few Indian markets in Central Sq that was my go to, but it’s been a years since I’ve visited.
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That was good, thank you for sharing. I will need to rethink my TJs excursions I think.
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Thanks so much. Very useful.
I was Googling to see if I could find which might be the Indian store @kobuta’s co-workers recommended when I found this:
This one I have to try.
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It might be this one: https://www.ssdesimarket.store/
I don’t know if it’s still as good, as there are some online reviews that caution you to look at the expiration dates (to be fair, I would say this of every Chinese market too)
There is also India Mart which is some what newer, and definitely smaller in Quincy Center.
I forgot to add that in Quincy there is the Superpinoy Oriental Food market on Water St. It’s one of the few Filipino markets we have in this area. They used to have a very casual and quite good home style Filipino eatery next door. They’ve now changed that to Bright Lights which is both Jamaican and Filipino food, but with an even smaller menu that rotates.
I’ve been in Sam’s variety. It’s not too far from my 'hood. It’s an odd little convenience store. I know it because it’s a UPS drop off point. Not very big. I’ve never really browsed, but maybe you’ll be able to report back if it’s got hidden gems.
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Does Weee deliver to you? I’m not shilling for them, but I’ve found a lot of people don’t know about them, and they deliver to me way out here in Nashua (on a route I’m fairly sure originates near Boston). The prices are relatively reasonable, though a lot of the produce had shot up in price in my last order (tariffs, I assume). We make a lot fewer drives to HMart ever since I discovered them (and I’ve been able to get Kesar mangoes from them when Patels is sold out or I … just don’t feel like driving across town to check).
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There’s a location in Arlington, too (they also expanded to Providence). It is pricey, but fortunately, I am not beholden to a budget (aside from my yankee frugalness) and I can walk to it, which for me, wins every time.
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I use Weee regularly during the winter, but not during the summer as I’ve had a lot of issues with packaging and temperature control: I’ve had frozen stuff show up totally thawed, fridge stuff warm. Their customer service when this happens is really bad too. Lots of emails required to get a refund. Also, I have left reviews for several products on the web site and found that they systematically delete any negative reviews. Can’t beat the convenience and their pricing is great, but just be careful with it.
Oh interesting—when I’ve had delivery issues with them, it’s always been either partially spoiled produce (two bruised or rotting mangoes in a case, moldy satsumas in a bag, those are both recurring issues) or something fragile getting crushed by being packed with something heavy (my Hokkaido cream cakes!). The review deletion is particularly concerning since they so aggressively pester you for reviews.
Probably one reason I’ve had fewer delivery issues is because they always get here really early. When you used to be able to track them on the map, I could see they had left from somewhere near Boston, but they still get here around 8am, 9 at the latest, which makes me think I’m one of the first stops they make … which seems nuts for a place that doesn’t charge a delivery fee and doesn’t require tipping (of course I tip!) I had figured they must be funded by venture capital and in that “growth over profits” stage, but it’s their tenth anniversary apparently, so maybe I’m wrong on that.
I think certain things fare better than others; my experience with Weee’s veggies have been pretty good. They often seemed to throw in a little extra, and sales prices would come out cheaper than local Chinese markets. Their prices on dry goods (rice, legume, noodles) are good as well, and their selection is sometimes better. However, I’ve had more disappointment with meat that I’ve stopped buying it from them. It is good for the weeks that I can’t get to a local market or need my Japanese rice for the pantry.
I live where there are a lot of Asian markets, so I don’t order online unless I’m desperate for something that it’s completely inconvenient to get locally. I’ve never personally used Weee, as most of their products I can get from the stores. I have used Yami because I wanted a particular kind of rice that was only available at a far off store. Their prices aren’t bad, especially when they have sales, but it helps to note what the current sales are at the local markets to compare.
Are you aware of any local markets with a good selection of – and decent prices for – imported Japanese rice? I’ve been ordering that on Amazon for a while as Ebisuya never priced its rice very well, and I like to try varieties other than koshihikari. Amazon really jacks up the prices for most Asian foods, but the higher-end rice seems to have mostly escaped this trend. (With a few exceptions that are insane, like a $25/lb option that its algorithm suggested to me the other day.)
$25/lb is insanity! Have you tried Maruichi in Brookline/Arlington? I know they have a good selection of rice and a handy graph of where each rice lies (sticky or not, soft vs hard, etc). I though perhaps those rice came from the Rice Factory in NYC, but that’s another good online source if you want to explore different type of rice. Weee is pretty good for trying out koshihikari from different regions; I just buy whichever is on sale at the moment.
I have not been to Maruichi for a long time. Will make a point of going there soon.
Also I looked at Rice Factory a few years ago and thought its prices were exorbitant but took another look just now and it seems plenty reasonable enough. Either they came down a bit or my tolerance for spending a lot of money has increased…probably the latter?? Either way, this is great to know about and I’d much rather support them than Amazon! Thank you!
Maruichi is the only store locally that I know of with true imported rubber from Japan from the more specialized farms, but I can’t tell you how decent they are given it’s a rare find. The HMarts, Kam Man, and 99 Ranch all sell some of the popular Japanese brands like Tamanishiki, Sekka, etc. and US based Tamaki.
HMart does have a large selection of Korean brands, but I’ve never tried those yet.
After my current batch, I was going to give TRF a try, assuming tariffs don’t make prices ridiculous.
AFAIK these are California grown rice too. Which I don’t think is a bad thing at all; just sharing as an FYI. I don’t think Japanese koshihikari is all that different than US koshihikari. But I’ve been eating other varieties of late (currently working on a bag of hitomebore) and those are definitely a bit different.
