Thien Phat Asian Grocery

It is STUPIDLY hot today! 40 Degrees = stinking uncomfortable in my book! On occasions like this I rarely leave the airconditioned comfort of my penthouse apartment (The Scott Towers). What to do when one is hungry and ones fridge is empty? Walk around the corner to the local Asian Supermarket… of course!
Thien Phat is my ‘local’, and I admit I only go there when I can’t be knotted driving to a better one. It is a small store with an equally small stock base, but it still carries what I need most of the time. There is also a small butcher and fresh veg area, but I generally stick to the noodles and frozen steamables!

I love Asian cooking. My specialties are fried rice and pork dumplings. I like to make them from scratch with fresh ingredients, and while it may take hours (quite literally) from start to finish there’s just something so rewarding about it.
Normally when I’m preparing a meal like the one above I’ll visit this Asian grocer. It’s pretty much just up the road for me, and while there are better stocked and friendlier stores around I guess I’m just a slave to convenience.
That’s the sad thing about the place. The staff seem very indifferent to you unless you speak their language. I’ve stood at the counter for sometimes up to 10 minutes because the person serving is speaking to the customer in their native tongue. It’s never anything serious either as it always comes across as pleasant. Now I don’t really care what language they’re speaking (I’m an ESL teacher, so I understand how life can be dealing with another culture), but I do take issue to being forced to wait and then whisked out the door when it eventually becomes my turn.
The store is well stocked, though it’s a little smaller than other stores a little further out. Either way I manage to get my cooking needs here at good prices. I’m not a major stickler for customer service and it really does take a lot for me to notice, but I do notice this.