Tsai Grocery

Very convenient location and easy to get to, since it is right across the street from Meijer. They have a variety of items, a lot them Japanese and Chinese. They often sell hard-​to-​find items like wintermelon, bittermellon, daikon, etc. They even have some asian bakeries, as well as a small section for asian cookware. The rice in bulk is a bit too pricey, as I’ve found better deals at places like Walmart for jasmine rice.
They accept credit cards, including American Express, but not debit cards. The minimum spend is $ 10.
Overall, the place is very clean, but organization is not perfect. I’ve noticed that there are two places where you can find red beans, as well as different places where you can find dumplings and noodles, so items are all over the place. Why not organize the place better?
During the academic year, I have been a regular guest on the weekends and the produce was nice and fresh. However, I have been visiting on the weekdays and I am quite disappointed. They leave out old vegetables, and you can see most of them are visibly *rotten* on the shelves. Not removing the rotten vegetables seems like laziness, and it looks horrible. I would be willing to revise my review if the store management decides to dramatically improve quality control.
Lastly, I’ve had a few instances where the workers are in the back and they do not notice that people are lining up to check out, and nobody is at the cash register. I’ve waited as long as 15 minutes because of this problem.

This small market is clean, well-​organized, and stocks the better Asian food brands. Their loose leaf and bagged tea selection is unmatched in the Ann Arbor area.
Yes, there are bigger and probably closer Asian grocery stores but they cannot match the quality, brands, and service. Not the cheapest, but the best.
They carry fresh sashimi grade salmon and tuna in blocks! Win!

This is probably my favorite Asian grocery store in the area. While it does not have the selection of Hua Xing in Washtenaw, it typically has the majority of my required purchases.
The store itself is well lit and clean. People working there are friendly, albeit on the quiet side. No hassle shopping for sure, if you need help, just ask, they’re not likely to offer it out themselves.
Again, this place has most of your staples– big bags of rice, condiments, soups, sauces/​mixes, etc… They also have a bunch of imported goods (like tea sets and rice cookers) which seem a bit on the pricey side, but that really isn’t the reason I go there.
They also sell a limited amount of pre-​made food like seaweed salad, entrees, and sushi rolls (california and spicy california). The food is made at Godaiko (which is connected to the store), so if you like the food there, you’ll like it here too, and a fraction of the cost.
OVERALL= a quality joint. I have yet to have a need that cannot be found here. Depending on how crazy of an ingredient/​item you need, you’re more than likely to find it here.
CELEBRITY RATING– George Takei

Love the selection, particularly for Japanese items. Wish the people who work there knew anything about Asian food. No help at all. Kind of frustrating when you have a question.

Outstanding place! You can find a great variety of ingredients for Asiatic cuisine!
The prices are reasonable based on the principle that almost everything it’s imported.
Good space and very well organized.

Watch out for expiration date! 50% of food and snacks I looked into were either expired or have no «best by» date! When I talked to the employee, she was very indifferent and told me to let other store workers find out themselves! When I checked out she basically gave me the eye meaning «go away»! For the health of other people please forward this message and check carefully their expiration date!

I have been going to Tsai Grocery for years, but the store has been changed a lot this past several years.
Many products (even raw products) are past expiration date. I once has told a girl at the cashier that a product was expired; then I found the same product was still on the shelf and the expiration date was erased from the package!
What happened to the store?

I have been going to Tsai Grocery since the days when it was an import shop called Sing Tong, heavy in gifts and trinkets, and located in Maple Village shopping center.
Over the years it has only gotten better: First, it moved to Oak Valley Mall and changed the name, added more fresh produce, fresh, dried & frozen seafood, foods from even more Asian cuisines such as Thai and Filipino, and later expanded into the adjoining suite to offer a second room full of noodles, huge bags of rice and Asian toiletries.
A great place to get all the ingredients to make your own Asian food at home. If you have a lot of questions and need help, you probably won’t get it from the disinterested staff, but they sure do have a great variety of items.

I get my Asian grocery here because it costs a tad less than Kroger and Meijer and other Asian marts around AA/​Ypsi. I go to Meijer right across the road for my other grocery needs. Bok choy here is usually ~$ 1 for a decent sized bag. I get my curry powder here as well. The workers are super nice. I was looking for an item they currently did not have in stock, but gave me their business card to call and check so I don’t have to make another trip if it’s not available.
Props!

I absolutely love this place! It is the first asian market where I have been able to find Ome Boshi Chazuke! The hours are great, the staff is super nice and friendly and welcoming, and the selection is fantastic. It’s clean and doesn’t smell bad which is saying a lot for asian markets. This is the best asian market washtenaw county pretty much. :) Thanks Tsai for the amazing selection.

This place is really close to my apartment and is my go to for Asian groceries. They have a wide variety for all types of Asian cuisines. The only downfall is that they seem to leave expired products on the shelves, so make sure to check those expiration dates before you buy.

Great little store for your basic needs. Things are a little pricier but you pay for the convenience. Just watch out for expiration dates on the «sale» rack.

Cute market offering most of the Asian fare I can think of. Come here for the:
— Clean and well-​lit environment
— Small but mighty produce section. Consistently fresh Asian vegetables
— Great variety of fresh herbs and spices. Thai basil! Lemongrass! Cilantro!
— Small cans of Thai curry at the back of the store. $ 1.3 a pop
— Packs of I-​Mei green onion pancakes. A steal at $ 1.7
— Cheap cooking tools. Wooden spatula, sushi rollers.
— All your standard Asian sauces and condiments.
$ 10+ for credit card purchases.

Fairly small place. They play background Asian pop.
Pretty bright and clean for an Asian grocery store.
Got me some thai sweet chili sauce from here.
They have a manager’s special/​rack with expired cans and random shampoos. Cheap, but questionable.

Finding fresh and reliable Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korea, Indonesian, Taiwanese) product these days are tough in general, but when you’re in Michigan, and small mom and pop markets are scattered all throughout the state, it makes it harder to find everything that you need. However, since I love to explore new cities and driving in general, I don’t mind. :)
Enter the scene: Tsai Grocery. I learned about this place a few years ago prior to moving to MI from CA. My brother in law briefly mentioned about this place, but he couldn’t pinpoint the name of it. Luckily, I was able to find it.
To sum up a lot of what people say about this place, yes, it’s pretty clean to the naked eye and things are relatively organized. However, as with a lot of Asian markets around here, most of their product offerings are of the processed, packaged stuff and some of their fresh produce is questionable. The reason why I say this is due to the fact that the staff who stocks them normally don’t use gloves, just their bare hands. Ick. :/​One thing to mention though — the old wife’s biscuit is pretty tasty. Of course, it is sourced and shipped from NY area, so you have to be diligent about choosing one that isn’t old or stale.
What I normally get here:
Hokto mushrooms — they are pretty fresh most of the time and priced at $ 1.99 a pack, they are among the cheapest that I’ve found around the Ann Arbor area and even in Metro Detroit.
Non-​GMO Miso Paste — Tsai’s carries a good variety of miso paste, ranging from your dashi red paste to the white shiro one. I always get the one that is non-​gmo, whether organic or not.
Hakubaku organic somen/​udon/​soba — Priced at about $ 2.29 a pack, they are a little bit more expensive compared to the regular box noodles you can find in their noodle section, but I find these to have a better texture, and most importantly, no sodium added!
Those are the main staples that I grab from here from time to time. Others that are worth getting are their Japanese rice crackers, chili paste, sesame cooking oils, spices, Indonesian sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis). I wouldn’t bother with buying their bulk rice as it is too expensive.
Overall, this is a good no-​frills small market that specializes mostly in Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean goods. Staff are blah, and if you can look pass that, you will be happy here. :)

This is the ONLY place in this area that I have been able to find sushi grade fish to ‘roll my own’ at home. I love the variety and am especially excited to have found Hong Kong style noodles in the ridge case and wonton noodles.
great place to explore for new ingredients and get your usual favorite, like Korean rice cake! yumm!
Minimum $ 10 purchase for credit cards. They have a great selection of ktichenwares too.

This place *would* get a 4-​star review from me based on cleanliness and variety of Asian foods you can find here (the Sriracha, nuoc mam, soy sauce, and tofu are sooo much cheaper than in normal grocery stores). And the cashier dude whom I usually see at the front is cool and helpful.
But it’s a week until Chinese New Year and this place doesn’t carry hong bao (red envelopes)???

Tsai Grocery never disappoints. Convenient location; very, very clean; orderly; great variety; and good prices. If you have a need for most anything Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Filipino… this is the place.

This is my favorite Asian grocery store in the Ann Arbor area. The store is well-​lit, very clean, and items are well organized and seem to have good turnover… overall a very Western-​feeling grocery. They stock lots of Japanese items, a goodly amount of Chinese, some Thai, and a small selection of Vietnamese ingredients. Good assortment of frozen and refrigerated foods — but the fresh noodle selection is quite poor *sigh*
I really like the fact that this market does not have tanks/​cages full of turtles and other animals… always makes me feel terrible to see turtles/​rabbits alive at a market waiting to be eaten (I know, all meat was alive at some point… I just choose not to eat rabbit — I have 2 at home, or turtles as I support a tortoise/​turtle captive breeding program). Fish tanks don’t bother me so much as long as the tanks are spotlessly clean, the fish aren’t crowded together, and there isn’t a rancid or fishy smell.
The staff are quite nice and helpful too.

Since its close to my house, I go there for msic. items that I need. They carry mainly Japanese products, but they also carry other Asian food product lines — Chinese, Korean, etc. They sell Kimchi as well.
I typically buy tofu from Tsai, it gets delivered every Wednesday. For less than $ 2.50, you get about 8 or so tofu blocks. Just change the water every other day to extend the life of the tofu.
I also udon noodles, sauces and have bought Tuna before. They have prepared foods for sale, you’ll find california rolls on a regular basis. This is one of my 3 stores that I visit when I need stuff for home.