Vietnamese Supermarket

Been going there for years and truly the best for far east groceries and fresh herbs for cooking. A must visit for fresh exotic fruits!

As far as I know, this is the only Vietnamese supermarket nearby and is definitely worth a visit if you fancy a trip into the bizarre. Not a lot of the stuff looks particularly appetising, but mainly because I don’t like fish. There were lots of non-​fishy items which looked quite nice, and their rice crackers are delicious. Everything seemed pretty cheap and there are baskets of £1 goodies– mainly biscuits. However, I was too busy staring with slight personal disgust at the frozen fish items at the sides of the shop. There were red-​fin snappers for £2.25 and cuttlefish for similar price. What struck me most though, was the entire, whole squid that was on sale for only £5.75. For the adventurous types out there then this bizarre supermarket is the place of imagination.

This supermarket is certainly Vietnamese. That said I have never been to Vietnam so I don’t really have a basis for comparison but the whole place is very definitely not British and very definitely Asian.
The smell of the place for instance is immediately overwhelming and unlike anything I have encountered before (except, bizarrely, in Essaouira, Morocco) — a strong dried salty fish flavour. The aisles are rammed with goods and products I couldn’t even begin to identify. I recognise the rice and the vast, overwhelming amount of different noodles on offer. Then I am lost again amongst packets of what at first appear to be a frozen bit of meat, but is in fact a vegetable. The whole process smells of fish and I’m overjoyed to recognise a Spring Onion in the small vegetable section at the back.
This place is always full and teeming with people who seem to know what they’re buying. If it’s Vietnamese food you’re after and you know what you’re buying — I’m sure this is a good place to come.