Today I visited the Asian Mart, located inside the Asia Mall. I'm surprised there aren't more reviews of the Asian Mart, even though it opened in November, 2022. From what I understand, there was total chaos in terms of crowds when the Mall first opened. This is a GOOD thing, but I'm sure that this (probably) unexpectedly large crowd, gave a negative vibe to those people who went when the Mall first opened.
My wife and I visited on a Tuesday at about 11 am and it was not crowded at all, either at the Asian Mart or the restaurants in the Asian Mall. This review is ONLY for the Asian Mart (i.e., the grocery store).
This grocery store is HUGE, an includes products that are for various Asian countries. I can't imagine not finding the noodle, wrapper, or any other Asian product you have ever heard of. If you need something for an Asian recipe, if it's not here, you are not going to find it in Minnesota or any of our surrounding states.
The room that has fish and seafood is in a separate room at the back of the market. Honestly, I'm not a price expert, but their crab legs were $10.99 a pound. Compare that to $35 a pound (today) at Byerly's and about $25 a pound, cooked and served, at Million's Crab (as of last week). One interesting type of clam they have is called a Geoduck. According to Wikipedia, "one of the longest-living animals of any type, with a typical lifespan of 140 years; the oldest has been recorded at 179 years old." Now you know. See photo attached. (I assume this guys did not live that long.)
I'm a bit surprised that the item another reviewer wanted was white rice, but was disappointed that it was sold in large bags. C'mon. If you want one pound of white rice, go to literally ANY of the dozens of American markets around town. You don't open a specialty Asian market to sell one pound bags of white rice. If you want something like 10 different varieties of rice and/or quantities not found at Byerly's, Cub, etc. then THIS is the place you go.
Signs not in English? All of the signs I saw were in English, but some of the packaging of products were not. How is this different than any other Asian grocery store? It's not. These are products created for an Asian audience. As a non-Asian, I am neither offended nor surprised. Smelly? One could take this comment as offensive. Don't yuck another person's yum (I think Daniel Tiger said that).
Overall, this store was well-stocked, had an unbelievable variety of products, and all of the staff I talked to spoke English. I was there mostly to look and only bought Fish Sauce and Hoisin Sauce, but the products looked good to me. read more