City Farmers Market is an Asian/Hispanic-centric farmers market that opened October 10, 2015 on Buford Highway between Chamblee Tucker and Chamblee Dunwoody Rds. It's in the shopping plaza where Buford Highway Flea Market used to be. This is a huge upgrade.
The Vietnamese owner of City Farmers Market, Ben Vo, cleaned up and renovated the shopping plaza. It's now known as Cho Saigon and houses the farmers market, Saigon Tofu (a Vietnamese "fast food" shop comparable to Viet Tofu and VN Tofu), a wireless store, and spaces for other tenants. Vo also owns Hong Kong Supermarket in Norcross.
It's obvious the similarities between Vo's two supermarkets and shopping centers. They both have tofu shops and places to get banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches). At the time of writing this review, a Big Wong BBQ is slated to open in a space next door to City Farmers Market. It may already be open when you read this. There's a Big Wong BBQ at the food court inside Hong Kong Supermarket and it's great.
Longtime Atlantans may remember when Hong Kong Supermarket actually used to be on Buford Highway (near Clairmont Rd). It used to be *the* place I shopped for Asian groceries before the store moved, along with Happy Valley (seafood and dim sum restaurant), to Jimmy Carter Blvd in Norcross. Well now the market is back! Sort of.
I think the market and shopping center look great. The market is big, bright, spacious, and clean. The aisles are neatly stocked with a colorful array of inventory. The parking lot is clean and nicely paved. Overall, it's nicer than Hong Kong Supermarket, but of course - it's newer.
In a nutshell, this is how the major markets on/around Buford Highway compare:
* City Farmers Market - great for Vietnamese food as well as Chinese and Hispanic food.
* Super H Mart - national chain, great for Korean food.
* Buford Highway Farmers Market - best all-around selection of ethnic foods, from Korean to Hispanic to Russian.
* Mercado Fresco - as the name implies, Hispanic food.
Note: Mercado Fresco sits where Hong Kong Supermarket used to be, in Plaza Fiesta. That market has changed owners/names at least two times between Mercado Fresco and Hong Kong Supermarket (e.g. Atlanta Farmers Market, Fiesta Farmers Market), so it hasn't been the most stable space over the last 15+ years.
Produce quality varies. The produce section contains fruits such as rambutan, dragon fruit, durian, mangosteen, jackfruit, and longan.
They have balut, which are partially developed chicken and duck embryos still in the egg. Duck is the traditional balut. It's sold for $0.99 an egg. Chicken balut is cheaper at $0.59 an egg.
I always love walking through the meat and seafood departments of Asian markets to see all of the interesting cuts, animal parts/organs, and different seafood they carry. Here, they have everything you need to make an authentic bowl of pho or Bun Bo Hue (Vietnamese noodle soups) down to soup bones and pork blood. They have menudo (tripe or stomach, $2.49/lb), cow feet ($2.09/lb), beef honeycomb (another type of tripe, $2.99/lb), beef intestine ($2.79/lb), and beef liver ($1.39/lb).
Examples of whole fish include silver pomfret ($8.99/lb), beltfish ($3.29/lb), largemouth bass ($4.19/lb), black pomfret ($3.99/lb), porgy (a.k.a. bream, $2.69/lb), and amberjack. Like other markets, the staff will clean, behead, and cut or fillet the fish to your liking. There's squid ($1.49/lb), jellyfish ($2.99/lb), and shrimp galore (many different varieties). Examples of molluscs include live oysters ($1.69/lb), manila clams, periwinkle snails ($4.99/lb), whole whelk ($3.99), and rice snails ($3.99/lb).
There's a wide assortment of packaged food products from rice to noodles to sauces to frozen foods to beverages. The instant noodle selection spans two aisles and includes just about every instant noodle you can think of -- Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, etc. Drinks run the gamut and include products like mango Fanta, canned Vietnamese ca phe sua da (Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk), canned or bottled Thai tea, canned Mong Lee Shang pearl soybean drinks, Yeo's soymilk, and even Thai Vitamilk (soy drink). They also stock Korean ginseng drinks (in glass bottles with ginseng roots) and Chinese bird's nest drinks (perfect to accompany your next game of mahjong).
At the front of the store, there's a Hispanic bakery and a Lee's Sandwiches (Vietnamese) shop. There's a self-serve display next to the bakery which contains a variety of fresh-baked breads and pastries. At the counter, you can order things like birthday cakes.
Lee's Sandwiches sells banh mi and other Vietnamese snacks and beverages. They sell Vietnamese iced coffee out of prepackaged bottles. You can actually purchase gallons of the stuff (concentrate) for $26.99 a gallon. If you want made-to-order drinks, go next door to Saigon Tofu (same owner). They freshly squeeze/press their drinks which include orange and sugarcane juice. read more