I've been going here for more than a decade (!), and for the most part have been super happy to have such a great store close to home. They have a strong selection from many different Asian cuisines organized by region: Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. Chances are, if you're looking for an ingredient for a recipe, they'll have it. Global also has a large Indian/Pakistani, Latin American (including Peruvian) sections and a smaller European section that I am less familiar with.
There are several good things worth mentioning: They have a reliable section of fresh produce (including green papayas, long beans, Chinese chives, various types of eggplants and mushrooms, bok choy, etc etc). The fruits and vegetables are usually fresh and top notch. It's next to a small food court that serves fresh Korean and Latin food.
Global Foods also has an ample freezer section stocked with regional specialties that are hard to find elsewhere (grated fresh coconut, fresh pandan leaves, spicy Hmong sausages, various dumplings, fresh noodles of all types) and some fresh bakery products (lots of Latin American bakery products, even some fresh Afghan flat bread). They also have a separate Korean bakery towards the front that has a wonderful variety of breads, pastries, fancy cakes and bubble tea!
BUT, my only complaint -- and here's the kicker -- is the fresh meat and seafood is not fresh.
The last couple of times I've purchased meat and seafood (fresh shrimps and chicken thighs/breasts, to be specific), the products have spoiled within a day or two, but well before the "sell by" date printed on their labels. And by then, either the store's slim return window (or just the sheer annoyance of making a separate trip out to return rotten $5 meat) has made returning the spoiled items more trouble than it is worth. Everything was purchased and stored in our refrigerator within 15 minutes, so I know it was not due to improper handling -- and this is not the first time I've been burned!
For now, I've learned my lesson. It's unfortunate, because until recently, they were a reliable source meat and seafood and saved me from making a separate stop elsewhere. But for now, after smelling spoiled meat and shrimps one too many times, I'm totally put off from the prospect of buying meat there.
I would rank the seafood / meat departments zero or one stars. The rest of the store rates a five. So, I'll balance it out and rank it three stars. It's a fun store to go to, but proceed with extreme caution in the meat and fresh seafood departments. read more