There is a special feeling to an Asian American visiting Hyde Park when he walks out of the Bayswater tube and finds and Asian market right outside. It put a smile in my heart to find rows of drinks and snacks that I know and love and some unique new ones that I've never seen before.
From the store front you'd never even know that it's an Asian market. There are no big posters advertising Shen Yun 2019 or 2017 Pistahan in the window. I guess it must be new or they are incognito. You don't have the strong smell of dried squid or lemon grass hitting you when you walk through the door either. It feels kind of sterile, but that's because it's all well packaged and frozen food. No boxes of black bananas and jack fruit in the front.
The selection was vast, it was a mishmash of all things Asian with a focus on the tourist in terms of selection and prices. I could easily go broke trying all the different cool snacks, drinks and teas. And the location is right across the street from Hyde Park. So we walked across the street and enjoyed out loot in the shade of the trees and shared crumbs with some of the most aggressive ducks and geese I've ever seen. read more