TLDR: Small Vietnamese grocery store. In addition to regular grocery items they have some Vietnamese snacks and desserts that are hard to find in Ottawa.
I was on the hunt for rice paper to make my own salad rolls. I only like certain brands (I find some brands have a funky smell which I don't like) and I prefer the square ones over the round ones. I usually get them at a grocery store in Kanata, but I was hoping to find some closer to home, so I popped into Phuoc Loi and lo and behold, they had them, and even cheaper than I usually pay ($2.99 versus $3.70).
I poked around the store to see if there was anything else of interest and I was thrilled to see they had some cool imported drinks (including Coco Rico, which is a coconut soda from Puerto Rico but a lot of Vietnamese people cook with it, like add it to curries (!) which gives it a coconutty je ne sais quoi to the dish).
They had a few savoury snacks and some desserts. I spotted some Che Thai and had to get it. It was $5 for a small tub. They also had com rieu, which is a fermented rice balls dessert, which I only recommend to those who are adventurous, lol ;)
The Che Thai was tasty. It's Pandan jelly, palm seeds, mock pomegranate seeds (made with tapioca and water chestnuts), jackfruit and coconut milk.
The store seems to be a family-run store.
I'll return to replenish my rice paper supply when I run out. And get more Che Thai. Not sure if they ever stock other varieties of che, but that's the only type I saw on my visit.
Street parking only.
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