This place reminds me of all the big Asian supermarkets in the US. Loved coming here and we came on…read morea Sunday and they close early and everyone was there and rushing around. There's even a restaurant for roast duck out front. It's a little rough around the edges but reminds me of home. My parents also loved it.

I live in NYC, so I've seen my fair share of Asian supermarkets. After all, NYC has an excellent…read moreChinatown. When I first wandered the 13eme, I wasn't very impressed; I saw only a smattering of Asian traiteurs and grocery stores. When I reached Tang Frères (literally, when I turned the corner), my eyes almost fell out of my head. I've NEVER seen such an enormous Asian supermarket. The way that it's arranged is not very intuitive to me (even though I feel like I have a lot of experience wandering around Asian supermarkets); I can't ever seem to find the spices / sauces that I want. There also aren't very many workers walking around, so it's extremely difficult to find help. However, that allows you to wander around and explore all the awesome things that they sell. :D Chives are surprisingly expensive. (I just had to say that :x It's really weird for me). There's a huge variety; I can't overemphasize this. I think you can pretty much find any Vietnamese / Chinese thing you'd need for any sort of cooking. Prices are decent for Paris. Today, I bought a lychee drink, a mangosteen drink, two sets of wonton wrappers, 500g of ground pork, chives, five-spice powder, coconut milk, and tiny tapioca pearls for only 11.20€. Amazing. ALSO! They ground their pork fresh :O It's so cool. I've never seen that. You do need to get a ticket in order to get served by the Boucherie, though. I totally didn't expect this at all and I stood around like an idiot, wondering how people knew it was their turn to get served. I guess it's a new system. It's a little out of the way, but it's totally worth a trip. :)

From the owner: Fraîcheur d'Asie Ici, Les clients sont priés de poser leur parapluie dans le seau à l'entrée du…read moremagasin pour ne pas salir le sol. Comme on s'en doutait, la spécialité de cette boutique sont les surgelés asiatiques. Pakkai bénéficie d'un passage important, ce qui permet le renouvellement continuel, gage de fraîcheur (même pour les surgelés !). On y trouve de nombreux ingrédients typiques de l'Asie ainsi que les fameux raviolis et les nombreux desserts à base de lait coco.