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. :)