Central Oriental — Local services in Milton Keynes

Updating review after being a pretty regular customer for 3 years. Just wanted to say that we went there today for the first time since lockdown, and it’s the safest we have felt in any shop/public space in months. No exaggeration, we went with our own masks and gloves but loved that there was a sign asking people to put masks and gloves on, with some available at the entrance. Staff were incredibly cautious, all of them were wearing masks and keeping their distance despite the narrow aisles, and as always were incredibly welcome and kind.

We tend to buy a lot of staples predominantly for Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean cuisines, and 9/10 we manage to get what we’re looking for every time... as well as a bunch of other things we didn’t have on our list. Every time we go in there something new catches our eye.

Worth noting right now (July 2020) they are doing some refurb on the cafe, looks like they’re still cooking but there weren’t any bakery items on sale at this time either.

If the staff/owners read this- thanks so much for making your customers feel safe and thanks too for stocking the best frozen...

If you love cooking Asian food, this place is a goldmine. Central Oriental has pretty much everything you could think of – ingredients from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia… you name it. Easily the biggest oriental supermarket I’ve seen in Bedfordshire. You can spend a good amount of time just browsing through all the aisles and discovering new sauces, snacks, frozen goods, and fresh produce.

That said, it’s not perfect. Prices are definitely on the expensive side, so it’s more of a specialty shop than a place for regular grocery runs. Also, the store feels more like a warehouse than a supermarket – the shelves are built out of industrial racking, not traditional shop displays, and the floor has seen better days. It could use a proper clean or maybe even a full refurb to match the scale of the operation.

Still, if you're after authentic oriental ingredients and want to be spoiled for choice, this...

This place is amazing! I am an experienced shopper when it comes to this kind of food and I have to say that the variety here is the absolute best I have come across in the Milton Keynes area. This place rocks my world and I love taking a trip down there to get my Oriental food fix. My cupboard is rammed full with noodles from the last time I went there. Everything is very affordable so you will leave with a lot of noodles for your money. They also do a massive range of meats, sweets, soups and sauces too.

Fantastic place with friendly and helpful service :) They also have a canteen on site but I have yet...