Wang's Asian Market — Local services in Urbandale

My first experience here wasn't good. The selection is decent but unfortunately mostly not very competitive with other Asian Markets in the area (C Fresh, Double Dragon). This would be enough for me to give them 3 stars, but unfortunately I found that one of the products I bought (shallot sauce) was expired for a year, which isn't the first time this has happened according to past reviews. I had only noticed it after I bought it and was able to confirm it with the date on the lid. While I'm glad I was given a refund, the owner was angry at me and refused to let me buy another of the same product -- accusing me of only returning it because I didn't like it, effectively calling me a liar, despite the expiration date being visible on the lid. In hindsight, I should have shown a picture of the lid here for further proof. I probably would have also noticed that the lid was popped (indicating expiration), but based on this experience, I wouldn't be surprised if the owner tried to accuse me of opening it in store. I've never had this experience with trying to get support after receiving an expired product.

Management, I would recommend against assuming every customer that points out an issue with a product has bad intentions. If you were just upset about losing money on an expired product, I can empathize with that, especially given these times, but lashing out at the customer doesn't solve...

I make it a habit to visit ethnic grocery stores whenever I find them; on my yearly trip to Des Moines I stopped at Wangs and was pleasantly surprised. It’s a tiny store but it’s located in a great place, servicing the western Des Moines metro area when other Asian markets are closer to downtown. Wang’s also had an amazing selection of Ramen and other noodles for a store his size. Packaged Ramen not your thing? I checked: they have basically everything you need to create a great homemade Ramen as well.

I’d complain about how much stuff is stacked into such a small space and how it can be hard to get around but hey; it’s for the sake of maximizing their small amount of space to get more product out there, so I can deal with it.

Most impressive to me was that they stock Asahi beer, a Japanese beer that’s really hard to find despite the fact that they have a brewery in Canada specifically to cater to the North American market.

Prices are knocked up a notch compared to the C Fresh Market but if you don’t want to deal with the headache of that area of town, Wangs is a great place to shop for your typical Asian food needs. Will be...

Great selection and cheaper than ordering from an online place like Amazon with the benefit of supporting a local business.

Staff was very helpful and speaks English if you have questions, as well as most items having English labels that make it easier to find what you are looking for.

It’s a little smaller than some other markets - but much cleaner and better organized. My wife works in pest control - and this is the only local Asian market I am allowed to buy from.

Some bulk items are available as well - like large boxes of premium instant noodles.

Best local Asian market - take a trip over and get something you love, or try...