Asian Market — Local services in West Columbia

By far one of the best, if not the best Asian Market available in the area. I can find almost everything I need here; and even one of my particular needs "Kifer' or Lime leaves used in Thai cooking is available as a personal favor from the owner, who buys it for their own use. English is not your primary language here; but, depending who's there working at the time, There is someone usually 75% of the time, and I go every couple of months. Not bad odds. While they're not much help on cooking or helping you find 'something' to make; if you know what you want, and they have it; you're often likely to find it. It is housed in an old supermarket, and makes use of that space well. Watch for dust, as some items may well be beyond their sell by date. Their price on simple items, like coconut milk, or even coconut cream, is fair; though there are higher priced items which are 'always' available, the lower priced version being scarce. If you're curious and adventuresome as we are; you will find many many items to add to your cupboard or pantry. The treats are well marked, and so the easiest to identify. Many things like spices cannot be bought in many other places, and may be there but under a different name. Either way, the basics are better priced than you'll find anywhere. If you're into indian food; I do not recommend this place; but, there is an Indian Restaurant behind the store in the shopping center I'd recommend. It is fairly typical not to find Indian, as in India, based needs in an Asian market, for some reason. However, if you're in need of Chinese, Thai, Korean, Philippine, Japanese, and other similar cuisine, you will probably find it here. What more...

Visited the Asian Market on Bakersfield Rd, Columbia this past Saturday, and my partner & I (recent Successful escapees from N.Y.) were quite happy to find a place relatively close to our home, where we could procure a number of staples for cooking our favorite Asian cuisine. The store is fairly extensive in it's offerings, and well kept, the isles are clearly marked, and when needed, the store personnel were helpful in answering our questions and pointing us to the isle(s) where we could find certain items we were looking for. While the prices are a bit on the high side, I'll attribute that to the recent "supply chain" excuse being touted in the media of late as the cause, I've personally seen milk prices in my local Aldi's jump for 70-cents a quart to over $2.90 a quart, so I'm sure everyone's jumping on the price increase bandwagon, including this store, but when you're in need of the right ingredients to prepare your favorite Asian dishes, at least we now know where to find them, & we no doubt will be frequenting this store in the future. In addition to foodstuffs, they also have a decent selection of Woks, & various cooking utensils as well, so it's a one stop-shopping extravaganza for all...

Pleasantly surprised by the selection here! I was most impressed with finding the boba ice cream bars that have been sold out everywhere (I have literally been looking for the past year)!!

It looks like their fish section was closed due to COVID-19, and the hours were adjusted for 11am-6pm. The only thing I could not find when I went in was a specific brand of tapioca pearls, but I did find all the other staples I was looking for and then some (Yakult, peanut mochi, shrimp chips, etc.).

I also like that a vast majority of their products are from Taiwan (for those who may not know, Taiwan's equivalent of the FDA has safety guidelines most similar to US, unlike many other Asian countries, so I'm much more trusting of their food and nutrition labels). Some of the products I found that were not made in Taiwan were products that came from very well-known brands (i.e. The Alley, weichuan, and Calbee), which is encouraging to see.

Very impressed with the quality and selection for a Columbia-area Asian grocery mart, and the staff was very kind, understanding, and funny!...