Asian Foods Market-Restaurant — Restaurant in Starkville

I'll talk about each part of this place. I love how diverse the store's inventory is, and I've learned so much about ingredients and Asian snacks of various cultures! With some anime influence, of course. The owner is pretty nice and got so excited when me and my partner were learning how to cook Asian dishes and hot pots and suggested things to get for said hot pots. She was also helpful with helping me find specific things that didn't get put out yet. I got to try the fish shaped ice cream and bean paste sandwiches because of her. I love bean sprouts, aloe vera juice, macha products, pocki, ramune soda, dragon fruit, chili garlic paste, and a bunch of other stuff now. They sell various imported produce, including durian, duck eggs, all kinds of stuff! Nothing is strictly Chinese or Japanese--they have Indian or Korean (can't fully remember, so many things), Thai, general Asian goods whatwith pantry ingredients and kitchen tools, and much more. Freezer isle. I love almost all of the sweet buns! You can buy fresh? cut fish and meat products or live fish, razor clams, gooey duck, etc. The bbq part, I was not fond of trying pork Hocks, but everything else looked nice. Big display case showing what else whole cooked products were for sale as well as small boxes of food. If you are willing to spend the money, I recommend trying imported moon cakes! I got the lotus paste ones with a fancy collectible box. These are massive and can count as a meal! The front register has a boba tea area, and it is worth it. I love the mango tea. Ok. Now for the restaurant. First time, got a hot pot with friends, was pretty cool, still tried things I never had before with all kinds of interesting textures and flavors. Their waiters are nice and helpful. I did not like eating the cooked jellyfish tentacles. I guess get it if you love chewy and odd textures. Second time, I got the noodle dish with all the 6 or 8 meats in it. Tasted fine, but I was sad that the noodles I wanted were out of stock. I don't like the thin noodles very much. Now, I would give 3.5 if possible just for the restaurant because I think I contracted food poisoning/cross contamination the second time because me and one of my friends were sick afterwards. Overall, the store is great! You definitely need multiple visits just to see everything, and sometimes there are new chance imported items! Be careful with drinking one of the imported sake though. It tasted like water, and the alcohol sneaks up on you! It was a small bottle...

Him: "Excellent! exceeded my expectations. Took me back to the days when I worked at a bona fide Chinese restaurant in the 80's. Just like the pepper steak I used to love. And the egg drop soup had the best texture of any I have ever tasted."

Her: "The food was so good. I have to admit, going in I was a little disappointed that we were not doing Chinese buffet, which is what I am used to. I really wasn't sure how to order off of the menu. However, the customer service was excellent, and the patient waitress explained how to order. She helped us find our favorites on the menu, along with our favorite sides. If you're hesitant to go anywhere besides a Chinese buffet I highly recommend this place. The quality of the food far exceeds the quality of any Chinese buffet I have ever tried. The beef fried rice had a smoky charbroiled flavor, that made me feel like when I was a child: very comforting. While the bubble tea, known as milk tea here, made me feel like I was back in trendy Dallas. But the atmosphere was one that was conducive to an intimate experience for a date. My husband and I went here for our anniversary, and our only regret is that we did not have more stomachs. We will be back to try the other things such as beef Pho and Peking duck. We didn't try the supermarket side, but it looked like it had a full selection as well. Highly recommend, and our compliments...

Decided to try the hot pot. Not good! The pot was too small so it splattered all over the place and even got on our clothes. No one came to help us regulate temp on burner or cook items right since we had not done this before. Some vegs and rice cakes were mushy and others rubbery and disgusting like fish balls, and frozen meatballs. The quail egg was inedible. The mushrooms were beyond awful, including slimy tree ears, and stringy, tough shitake. We received few normal vegetables - cabbage and two broccoli heads. It was the worst meal I've ever had in Starkville. Maybe thr off the menu choices are OK. I would not try the hot pot here ever again. And it was expensive for two, $50. If you're going here, forget the hot pot which has to be ordered in advance by one hour. This was my worst dinner idea ever. I was embarrassed and had to come home and...