What are the best things to buy at Great Wall, H Mart, Lotte, and other DMV Asian Food Stores

[Anonymous]

I went to three in the Merrifield and Annandale area today and thought the fish at Great Wall looked fantastic. H Mart seemed to have a better selection overall. There used to be a Grand Mart in Centerville that had a huge range of Asian foods, plus Latino and Middle Eastern but I see it is now closed.

Which Asian grocery store in the DMV is your favorite and what do you like to buy there? Especially for sauces, spices, ingredients too, how do you use them?

[Anonymous]

I buy all my Thai, Korean, Chinese sauces and ingredients from Great Wall. Also, many veggies and fruits. I have bought fish there and made fish paste out of it.

I buy all my Mexican ingredients from Las Palmeras Mercado Latino

I buy all Indian groceries from Patel brothers

Goat meat and poultry from Germantown Halal

Orange juice, bread, cheese, pretzels and meats from Lancaster County Dutch Market

[Anonymous]

Lotte Plaza in Gaithersburg is the closest to me. I go once a month and stock up on:

- Fried tofu, Korean vegetable platter, jarred kimchi and kimchi pancakes from the prepared foods section
- Tteokbokki (vacuum packed)
- Certain herbs and greens that I can't find anywhere else (yu choy, Makrut lime leaves)
- Asian pears
- Pre-marinated bulgogi beef
- Refills of soy sauce, gochujang chili paste, mirin and fish sauce, all of which I use at a pretty rapid clip
- Refills of Korean sweet potato noodles, rice vermicelli, ramen, soba and udon noodles
- Armenian string cheese --> this stuff is amazing. It's in the Turkish/Middle Eastern foods refrigerated section.

[Anonymous]

Yekta in Rockville is my go-to for Middle Eastern ingredients:

- Spices (Aleppo pepper, za'atar, dried limes and lime powder, hawayej - Yemeni spice mix)
- Bread
- Tea
- Rosewater and orange blossom water
- Soujouk sausage
- Feta cheese
- Canned fava beans

[Anonymous]

Our list of East Asian staples:

*sushi rice
*nori paper
*Korean seaweed snacks
*furikake
*okonomiyaki sauce
*Kewpie mayonnaise
*Fried tofu puffs
*Steamed Chinese veggie buns
*Shaoxing cooking wine

[Anonymous]

Paratha bread.

[Anonymous]

I'm Chinese and prefer to shop at 99Ranch and Great Wall. I rarely visit the other ones.

[Anonymous]

In general:
East Asian/ Indian/ Latin pantry staples
Produce selection different from the usual grocery stores

Specifically:
Hmart/ Lotte for Korean items
Great Wall for Chinese
Patel for Indian

Each of the stores has a specialized clientele, and the foods from that cuisine are best represented and also best priced. You can find Indian items at Hmart, for example, but the prices and selection aren't as good as at Patel.

Hmart has pretty high prices for produce in my opinion. Though you can get great deals by shopping for items listed in the weekly promotions.