Hong Kong Supermarket

Questionable area of town. Dicey sign adorns the marginally kept building. An area of Kansas City I expect to find--and reliably do--superb Mexican street food. The promise of things inside not found at the local suburban grocer. There it sits, beckoning like a beacon in the night: Hong Kong Supermarket. A place I cannot ignore, so yea, I'm so there.And while I normally don't address other reviewers, all two of them... some clarity. Asian food markets do not smell like those in the lily white suburbs from whence you traveled. They smell like fish. It's not a fault, it's a feature. Every one of them in every city I've ever been to inside and outside the U.S. and 3 continents, plenty, all about the same.Prices: dirt cheap. So much that my bottle of Vietnamese fish sauce, an interesting looking soy (wow, all soy tastes alike, nope! this stuff is da bomb!) I could read little of the label and two packages of Mama ramen (it's Thai) at .49 cents each--it's the BEST, my choice for backpacking--rang up under $5. I questioned: "I think I may owe you more." And then the first English I'd heard spoken inside answered, "I check." Nope, she was right.And yes, that was yours truly that took the photo of a pig's head in the butcher case, because, well, who doesn't like a good pig's head for viewing once in awhile? Wish I really knew how to cook one.So, yea, I think 3 stars is about right. Look, I don't believe anyone here thinks they're shopping at Eataly in NYC or their local Whole Wallet... sorry, is it Whole Foods? Nope, this area of town is urban hardscrabble, and the food here is for people that cannot or will not drive to 888 Market or near the City Market downtown and its abundant Asian grocers. Cheap? And how, and plenty of staples poor people afford as best they can. Would I come here again? In a heartbeat.NOTE to fellow Yelpers: get here fast to review, they're averaging one every 4 1/2 years. Hit the action early while it still counts.

Somewhere you need to add your Hours of Operation. Hate to drive a good distance, just to find out they are not open. :-(

I am newish to this city and where I come from there is a few amazing world markets I use to shop frequently. I miss them and my favorite ramen so I decided to drive down the interstate and give this place a try. My first impression was...boxes. All the ramen and noodles were in boxes. You had to look at pictures to know what was in the boxes as I don't read anything other than Spanish and English. I moved to the cookware, cause I need a new wok. No prices. I did pick up some soy sauce in bulk, some nice fish sauce, hot chilis, I did decide on a wok that ended up being affordable. I was looking for Thai basil, but wasn't sure if it was or wasn't. I asked a worker and the guy said "no". But it was Thai basil! I found this store to be dirty, I mean literal thick dust on items and shelves, frozen food expired, not friendly, can't ask anyone questions. It's good for a few things, but I'll try another store. I ended up buying my ramen on Amazon.

For those who can't travel far over to the Kansas side or to downtown, it's nice to have an Asian grocery store that has the essentials for food. I like coming here when they have fresh fruits or veggies for sale or if I forget an ingredient or two. The store is not much from the looks outside, and yes it's not as organized as some other stores, but it does get you what you want for less the cost elsewhere. I like getting my dry herbs/detox, ramen, fruits, che, or snacks here. But like someone had mention, be sure to check for expiration date.

I happened to be driving by and saw Hong Kong Supermarket out of the corner of my eye. Cue sharp right and into the parking lot I went.The bad:As I walked in, the first thing I noticed is the smell. Awful. My sense of smell is meh so if I was this grossed out, you should expect to be even more grossed out. Additionally, you need to really pay close attention to expiration dates. Some stuff is long expired, while others still have a good shelf life left to them.The good:If you can get past the smell, the prices here totally beat any of the other markets I've been to. There are also items I haven't seen in other markets. This place is super authentic. I was the only non-Vietnamese person wandering about.Extra plus:The cashier here informed me that you can get authentic banh mi at Vietnam Cafe in Columbus Market. It's not on the menu so you have to ask. They make them in the morning and when they run out, you're out of luck. If you head there Saturday morning, make sure you come as early as you can.Next door is a Vietnamese night club and some restaurant. The restaurant could be Chinese but could be Vietnamese since the whole complex is Vietnamese. If anyone heads that way, let me know.

As usual, my husband left me in charge of directions and I got us lost. We found Hong Kong Supermarket by accident and I insisted we stop. We are big fans of all worldy foods and usually get our fix at World Market. HK supermarket had a lot of the things we buy at World Market for a fraction of the price, plus a million other things. The store is kind of a hot mess though, dingy and unorganized, with very few things priced. As stated in another review, do check expiration dates (I didn't read it until afterwards and had already bought a bottle of ponzu sauce that expired in 2009 haha). They have everything from herbal teas, cookware, noodles, chinese herbal medicine, meat, frozen fish, kimchi, thai energy drinks, jelly grass drinks, rumi sodas and japanese cookies. I will say that I wouldn't buy meat from their cooler. It didn't feel cold and the meat didn't look refrigerated and had that gross brown look to it. I'm also not sure why they named it Hong Kong Supermarket, as they had mostly Korean and Thai products, but whatever. We bought $60 worth of stuff that would have cost us $200 at world market. I will definitely be going back on a regular basis.