Viet Wah shopping center Seattle, a review

I went to the other Vietnamese store near me yesterday, and it's time to bring the reviews back! Here's what I thought about the place.

Let's cut the chase short, I like the place. Depending on how easily I'm able to figure out where the relevant spices are, this might be my primary grocery store soon.

The good parts: the groceries are clean and of decent quality. You don't have to scrounge whatever you can get your hands on like in Kalimati, as one might do at Hau Hau. They're priced slightly higher, but the convenience is worth it, and despite everything the prices are still cheaper than elsewhere. Additionally they've got lots of fruits and veggies unavailable elsewhere. I bought a couple of pounds of litchi, and considered getting mangoes. They've got all the standard asian supplies plus some more.

The diversity of options is larger too. Massive area for hundreds of different types of rice -- I could buy a large bag of rice there and take an e-taxi back home and still pay less than I'd put out at amazon. Plus they've got whole different section for household supplies. I'm planning on getting a couple of things, including a step-ladder soon enough.

Downsides, it's a bit more expensive than hau hau, even for staples like fried garlic. And some obvious things like coconut milk etcetera are unexpectedly pricey. Bananas are a buck a pound, which is kinda' insane.

It was also quite hard to find the whole spices in the right places, I didn't see any sichuan pepper or cumin seeds in bulk. And didn't find the Chinese chilli sauces with the choice they have in Hau Hau. I imagine these issues are because I didn't look around enough.

All in all, great place, will go in again, it might need to be supplemented by a different place but that's not too much of a downside. I feel safe while shopping here, instead of mildly confused like in Hau Hau. Plus there's so many strange things, and a liquor store attached!

More exploration to be done at this place.