Wing Cheong

Seed products are over priced!!! You can get a lot of the same thing elsewhere at much better prices. Also, employees are rude following you around.

After gawking at the high prices of taro chips at Nico’s Pier 38, my friend wanted to try making taro chips. I told him it’s just like making homemade potato chips but using taro instead of spuds. He mentioned about getting some taro at Whole Foods, where I started to gawk because Whole Foods made be a specialty store with great variety but their prices are on the high side! So, being born and raised on Maunakea Street, I knew if you looked around Chinatown you can find inexpensive produce so I was on a mission to find CHEAP taro. Muwahahaha!!!
I have my go-​to shops in Chinatown — — fresh seafood, live crabs, fruit and veggies, look funn noodles, etc. When it comes to taro, I usually order it at restaurants when I have a craving for KAU YUK (pot roast pork belly). Not having a go-​to taro store, I wandered around Chinatown until I came across Wing Cheong on Hotel Street.
This is a small store which carries dried goods, packaged Chinese goodies, canned Chinese ingredients and some fresh produce. As you walk into the store they have lots of things all stacked up or in boxes and they also have some things for sale in front of their store along the sidewalk. This is where I noticed the taro! Compared with other produce stores, I find the taro here are larger and more cheaper with savings of about 30 cents per pound.
Please keep in mind that when shopping in Chinatown, don’t expect good service, a smile or a «thank you» greeting. The lady here behind the cashier gives you a stoic look and very robot-​like. Once my taro was $ 7.01 and I didn’t have a penny with me. I gave her a $ 20 and perhaps it was wrong of me to expect $ 13 in change but she handed me back $ 12.99!!!
I did come across an unusual species of fresh mushroom here as I have never seen it at any store before (a very large ENOKI mushroom that is thick) one day so I gave it a try. It was not bad and when I went back to get it a couple of weeks later they didn’t carry it! It wasn’t a deal-​breaker to get the same mushroom so I instead went to one of my go-​to produce stores for fresh mushrooms.
Overall, a general store in Chinatown where the things are cheap here but don’t expect good customer service. Make sure to go through this check list:
1) have cash available as many Chinese stores don’t accept plastic
2) find what you want to buy
3) check the expiration date
4) pay for the item and don’t expect first-​come, first serve because the elder Chinese peeps tend to rush to the front regardless of peeps standing in line.
5) check your change
6) walk out with your purchase

It’s located in Chinatown so parking for commuters is problematic. But if you’re already in the area, stopping by is a no-​brainer for a seed selection as good as Wholesale Unlimited with better quality and prices. Seedless li hing peach is good as is the sweet li hing mui.
Note there are several resident cats roaming about this and neighboring stores so if you’re allergic, you might want to take an antihistamine before visiting.

Seeds, nuts, dried shrimp, and other dried goods this is just a bit of things you will find here. A lot of Li Hing Mui, Lemon Peel, Cashews, Peanuts etc etc. and lots of other dried goods galore! nestled in the Heart of Chinatown on Hotel street with the crowd of people waiting for the buses and tourist and others shopping around it is a place for seeing smelling and experiencing.
This shop has been around for a while and possibly related to some other shops I’ve seen in other Chinatowns and Maybe even Hong Kong but I can’t be sure same name but who knows.