New York Supermarket East Broadway

I typically always go to Hong Kong Supermarket but I’ll definitely make a point to stop here more often. The former starts boxing up all their produce a little before closing so all the veggies I needed one night had been carted away. I ran in here and luckily they still had everything out – plus nothing looked sad and picked over. Bonus: they sell okra! I love fresh okra, but I have a hard time finding it outside the frozen aisle of Whole Foods.

Located under the Manhattan Bridge this is an interesting place to look at with its exotic seafood area and overall Chinatown hustle-​bustle atmosphere. But I would never think of buying anything inside this store. It smells rather badly and doesn’t look too clean.
A recent article in AM New York (June 25^th) also reveals that this market has been rated as one of the 9 dirtiest in NYC by the New York Division of Food Safety with 21 violations.
The fruit stands right outside the store usually look OK.

Update ¹⁄₂₀₁₆: They’ve renovated the store, so now it’s much cleaner (including the meat/​seafood sections). They also carry a wider variety of items now. Some items are cheaper than HKS, but most aren’t.
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This small Asian grocery store has a stinky seafood selection, so I would think twice before buying meat or seafood here. Good luck finding anyone who speaks English! $ 10 credit card minimum.
While the selection is certainly more limited than Hong Kong Supermarket’s, it’s a good option to have.

A great place to pick up groceries, definitely love this place more than Hong Kong supermarket. The selection here is pretty diverse and I can find everything I need here. No long lines, no over charged prices, and no rude cashiers. Would definitely prefer to come here for groceries over Hong Kong supermarket.

It’s alright, but I wouldn’t suggest buying meats here. Somebody made a comment about it smelling really bad and it’s true. Not only that, the precut meats were brown and didn’t look fresh at all. There was no prepared on or expiration date on the packaging either. Apart from that, the vegetables were cheap and theres a good selection of asian products.

Prices are cheap. Things are fresh. You can buy fresh prepared meals like roast pork, duck, and char siu (bbq roast pork). There are frozen goods and canned goods. There is every yummy condiment available: oyster sauce, chili oil, sriracha, soy sauce of all varieties, etc. There are even baked goods and beverages if you want. I see sushi prepared on a corner and also other green vegetables and groceries on every aisle. There are long lines and huge crowds, but the deals are really worth it.

I’ve been buying jasmine tea here for over a decade. Not fancy tea: tea bags.
Recently two things happened to my tea buying experience at NYS. The first was that the price of a box of 20 tea bags jumped from 69 cents to 99 cents per box. Yes, you read that right. And I was shocked. But basically what happened was that it dawned on them that they’re not living in Hong Kong in the 1970s, and they can actually charge 99 cents for tea bags. So I adjusted. Then, last week, there were no longer any boxes of Sea Dyke brand tea. Which meant that I had to buy two boxes of Fujian Co. jasmine and a box of Butterfly Brand green for a total of $ 2.97.
Much prettier boxes. I think I can live with it.
I poke around here for other stuff, but rarely buy. The authenticity factor and the location (inside the base of the Manhattan Bridge) are the appeal. If I lived nearby, I might be pickier.

In high school, I came with my friends. They wanted a live shrimp to play with so they asked an employee how much was one alive shrimp. She started to crack up and telling her coworkers about how silly we were. However she give us a free shrimp to play with, which made our day.
My parents come here all the time because it is convenient. However this place is crowded and pretty nasty.
Their shack section is pretty lacking as well compare to other Asian supermarkets which is the main attraction for me. I don’t like the shopping experience because it is hard to get around.
If possible I would go to other supermarkets.

What is up with the smell near the meat section? It smells like death! I mean, I know that meat and fish aren’t aromatics but holy cow, I don’t think it’s supposed to smell like rotten flesh.
Anyways, other than the horrid smell, this place has wide selections on Asian items. Better than most that I have been to in NY, but I’ve only been here for a month so what do I know.

An awesome lil asian market that has all the basics you need from produce to meats and all the asian condiments and sauces that you would ever want for way cheaper than where you’d find at the big name brand stores. Walk through the back to find other produce vendors. Definitely one of the cleaner asian markets in ctown too.

Its crowded and feels filthy so this is not one of my favorite supermarkets in Chinatown. I would not try the fish or fresh meat here. I only come here for produce. Not even for the dry goods. Even the frozen goods look questionable. It just doesn’t feel clean in this market. And there is constant chaos in this market.

I need help figuring this place out as a lot of the signs are not in English. But in terms of authenticity… is that alligator feet right outside? What the heck kinda fruit is that since I’ve never seen before?! Definitely for the adventurous.

My second favorite Asian grocery store. When I’m too lazy to walk over to Hong Kong Supermarket, I come here. I feel the prices are about the same. I think NYS is about ¹⁄₅^th the size of HKS, so they don’t have as much products.
I only buy produce and packaged items. I’ve haven’t yet bought any meat or seafood because I don’t know how to judge fresh from not fresh seafood, and for meat, eh, I’m afraid of speaking in my bad Chinese accent.
My only complaint about this place is that the aisles are very small.
A bit of an advice for newcomers who uses credit/​debit card. It’s a $ 10 minimum requirement, and remember to bring your ID, they will ask for it.

Hmmm, the produce is really cheap and usually looks OK. Some of the young ladies at checkout are friendly and speak some English. They have every Chinese specialty item you can think of. I sometimes buy a mystery whole fish here, but always feel a little uneasy as I don’t know what kind of fish I’m buying or from where it is from? Like most places in Chinatown the fish lay unrefrigerated on ice all day, so better to buy earlier in the day and make sure the eyes are not cloudy. Citarella, this place is not. To be honest, the poultry and meat depts look a little scary.

This supermarket is very cheap and has everything. I would only purchase dried goods and some fruit and vegetable here though. The poultry and meat section here is very questionable. I would not even get close to them.

Under the Manhattan Bridge on East Broadway, through a mini-«mall» entry, this grocery store sells fruit and sugarcane outside, and inside you can find a wide assortment of vegetables, fish, canned goods, and frozen goods. The prices aren’t as cheap as the vendors just up the street, but they have a bit of everything.
There’s a lot of stuff here and a lot of variety — which translates to packed aisles and a lot of people shifting back and forth. I always get run over by an old Chinese lady or two when I’m shopping here.
I almost never buy the fried food or such here, but I do see other people line up for it. Lots of Chinese food, but not so much any other kind of food.

If you’re looking for Chinese groceries, then I would recommend this place over Hong Kong Supermarket down the street. This grocery has a much wider selection of produce (and 99% fewer overflowing buckets of chicken blood runoff) and the prices are comparable with the smaller food stands in the area (see: stupidly cheap). It’s pretty cramped especially when it’s crowded, but it’s not claustrophobic like Hong Kong Supermarket. They also have an epic selection of Asian snack food comparable to Hong Kong Supermarket’s but with tons of different stuff!
The main thing they lack in is American and non-​Chinese Asian products.
Extra fun things: they always play loud Chinese pop and cheesy electronic music. Also the place really gets to rumbling when a train goes overhead on the Manhattan Bridge!

These days, I shop here because I’m watching my expenses ;p
Items I pick up from here
— Brown Jasmine Rice (never was a fan of brown rice but no one told me about brown JASMINE rice!!!)
— Egg tofu
— Fishcakes
— Lobsters (yes these prices here BEAT The Lobster Place!), Fish, Shrimp
— Chinese veg
— Straw mushrooms
— Eggs
Things I can’t get here and have to rely on my neighborhood grocery stores:
— Pasta sauces
— Okra
— Red onion
— Bread
— Avocado
— Ice-​cream
— Onion rings
— Herbs
— Foie gras, deli cold cuts
But it serves its purpose especially when I try to eat simply at home to balance all the restaurant dining occasions. I’d say I get 4 times more value here than shopping at Gourmet Garage.

Another one-​stop shop for groceries for me!
I love the quality here more than Hong Kong Supermarket down the block. If you didn’t know this was here, you wouldn’t be able to find it. It’s right under the Manhattan Bridge and you have to walk through the mini «mall,» but it’s there! Easier to find if you were walking down Henry Street.
Come here for fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat, Asian groceries, a limited selection of American groceries and dishware. There’s even a bakery in here!
Wallet friendly compared to American chain markets.
This was stop #2 on my Chinatown Market Tour a while back…

Located literally under the Manhattan Bridge, this is as close to one stop shopping as anything I’ve found in Chinatown. They have baked goods, meat, fish, Cantonese BBQ, all the products you’d want in a Chinese grocery and fresh produce. Sure, it’s fun to wander around different shops, but sometimes having everything under one roof is nice, and this place fulfills that desire.
Prices are good, and I mean good by Chinatown standards. You can stretch your food shopping dollars pretty far here. If you’ve been paying $ 3+ in the supermarket for a little plastic tub of tofu the fact that it’s 99 cents here will be refreshing. You could get some of the produce cheaper from street sellers, but not much cheaper.
The experience of shopping here is not as magical as going to Kam Man Foods or Hong Kong Supermarket, but this place has more stuff packed in than either of those places. As a result I always feel like I’m on someone’s way here when I stop moving to pick something up. That was kind of jarring at first, but over several visits I’ve just about gotten used to the flow of the place. I wouldn’t call it a destination market per se, but I have blown a few folks’ minds by bringing them here. They had no idea such a place existed! The odd location, the bustle of the place and the comprehensive selection makes shopping here a fun experience. The bustle is pronounced however, meaning this is not a place that invites one to linger. Go in, dig the experience, grab what you need and get out. At least that’s how I approach this place. And I keep coming back.
If I had to direct someone to ONE place where they could pick up whatever they needed in the way of Chinese groceries this would be it.