Asian Food Markets = Cheap Food

I thought I should start my blog off with a topic I can’t stop talking about. I am on a strict budget these days, including groceries, and one place I frequent is the local Asian Food Market called New Century Grocery and Food at Tryon and Sugar Creek. This place is enormous and overwhelming, confusing and exhilarating. They don’t have the place set up in an order you or I would be used to, for example, it might makes sense for all the stuff for making sushi to be together, but it is really spread all over the giant store. So, your first trip is a bit of an exploration but, when you do finally find that box of jasmine tea for $0.50 and a 10lb bag of long-grain rice for $7.99, you’ll never forget where it is on subsequent trips.

They also have a great, cheap produce section for general items like bell peppers, chili peppers, garlic, cabbage, etc that are at great prices. They have a great selection of edemame and frozen dumplings of every shape and filling. Don’t be distracted by the huge freezer section of fish balls (what exactly does that mean anyway?) or the fresh meat section featuring tripe. Mom, I have still not disobeyed your order to NEVER eat tripe. I know, you’re proud of me. There are wonderful treasures to be found and the search is half the fun. However, once you shop there a few times, you can limit your trip time by knowing where to go to get your regular items.

The moral of this grocery story, if you are looking for cheap food and a little adventure, check out your local Asian food market, New Century if you’re close to Uptown Charlotte.