Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Okay, soooooo, who goes to "Asian Supermarket" aka the Fight Club Market? It has been mentioned here-and-there, I think in the Philadelphia thread, but I think it deserves it's own place for worship.

For me, it's my go-to for tea, the occasional weird Asian candy, and increasingly, for soy products. I get sauces in there, too, but only when I take a chinese friend with me to read the labels. Also, I have purchased some weird "medicinal" and herbalstuffs in there, on the hopes that I will get either high or superpowers.

The place is rough around the edges, and if you Yelp it, you might not want to go in. It's not the place to expect fresh produce, for sure. It's located at 11th and Race [map] with entrances on both streets. The Race St. Entrance is particularly Fight Club-esque:



Does anyone have stories - horror or otherwise - about this place, or anywhere else in Chinatown?

I feel like every Asian supermarket I have ever passed in Philly looks like that. Do they all order their signs from the same place?

Anywho, nope never shopped in this one or any others. But I don't actually live in Philly. So I don't really count.

Have you actually witnessed any fight clubbing going on? Cause that would make me want to go.

I shop there occasionally. I always enter on 11th street though. Never noticed the Race entrance.

Not yet. It's mostly the stairwell and the lighting and the never-swept floor... Oh there was this one time - there's a sitting area in the back, and there was /definitely/ something going down. If you've seen the It's Always Sunny... episode ("Charlie Goes American All Over Everybody’s asparagus") where Frank runs illegal gambling in the basement of the bar, ending in russian roulette, it was like that.

One can hope!

I haven't been to that spot in a couple years. I went after a recommendation from Ming, owner of New Harmony. I remember taking my mom there once and she wanted to leave immediately after entering the store haha. The produce was surprisingly decent. What kind of vegan faux meat products do they have there these days? I've said it a couple times, but my go to spot for asian groceries is the Vietnamese grocery on 6th and Washington, which I like slightly better than the one on 11th and Washington. They have the finest selection of vegan fauxs, really decent produce and awesome herbs, vegan sauces, teas, noodles, etc. And if you spend more than like 20$, you get a free soy sauce!

I didn't notice much fake meat selection, but I didn't really search either, and that place does tend to be disorderly. I've heard that the Asian grocery stores in South Philly are superior, but I live too far from that part of town especially this time of year. My Chinese friends/co-students complain about the lack option. I'm like, are you kidding? There's like, dozens of supermarkets for you people, and NO Jamaican grocery stores that I know of. So deal!

52nd and Market area there are about 2 or 3 Carribean/Jamaican small grocery stores. I get my scotch bonnets there. Also the produce truck at 44th and Chestnut carries a surprising amount of "ethnic" produce for diirt cheap. Scotch bonnets, cayote, bitter gourd, japanese eggplant, etc.

I have tried the various Trini/W.I. food trucks and the restaurants on South, but I haven't been out to 52nd and Market. Might be worth a trip. Come to think of it, the Supreme has a Jamaican food aisle. Still not a whole section of town full of Jamaican grocery stores. But I guess there are a few more Asians than there are West Indies peoples.

Come to think of it, there is a place closer than 52nd and market for all your Jamaican/wi needs on 45th and baltimore. While you're in the neighborhood you might as well get a tofu hoagie from fu-wah or a cup of coffee and a vegan treat from greenline or satelite.

I'm going to have to take the train into the city one day and check that out. Course I'll have to find someone to go with me. Sounds fun.

I'm glad the basement supermarket had its own thread! I have found a lot of really tasty dumplings here. The soy sauce selection is fantastic. And I always find they do have a decent amount of produce. It certainly helps to bring a Chinese-speaking/reading/food-knowledgeable friend but if you don't have one, check it out anyway- there is lots of good stuff.

I just returned with two bags of dumplings and two bottles of sauce! For some reason I had never noticed the row of sauces - so many! I got a mushroom-flavored dark soy and a light soy. I didn't see many vegan dumplings though. I got a bag of veggie dumplings and a pack of "Hong Kong style dim sum mushroom and vegetable bun" which look pretty good.

Hmm, I went yesterday and they had nearly no vegan dumplings as opposed to a few weeks ago. Weird. I did get soy puffs on your recommendation though, which I'm excited about.

Yeah on one hand this means it's a bit unpredictable to shop there, but on the other hand, a rotation of stock is a good sign that the stuff hasn't been on the shelf for years. The dim sum "buns" I got were vegan, but I accidentally overlooked the egg whites in the dumplings I got, possibly because I can't read Asian food packaging even when the writing is in English. The "buns" were okay, except the paper on the bottom of each one sticks to the bun even after cooking, so I have to figure out how to fix that.

Let us know what you think of the puffs, now that they have been so hyped up.

HELL YES is what I think. Ate a bunch out of the package and now eating them in a stir fry. So good.