ocean mart

My regular state liquor/wine store is currently "closed for remodeling" (and what, by the way, is the point of that? People come in, buy booze and leave - it's not like you have to doll the place up or anything) so I had to go to another one, down on 9000 South.  When I pulled into the parking lot, I was thrilled to see that Ocean Mart Asian Market was right next door.  I'd read about Ocean Mart somewhere but hadn't gotten around to checking it out yet - and here was my chance.

When I walked into the market, I must have looked like Charlie walking into the Wonka chocolate factory - it was awesome.  I nearly got whiplash from turning my head left and right to try to take it all in.  There's a food stall just as you come in, with those big red ducks hanging up, selling soups and rice dishes and boba drinks, and nice wooden tables and chairs to eat at.  The produce section had good looking fruits (I forgot to check out the veggies unfortunately), peaches and plums and citrus, plus lots of ginger and lemongrass and things I couldn't name for the life of me (one thing looked like durian fruit but was about the size of a Corgi dog).  A butcher department lined the back wall.

The aisles were stuffed full of just everything.  Mangoes and squids in fresh, canned, preserved, dried and fried forms; coconut water, coconut juice, organic coconut juice, coconut juice with pulp, coconut juice with jelly (?), coconut custard; sesame oil, crackers and candy; rice, rice wine vinegar, rice noodles, rice candies, rice puddings; frozen pot-stickers, dumplings, red bean paste steamed buns, black bean paste steamed buns, lotus seed paste steamed buns, red bean ice cream; a whole refrigerator case of tofu (regular, fried, frozen, spiced, sliced, diced and more); a bewildering array of teas, soy sauces, fish sauces, oyster sauces, chile sauces, curries ... I didn't know what most of it was but I absolutely could have filled a grocery cart full of things I wanted to try.

I managed to get out of there with just one package of frozen red bean steamed buns and a tall can of coconut juice (with pulp).  I will absolutely be going back there and buying all my soy and fish sauces, curries and pot-stickers there - and I'm so intrigued by all the frozen desserts they had.  And to my family in Maine: you are hereby notified that for the next few Christmases your presents will likely mostly consist of exciting and possibly unidentifiable Ocean Mart items.  Ocean Mart is fantastic!