Far East

Small but with all the staples you would expect. I would shop here any day of the week over Tan-​A. Polite help at the register and no screaming.

We came here after a horrible experience at Tan A… and this place is a million times better. The people are kind and helpful and more importantly it is clean and tidy!
They have a large variety of products and many interesting things in the frozen section. This is our #1 choice of local Asian markets as of now!
I only wish they had fresh fish and it would be perfect, but I am giving it 5 stars because it is exactly what it is meant to be.

Favorite Asian store in Richmond. They are smaller than Tan A supermarket which means they dont have as much but they still have a good selection. The owners are nice. They’ve even picked up how to say «How are you» in Cambodian which is a plus in my eyes. It shows they care. I’ve been coming here since I was like 11? So this establishment has been here a very long time. They do take CC here but you have to buy $ 20 minimum. Something they will let you get by $ 2 or $ 3 shy of the minimum. I will continue coming here until they decide to close. Hopefully they dont :)

I Love this Shop! Got some Great Candy and my eBay Bride got her Favorite Vietnamese Coffee and some that we had not seen before!
They sell Fresh Durian BANNED on Trains and other Public Transportation and Hotels in Asia because of the smell!
Very Friendly Polite Staff!
They had a lot o Fish on Ice with NO Fish smell!

Such kind people! I’m use to going to tan a where nobody cares if you’re there and you don’t matter. Here everyone spoke and made sure I found everything I needed! And the custard bun is very tasty.

Far East is right around the corner (and behind the nail supply shop) from Tan-​A, and I’d recommend going here to get better service and better prices. Far East is much smaller than Tan-​A, but carries just about everything you need to make your Vietnamese homecooked meal. If you’re looking for a wider variety of snacks, you might need to go to Tan-​A though.
They do accept credit cards, but there’s a $ 20 minimum, which isn’t bad. I’m used to places not taking credit at all, so it’s good to know that if I plan to buy more, they’ll let me charge it. I’ve found that prices here are slightly cheaper and their veggies look fresher. They tend not to take them out of the boxes they came in, but that’s all right with me!

Good bye, A Tan, hello, Far East!
Wonderful jumble of an asian market. I stopped in for the first time on a Sunday afternoon with a list of 5 or 6 hard to find Chinese items. The owner (or at least I think it was the owner) was eating his meal, but dropped everything (well, actually, he put it down!) to help me find my items, in a few cases directing me down an aisle, and in several cases getting the item for me.
Honestly, going to A Tan is so unpleasant with the staff attitude that I was thrilled to find Far East. It is located easily within ¼ of a mile — From 250/​Broad, head south on HorsePen right where A Tan is. Go about ¹⁄₈ of mile and take a right just before the Chinese Restaurant and Viet. noodle place — it is on the right in a smallish building.
Hellos, help, and thank you’s. That’s not so hard, now, is it?!

in richmond for just one afternoon and needed some asian staples & goodies before the new year. found this place and all it’s Unilocal review glory.
despite being a tiny store, there was so much variety in here. the workers are friendly, the prices are decent, and the store is clean & doesn’t smell terrible.
thankfully they accept credit cards because we were at another cash only store (didn’t have cash) before we went here. it’s funny that we found stuff at this store that cake from king george (just down the street from where we are). why can’t we just have a decent market there?!
anyway, i like this place and if you’re in richmond to live or for a visit and in need of asian ingredients, go here and you will be more than pleased.

This place is small but packed with goods and the staff is very friendly and helpful. There’s all the standard items you’d expect in a market (fresh produce, meat, seafood, frozen and refrigerated items, canned goods, dry goods in boxes and bags, sauces and spices and teas galore, etc.), but also housewares and freshly-​prepared foods. There’s even a selection of pastries with a variety of tasty fillings, such as cream, taro, and other fruit.
The inside is very cramped, as the small building is filled to the brim with items, and I saw a guy behind one of the counters chopping cuts of meat out in the open, plus cardboard boxes filled with ice containing unwrapped cuts of seafood and meat (including pigs’ ears and what appears to be tripe), so if you’re squeamish about raw meat and slightly dingy surroundings, this might not be the place for you. But the prices are great, and the produce (vegetables and fruit) is absolutely gorgeous and fresh, and you’ll get much better service here than at Tan A. I just wish I had gone here with a recipe in mind, as wandering the aisles, while a fun pastime, was a rather overwhelming experience. I ended up leaving with a cream-​filled sweet Vietnamese pastry (delicious), a lovely ripe mango, a small tin of jasmine tea recommended to me by a very nice employee, and a refrigerated cup of coconut juice with coconut slices at the bottom.
I can see myself going here regularly for anything I need to cook Thai and Vietnamese dishes (once I learn how, of course).

This store is smaller and dingier than Tan-​A, but I like it more. They’re much nicer… and they take credit cards (with a $ 20 minimum). Just looking at my products upon checking out, the male cashier said, «Salamat.» Of course, that made me smile.

Easily my favorite Asian market in the area. Suck it, Tan-​A.
The shelves here are more organized, and the produce was so much fresher and healthier-​looking. They even had dragon fruit!
Everything I needed that I couldn’t find elsewhere I’ve been able to find in this store. And as an added delight? THEY TAKE CARD. $ 20 minimum, but you will easily surpass that.

Small Asian Grocery store as appose to Tan A just down the street. A smaller selection, however when you walk in the owner acknowledges you, and ask if he can help… I tell him what I am looking for and he gets me to the right spot. I wanted to take a photo of him cutting Pork Bellies, however he said «No». Oh, too bad as it would have looked good on Unilocal.I will start coming here more often…

Better source than Tan-​A for a variety of items and cheaper too. Fresher basil, cilantro, and green onion. Friendly staff, they actually say hello and thank you unlike Tan-​A. Take the time to wander around and you will be pleased.

There are tons of Vietnamese and even a Cambodian place to shop within about two or three blocks of each other in this area and most people are likely to go to the larger, «flashier» (outside appearances only, of course, lol) Tan-​A that has a prime corner location at a busy intersection. However, service there is sometimes an absolute horror, that coming from someone who now lives in Miami (AKA the land of horrible service). You can actually go to a smaller place with helpful service that’s literally walking distance away (but it’s still more convenient to drive, nonetheless), and that place is Far East.
Far East has everything you could possibly need for Southeast Asian cooking (and some staples for Chinese cooking) and although it’s packed in a very tiny space, it’s all there. The owners will not always hunt you down to see if you need help, but if they see you looking for something, they’ll volunteer to help. They are friendly and they do speak English (and multiple Asian languages, too – Vietnamese and Chinese at minimum).
The only reason to go to Tan A is if you need something Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc, because that type of thing is limited at Far East, but come to Far East first and give your money where it’s appreciated.
The down side of Far East is that it has that odd smell some Asian markets have and the organization is a bit out of whack. Also, the credit card minimum is very high, $ 20, double anywhere else. However, Far East has among the lowest prices. A great thing to know is that Fridays and Saturdays, they sell packaged specialty buns in the boxes on the shelves in the produce area. They have taro, barbecue, mung bean, and more, all for 95 cents each. I absolutely love the taro one, mmmm!
**Credit minimum is $ 20***

Don’t waste your time with any other asian market in Richmond. The staff at Far East are friendly and knowledgeable. They speak many languages including English. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Weekends are very busy, so if you are a novice wait until the weekday when they can spend more time with you.