A new Chinese supermarket appears to have opened in Catonsville -- giving you a supplement to the Korean-run markets that already make Rte 40 a terrific place for food.
Great Wall Supermarket appears to have opened this week. This is a chain with several locations in Virginia, and I love the Asian supermarkets that often have products that run from Iran or India through Korea and Japan.
Already, H Mart and two Lotte on Rte 40 are terrific places for everything from produce to packaged goods, fish to frozen dumplings. The new Lotte in Catonsville has incredible Indian options.
In Virginia, the Great Wall overlapped with H Mart, but then had many Chinese ingredients and foods that weren't in the Korean-run stores. I saw some Yelp posts that suggest the opening may have been rough, but that say the Great Wall will have roast duck and roast pork.
Hat tip to Cornelia, who posted on the HowChow Facebook page. Please comment about what you see at Great Wall and what you recommend. You need to drive past Lotte and H Mart if you're coming from Howard County, so I assume that our locals will go there mostly for items that aren't available at the existing places.
Great Wall Supermarket
5510 Baltimore National Pike (Rte 40)
Catonsville, MD 21207
410-788-888
NEAR: Great Wall appears to be on Rte 40 just inside the Baltimore beltway. From Ellicott City, it probably makes sense to drive east on Rte 40. From southern Howard County, consider just going north on I-95 and curving around on I-695.
5 comments:
I like Lotte and H-mart as well. But as a Chinese, Great Wall is just so much better to me. I used to buy my grocery at Lotte and then go to Rockville for any special ingredients, sauces, and snacks. I no longer need to go to Rockville any more (well, at least not for grocery).
Plus, the new Great Wall seems very clean, spacious and well organized. The price seems a tad cheaper than H-mart and Lotte as well, probably due to the opening discount. I have been waiting for it for almost two years already. Overall, I am quite happy that it is now open.
@Anon -- Thanks. What sauces? What snacks? I'd love any recommendations of brands or items to buy.
I visited the Great Wall last Saturday, and I'll probably be back. It's larger then the Rockville Pike store, and, for now, less crowded. As with the Rockville store, there are never enough lines open.
I found items that just don't seem to be stocked at the Korean markets. I ended up walking away with a large bag of oyster mushrooms, some Chinese spinach, a salted dried duck lug and some fresh bamboo shoots. They seemed to have a nice selection of noodles and tofu. I really just wanted vegetables, so I didn't look too closely at the fish, meat or other grocery items. Prices are comparable to to Lotte and H-Mart.
What sauces and snacks? Mmm....this can be a long list.
A couple things that I bough recently include lotus seed, liliaceae, Setaria italica and some other dried products. There are additional varieties of dried mushrooms and teas. I also found a type of Chinese fermented soy beans that I use a lot for cooking but not readily available.
The Great Wall offers a really great selection and variety of seafoods. I love shellfish and I've found some there that I haven't seen anywhere in Maryland before. Recently they had live Geoduck clams and the price wasn't bad at all! I almost fainted with happiness!
SHARIO1
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