Kowloon Market

Review Update December 2022: This is still undeniably the best selection of ethnic Asian groceries in Chinatown Ottawa along Somerset Street.... but they don't necessarily have the best prices. Besides the selection of goods, the presentation and cleanliness of the market is also the best on Somerset Street. If you want a well setup and tidy market to shop at, and you mind don't paying the small premium, then this is your grocery shop in Chinatown Ottawa! If you are super price-conscious plus you know exactly what you want, shop around a bit at the other smaller grocery stores on Somerset Street.

Excellent new Asian supermarket for the Ottawa area. Highly recommend coming here. Fresh fruit, great value. Lots of selection.

The larger much cleaner cousin of the other Asian supermarket on the block, Kowloon is like a very small version of a T&T.

I don't live in Ottawa anymore, but remember Kowloon having a good Asian dessert section, meat section and the staples such as rice noodles and paper, and rice and noodles of all varieties, plus tons of spices and flavorings.

It's a bit more expensive than Manphong, but bigger too. Also (and this is a weird side note) they along with the aforementioned other Asian supermarket on Somerset, carry these large size rice papers that we don't have in Toronto. Two sizes actually, 25cm and 32cm. The reason it's odd is that they're distributed by a company out in Mississauga so you'd think they'd make it to Toronto, but unfortunately not the case. Couldn't tell you why.

Funny side note #2: I was there a few weeks ago and close to closing, and they just turn the lights off to let you know what time it is. It was actually pretty funny! Like, "Time to GET OUT OF HERE!". Message received!

Worth the trip. I hear the T&T in Ottawa is in the south end of town and if you don't have a car, this is where you'd have to go, but its a cool mid size market that's got what you need at reasonable prices.

I was getting the full tour of Chinatown on a hot day earlier this month. It was so hot that we popped into Kowloon Market for some relief from the heat!

Kowloon Market is the largest supermarket in Chinatown. It serves to be a one-stop shop for your groceries, barbequed meats, bakery, and more.

The bakery looked good. Sadly, someone decided to eat the top of one of the pineapple buns. The dome covering these buns was also wide open, so you need to be aware of the cleanliness, or lack thereof. I did my good deed of the day by closing it. No, I didn't eat the imperfect pineapple bun!

It has a good selection of snacks and tea. I learned that you can get do-it-yourself candies. It was eye-opening for me, as I seem to be missing out on these trends.

I chatted with a 69-year-old woman in a wheelchair while we were browsing. This supermarket seems to be a social area for some, which is nice.

I appreciated dropping by this supermarket to cool off while sipping my bubble tea. If you live in the area and don't have a car to get groceries, this supermarket takes care of your food needs and more.

(264)

Worthy of 3.5 Stars

It's a smaller market than in Toronto, but has a huge variety of products from China, Vietnam, Japan and Korea.

Nice looking produce, tons of dried noodles and taofu-pi. Was very impressed. Prices were reasonable in fact, a few items lower than in Toronto. Saw some Korean products which I have not seen in Toronto, for example apple vinegar. Reminds me of the older Chinese markets in downtown Toronto Chinatown.

Generally speaking there's no big problem in this supermarket. However the seafood area is a little messy.

The store has gotten cleaner and brighter since the renovation to compete with T&T. However, it still looks dusty and the produce isn't the best in quality.

With a few exceptions, employees there are generally dicks. They talk about you infront of your face if they think you don't speak their languange.

The old bakery lady is the worst. After I bought 3 buns at $5, still at the counter, she spoke in mandarin to the people behind me that the buns were now 5 for $5. When I asked for 2 additional buns I already paid for, she said the special did not apply to me. I had to call the manager over and put up a big fuss to get the same deal.

I went in to Kowloon Market looking for some basic bread and was pleasantly surprised to find Filipino pan de sal. Pan de sal is even better than regular white bread and it would work perfectly for the sandwiches I was planning to make so already Kowloon had solved my meal dilemma of lacking bread.

Kowloon is a really good Asian market and they have food products from all of Asia so if you like cooking foods from China, Thailand, Korea, or the Philippines (just to name a few) then chances are you will find what you need here. They also have a decent selection of kitchenware so if you need a broom or a big plastic bowl for pho, then you're in luck.

I walked out with a bunch of miscellaneous items: Filipino bread, Thai peanut sauce, Chinese chili sauce, Hi-Chew candies, Japanese cookies, and a passion fruit drink. Definitely a fun shopping trip. If I lived in Ottawa, I would come here to buy their vegetables and frozen products as well.

This is the biggest Asian supermarket in Chinatown. It has fresh meats, produce, frozen food, canned/shelf stable goods and a bakery section.

Kowloon Market is the cleanest supermarket of all the supermarkets in Chinatown. Although, this is somewhat damning with faint praise. The bakery section appears very unsanitary to me. There is black grimy stuff around the bakery shelves. I have never eaten anything from the bakery. There are items that are individually wrapped. I would maybe consider eating those, but they aren't pastries that interest me. I do not believe that they bake their stuff onsite. If they cleaned up their bakery I would try their stuff.

The rest of the supermarket is ok. It's dirtier than I would like, but it's not too bad. They did some renovations and cleaned up their act somewhat when T&T arrived in Ottawa, so if you haven't been to Kowloon Market in 6-7 years, you'll notice a big improvement.

In Ottawa's Chinatown it's really slim pickings when it comes to grocery stores, so Kowloon is the best one. They have a lot of variety for their size and prices are pretty good. Some items are even cheaper than at T&T.

I used to come here a lot when I was younger. Upon returning, I was a little disappointed.

Pros:
- Most Asian groceries that you'd like can be found
- Fish is fresh and pretty good

Cons:
- The store itself is dirty, messy and it seems like there are random piles of stuff that someone was too lazy to put away so they left it there and put a price on it.
- Mislabeling: I saw the price and description of an item that I was looking for, but the product itself was no where to be found. Note: there wasn't a big empty space where it sold out. The shelves were full, but it wasn't the right item that was written on the price card.
- Classic bad attitude from the cashiers, but it's expected from an Asian grocery store
- The produce does not look great. The bananas looked like they've been sitting there for a month.

All in all, a good place to drop by if you need some Asian groceries, but I would strongly recommend to go someplace else for fresh produce