Ok, so, I pass through this place every few times and pick up some dieters green tea for a friend who likes it and claims it does wonders for her. I dunno, tho I don't drink the stuff. I'm wondering, tho, like what are some good teas they sell there, i've never tried the jasmine tea, Oolong, or the other remedy stuff (from chinese medical industries ). I'm also curious about the roots and fruits they sell, I saw something that looked like a spikey rock called a durien, I thought it was a frozen piece of seafood at first, it's a fruit, tho.

Yea, you can be a jackass and say "Hey ask the people who work there" but, because most of them don't even try to speak american, I know, I've talked to them. I think, it would be easier to talk to a fellow connoisseur of the place.

9/30/2006 12:22:07 PM

Quote :

"speak american"

9/30/2006 12:24:25 PM

I speak American, even though I am not one, and I can help you with some stuff:

Durian: A fruit that grows in tropical countries. Looks as you described. Smells like a mixture of dead fish and rotten eggs (and hydrogen sulphide). BUT, tastes like custard and is heavenly. I haven't tried it (I have smelled it, though), but that's what it is famous for (smelling like shit, and tasting like gold).

Jasmine tea: Is that green tea with jasmine, or a jasmine infusion? Either way, not bad. I am not a big fan of the jasmine flavour/scent, because it tastes too sweet and flowery for me. Same reason I don't like rose (except for jasmine and rose just as flowers). I prefer more earthy, strong, and mature flavours.

Oolong tea: Halfway between black tea (completely oxidized), and green tea (unoxidized). It is partially oxidized. I have never had it, but I (as can you, if you drink tea) can imagine what it would taste like, since I drink both black tea and green tea.

[white tea (even less processed than green tea), green tea, black tea, and oolong tea come from the same plant; it is the amount of processing that determines what you get from the green leaves]

9/30/2006 12:35:20 PM

http://www.wikipedia.com

There are hundreds of different kinds of oolong and each are quite distinct. Some are excellent and some are really bad, in my opinion.

Saying you can imagine what oolong taste like is like saying well I've had white wine and pink zinfandel so I can imagine what all red wine tastes like.


If you want good tea you can just order online from http://www.tenren.com/

I will recomend http://www.tenren.com/kingreen3rdg.html as a good starting point.

[Edited on September 30, 2006 at 1:06 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on September 30, 2006 at 1:07 PM. Reason : .]

9/30/2006 12:55:30 PM

Hahaha, it tastes like custard, now that I have to see.

So, green, oolong, and black all come from the same plant? No, shit? I've never known this.

I like hard hard hard black tea. I was thinking about trying that gunpowder black for 7.99.

I've never tried tenren, I think they sell it.

9/30/2006 2:21:38 PM

that place is great

it's like the land of 1,000 smells

9/30/2006 2:45:30 PM

I've had the gunpowder tea. I got it from A Southern Season, though. I liked it a lot, but it's not something I could drink every day.

9/30/2006 3:05:14 PM

Quote :

"Saying you can imagine what oolong taste like is like saying well I've had white wine and pink zinfandel so I can imagine what all red wine tastes like."

NO.

Not if you know a bit about the tea plant.

Do white wine, red wine, and pink zinfadel (whatever the hell that is) come from the same source? And even if they do, is it the degree of processing (maturing) that determines which one you end up with.

If I have had raw beef, and well done beef, I think I can imagine fairly well what medium-rare would taste like.

9/30/2006 7:19:47 PM

just go to the candy section and load up on some damn pocky. strawberry and chocolate.

9/30/2006 9:31:08 PM

The iced green tea flavored bubble tea is really good.

9/30/2006 10:39:57 PM

this is off of the tea subject, but has anyone bought seafood there? It smells absolutely horrible in that place, but does anyone know how fresh their seafood is (i'm not talking about the stuff that is still swimming around in a tank...). Is it 'fresh' but has been on ice and shipped around the world a few times or what?
Any input on who has bought some and liked it/etc.

sidenote: I was looking through their candy and its all very funny. Makes you wonder what other people think of our 'nerds' boxes and stuff like that overseas where the translations dont make sense.

10/1/2006 12:15:03 PM

Does anyone else see the irony that the one in Cary is next to a DMV?

[Edited on October 1, 2006 at 12:16 PM. Reason : ?]

10/1/2006 12:15:50 PM

durians are not for people raised in non-south asian, developed countries

FAIR WARNING

10/1/2006 12:23:46 PM

^^^ Every time I've been there, the seafood has looked pretty bad. It smells fishy, which fresh fish aren't supposed to, and they eyes look cloudy, which is also a bad sign.

10/1/2006 1:33:16 PM

^^hahaha durian is the bomb! especially the thai durians, golden, sweet and yummy!

10/1/2006 4:22:44 PM

^^ hey, maybe that's the asians like fish, and maybe, JUST MAYBE, that's their secret to their brains???

10/1/2006 6:07:36 PM

I get all my seafood from there. The prices are reasonable and it is very fresh as far as I can tell.

Any place that sells non-processed seafood is bound to smell a little fishy, but considering how huge and open air that seafood department the smell is not that bad.

If ever you're planning a romantic cooked dinner go there for lobster, great prices and you can pick your own out of those tanks!

10/2/2006 11:10:25 AM

Maine or regular lobster?

10/2/2006 12:42:50 PM

Quote :

"hahaha durian is the bomb! especially the thai durians, golden, sweet and yummy!"

I about fell over when I saw those huge-ass durians at Grand Asia. Since I didn't want to deal with my husband bitching at me for the rest of time over bringing a durian home, I decided to drop $6 on a tin of durian-flavored sugar wafers.

Pretty good, but the slightly garlicky aftertaste is a little disconcerting.

10/2/2006 12:45:22 PM

canned lychees make great martinis

10/2/2006 5:33:07 PM

actually i think the funky smell from the seafood department is from all the dried seafood stuff.

10/2/2006 5:38:45 PM

I mean a LOT of people buy that shit, so it can't be too bad. half the Asian population here would constantly have food poisoning if it was.

10/2/2006 5:41:22 PM

Quote :

"canned lychees make great martinis"

And they have an entire bin of fresh ones, too.

Quote :

"I've had the gunpowder tea. I got it from A Southern Season, though"

That store is like heaven to me, but goddamn it, their loose leaf teas are too weak. I love the loose leaf stuff from adagio.com, and they've started selling their teas at Harris Teeter (at least the one in Cameron Village, and one near my house in Huntersville). If you don't have an ingenuiTEA, you should look into it- I use mine several times a week.

10/2/2006 7:06:45 PM

Quote :

"A Southern Season"

I do have to admit it's a very quality store

10/3/2006 9:34:41 AM

i love durian and lychee and jackfruit. mmmmm..

10/4/2006 10:28:32 PM

I shop there all the time and have for the last few years. I can't believe how much it has grown in the last year or so. I buy salmon there a lot and have never gotten sick and it's always been fresh so no complaints there.

10/5/2006 7:20:30 AM

can someone give me directions to it, my friend and i tried to find it the other night.... i want a durian and some veggie dim sum


and some of that fake grass they put in sushi trays haha

10/5/2006 3:34:21 PM

1253 Buck Jones Road (South Hills Mall in Cary) Raleigh, NC 27606

10/5/2006 4:51:16 PM

Quote :

"1253 Buck Jones Road (South Hills Mall in Cary in a hole in the wall behind rugged warehouse and some tool and equipment company) Raleigh, NC 27606"

Fixed.

10/5/2006 5:00:05 PM

"1253 Buck Jones Road (South Hills Mall in Cary in a hole in the wall recently redone store behind rugged warehouse and some Northern Tool and Equipment company) Raleigh, NC 27606"



Fixed it for ya.

10/5/2006 9:42:07 PM

Jackfruit?

I've bought a frozen durian, there's something to be said about the smell.

10/5/2006 9:51:24 PM

jackfruit looks like durian but less prickly. it doesn't smell and it tastes great.

i actually like the smell of durian. i know, i'm too asian.

10/5/2006 11:04:36 PM

I go there to get fresh wakame

Quote :

"pocky"

Hmmm, I might give those out to trick-or-treat'ers.....

10/8/2006 11:15:59 PM

this place is my lifeblood

10/8/2006 11:21:57 PM