Loon Fung

I needed some Chinese ingredients to make Dim Sum, and a few of my friends directed me here, so I came in to get them. Unfortunately, they either didn’t have all the ingredients I needed, or it was hard to find them, because I did have to go to a nearby store for the rest.
All of the stuff I was looking for was canned/​jarred/​bottled, so I headed to the back to find them. Loon Fung is like a claustrophobic’s nightmare. The aisles are TINY and barely enough space for two people to get through. Perhaps I should have made a lunch break trip instead of going after work, but the amount of people in there really started to freak me out. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t find the red bean paste I needed and ended up making a bee-​line to the cash registers. I don’t know.
The queue was also insane. INSANE.
But after checking out the other shops in the area, Loon Fung had a LOT of ingredients and things to buy. So that’s always a bonus. Except it does make it hard to find things too.
I’m sure I’ll have to come back sometime when I’m looking for those specialty ingredients. I’m sure I’ll freak out and almost die like the first time I came. But I’m sure it will be worth it. Right?

Definitely the cheapest place to go if you need to buy eggs. They sell eggs here 10 for .95 pence! Crazy. The lines get so ridiculous but they go fast. You also have to have a certain amount to be able to pay with credit card and this one time I went I was short 50 pence and the lady just gave me the extra apple for free. So nice! They have a wide variety of everything here

One of the chinese grocery stores in chinatown. I didnt really shop here but moreso was looking for one thing and got it and left. I can say though the employees are very nice and helpful when I asked them for one thing… THEY HAVE MANGOSTEENS! So if you are looking for asian fruits they have them lol. Their prices aren’t bad also.

Wide range of Chinese products. Amazing that they should have «You Le Mei». I wish they had Master Kong instant noodles.

How I’ve never gone through this before is beyond me, as it’s friggin’ brilliant! The quantity, quality, and price can’t be beat by any supermarket. Hell even the price alone smashes Tesco’s «low prices» by a mile. For example, a small bag of birds eye chillies costs a couple of quid at Tesco whereas I got roughly 10x that many for under a pound. I have no idea what I’ll do with them but I imagine some homemade chilli oil and sauce is in order.
Grab a basket on your way in as you’ll definitely be buying more than you can carry alone. You start off in the abundant veggies section — we’re talking floor to ceiling racks of various greens that always make an appearance in Chinese cooking. I picked up a giant bag of pak choi (the leafy green veggies you often see) barely more than a pound and some beautiful fresh ginger root for just a bit more. After that, I got lost roaming the various sauce aisles and before I knew what had happened some soy sauce, chilli in oil with peanuts, and mirin had quickly jumped into the basket.
In an effort to get out before I bought the whole shop, I got in line yet still managed to snag some red bean mocha (all 8 pieces were devoured before I got home — and as a price check its £3 here compared to £6 at Japan Centre) and POPPING CANDY! You get it here for £2 for 20 packs whereas Cyber Candy charges £3 for one bag of Pop Rocks. For that alone, Loon Fung, you win.
So yeah, I like it.

I prefer Loon Fung to New Loon Moon (across the street) even though they offer the same selection because 1. The layout’s better, everything’s on one floor, 2. It’s cheaper! Frozen dumplings are £2.99 instead of £3.25, and their frozen beef slices is £4.15 versus £4.65 (comparing identical brands of course). 50p more per item is quite a lot!

Probably best (in Chinatown) for veggies. It’s also the most modern/​sparkling clean. They do have a butchery which seems to have a good amount of business and staff bring out seafood as well.

I went in this supermarket last time I was in Chinatown, and was quite taken-​aback by how good it was. Pretty much any Asian foodstuffs that you are missing and would like to find, is here!
Anyway, the main shout out I want to do today, is for those of us craving Root Beer. I found A&W Root Beer at Loon Fung for 65p! And it is the Singapore version, so it in fact has sugar rather than corn syrup, and therefore is even better than usual! I cannot express how ecstatic I am about it!
Go get yours now (I’m going back for a grate…)

I like Loon Fung… It’s not the most amazing grocery store in the world, or even the most amazing Chinese grocery store in the world. But it’s alright. It’s convenient; this is your place if you want to pick up a variety of Asian ingredients, from sauces to snacks to frozen goods. They even have a small produce section with things like durian and Asian pears that you don’t see in your average Sainsbury’s.
Loon Fung also benefits from having a sister store right across the street; if you ever need something not in stock, just head on over– or even ask the staff and they’ll grab you extra tofu or whatever. I often check prices at both New Loon and Loon Fung, just to make sure I’m getting the best deal– sometimes they have different things on offer. New Loon seems to have a greater variety of products, but I like the original’s setup best.
As far as pricing goes, though, there are better deals elsewhere in Chinatown; it just takes a little more digging and patience.
The staff I’ve encountered are Mandarin-​speaking so if you don’t know the English name for what you’re looking for, go ahead and switch languages.

Petit supermarché asiatique situé au cœur de Chinatown, donc très facile d’accès.
Le magasin est rempli d’aliments asiatique que ce soit des plats, des légumes, des nouilles, de la viande
Niveau hygièné c’est moyen, certains articles sont collants et le sol aussi, mais pour la nourriture c’est beaucoup mieux. Et niveau prix je trouve les tarifs du magasin très raisonnables et il y a un grand choix de produit.
Le personnel est aimable donc rien à dire.

DIsappointed with See Woo and Wing Yip, I was quite happy to come across Loon Fung — huge selection of pan-​Asian foods over several rather labyrinthine floors. It’s not the most logically arranged buliding (the facility is in a somewhat shabby Victorian era home, me thinks), but whoa! Tip me over with a feather, they had all sorts of dumplings and vegetables that a Chinese girl could hope for, at not so extravagant prices. The only issue I see is that it gets crowded in here — perhaps it was because I went the day of the mid-​Autumn festival — so hard to move around in… lineups were quite long.

An absolute heaven for Asian food lovers. Always fresh meat and fish, as well as salted and dried stock. A well stocked dept for utensils and many other items for the otiental kitchen. Fresh vegetables are of top quality and there are many unusual tastes catered for. The smell gets you the moment you walk through the door. Go there and be overwhelmed!!!

You’d do well do drop in for your canned and dry goods, but pass on the produce.
On the upside, I was able to ask for the specific sauce I was looking for in Mandarin and get an answer (well, really it was more of a directional wave) back.
Unfortunately, the cashiers were possibly the slowest ones I’ve ever encountered in a Chinese grocery. I realise that’s not saying a whole lot, considering the robotic speed I’ve seen Chinese cashiers bag goods elsewhere, but still…
Oh, and a giant bag of wooden chopsticks for just ~£1.50? Now –that’s– a bargain I can buy into.

I cased out each and every grocery market in Chinatown and came to the conclusion that Loon Fung’s the most well-​stocked. While the other markets stock just about everything the same, even the veggies, they do not have a butcher on premise: this for me, as a Chinese interested in cooking authentic Chinese cuisine (where the cuts of meat are different to Western), is the tipping point.
Unless you’re busting a hump all the way up to Oriental City up in Colindale (which I heard is now RIP), Loon Fung is the one-​stop shop to go for Chinese grocery staples.

The Skinny: Very Chinese indeed but it’s like going through a maze of aisles because of the cramped space. Well, that’s not a problem but the prices are a little iffy but there’s only two big supermarkets in Chinatown. Sad…
The Fat: Not like you can go somewhere else to buy Chinese produce and goods. The place is decent and they all speak English (Actually, most of them)

Cooler Asia Supermarkt, über zwei Etagen. Über Gewürze, Fisch, Fleisch bis zu Geschirr findet man hier einiges. Auch ein paar ziemlich exotische Fische.

This is my go-​to place in Chinatown for a good variety of Asian grocery staples. They have the largest produce and meat section of the Chinese grocery stores. They have Asian vegetables like choi sum and bok choi though these are usually sold in large packets. The meats include pork belly, chicken wings, and pig’s ears.
They also have a sizeable frozen food selection replete with samosas, fuzhou fish balls (fish balls with meat inside!), and industrial-​sized boxes of dim sum appetizers that have been on sale almost every week I go there (usually some fried spring rolls and other things). I like to get the fresh rice noodles with spring onion and dried shrimp here. They are also the only grocery in the area to sell a 30 pack of eggs (we like lots of egg white omelets in our home). The eggs however are sometimes pretty dirty so please check before you buy. They are slightly cheaper and cleaner at ASDA but if you can’t make it there, this is your place.
Overall good selection and prices. I know I’ll always be back for the rice noodles.

This place is much bigger than it seems from the shopfront. I love the huge selection of dim sum. However there were a few gaps as my usual siu mai was missing. But I was pacified when I found some Korean bulgogi sauce.
There is also a small Thai and Japanese range in store with numerous packet mixes. So you can recreate your favourite takeaways from the comfort of your home. Ideal when you are economising but you don’t want to miss out on your favourite Asian dishes.
The store also sells different cuts of meat like flank and pork in a osso bucco style. This would only appeal to experienced cooks. Oh I looked in the cabinets and saw frozen pig uteri which does not seem very tempting!
The down side is that the Q’s can be over 20 in a line… Not good at all.

Loon Fung looks large from the outside and it does stock a lot of Chinese foodstuffs. However, somehow, I still find more that I want to buy from Loon Moon across the road.
However, Loon Fung does have a butcher, which is unique for Chinatown supermarkets. Look for good prices on pork belly, a favourite for Chinese cooks long before it became fashionable in trendy restaurants. Also worth a browse to see cuts that you won’t find in Tesco — pigs’ trotters and pigs’ ears!
I also think Loon Fung is the best Chinatown supermarket to buy longans, a round fruit with brown skin. For a mental picture, think of a lychee and shrink it about half. Now, get a mental taste of lychee, sweeten and intensify the flavour, make a little more perfumed and juicy and that’s the taste of longan. Wonderful! If you see them, get some to try and you won’t regret it.

Loon Fung Supermarket is my favourite super market shop in Chinatown. It is a decent sized shop which has a wide range of food which is piled fairly high. Additionally, they have crockery so if you need bowls, chopsticks, rice wine jugs etc. it is a good place to go. It also sells more expensive items that I imagine would make good gifts for people interested in Chinese food.
Outside they have a good range of fresh fruits and vegetables including, according to season, dragon fruit, lychees, rambutan, Chinese pears etc.

Loon Fung Supermarket is a convenient place to pick up all your Chinese cooking essentials.

When I come to China Town I always visit Loon Fung Supermarket. You can find anything here to do with Chinese cooking.
I always get my Ozeki Dry Sake here as it is cheaper than other local stores. I usually look up a couple of Chinese recipes to try at home which has ingredients I am not that familiar with but would like to try and take my list to Loon Fung. They always have what I need!
You can really explore Chinese food here as well as crockery, teapots and so on.
The isles are abit tight though and it is usually very busy so you can get pushed about abit. Nether mind I can take it, but it is not good for prams or wheelchairs.

I have learned that if you want to cook authentic Chinese or Thai dishes you cannot pick up your ingredients from just any old grocery store. For lemon grass stalks and fresh galangal, you have to go to a specialist. Long Fung Supermarket is a very large grocery store in Chinatown and it has everything you need. The busiest day is Sunday and if you pop in mid to late afternoon be prepared to wait in a long line.
The store isn’t organized very well, that’s the down side. On my first visit I found myself walking around searching for what I need. The up side is, just about every herb or spice I needed they carried. There are two sides of the store, so be prepared to look on sides, depending on what you want. The easiest things to find are vegetables because they are in the front of the store. The hardest thing to find, for me, was coconut milk, it was in the second half of the store and I only found it after walking around searching for about 10 minutes. Despite these setbacks, you’ll find what you need, just not very easily.