Choi’s Asian Food Market

Love this place. They always have interesting products and delicious store-​made kimchi. I’ve had the real thing in Korea, so I feel like I know when it’s good and when it’s not. I adore this place… they also have really cool trinkets from Korea and teapots (not sure where those are from… probably China).

‘Tis a nice, little food mart. Not necessarily the most convenient for me to go to, but I find myself here usually about once per month to stock up on high-​sodium items that my doctor would knock me out over if he knew I was eating. But, c’est la vie.
So, really… compared to other similar-​sized Asian markets, this one is quite nice. Always able to find exactly what I am not looking for, so I leave with more than I planned.

I’ve been writing a lot about my Asian cuisine experiences lately, and I certainly didn’t want to leave out the notable Choi’s Asian Food Market, which is a staple for my semi-​weekly grocery shopping.
I drive all the way from Clarksville, Indiana to this small market in Lyndon because of there expansive selection of Asian ingredients. They offer food stuffs such as remarkably fresh produce, homemade kimchi that they make in house and a great selection of teas, including powdered matcha and loose leaf.
This small store also offers a wide selection of frozen, premade meals such as wontons, egg rolls and noodles, along with frozen crab legs and other seafood options. How cool is that? No more Stouffer’s for me! They also offer fresh seafood, such as blue crab that’s delivered fresh a few times a week, a variety of hard to find meats and Asian treats such as red bean paste ice cream and melonpan.
As well as the great array of refrigerated and frozen items this place has, they also have an amazing snack section full of Pocky sticks (have you tried cookies ‘n’cream or matcha midis?), chips and crackers, and small taro cakes in beautifully designed packages. My favorite part of the snacks is actually refrigerated and is the small Korean cans of juices. I definitely recommend grabbing a few of those 90 cent cans of heaven.
Alright, I know what you’ve been waiting for: how’s the ramen? They have an impeccable selection of Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Did you know China had ramen before Japan?) and other Asian style instant noodles up for grabs in an array of flavors, noodle sizes and ingredients (curry paste in a steaming bowl of shrimp ramen can really hit the spot). I think ramen is an important staple in any community and I’ve practiced a lot in the art of eating cheap. To really spruce mine up I add a few scallions and quill eggs, WHICH THIS STORE HAS! BEAUTIFUL, TINY, DELICATE, FLAVORFUL QUILL EGGS.
Sorry, I got a little excited there. I know I’ve mentioned A LOT of instant/​microwavable foods and you’re wondering how I handle such a high sodium content (lots of Coke… er, I mean water), well, don’t worry! This place also has amazing spices, bases and canned fruits and vegetables to cook with for that home cook that’s always whipping something up that’s dangerously spicy, but always yummy. They also have an impressive array of noodles, some even fresh and refrigerated, and rices. Along with that, they have plenty of cooking tools for Asian cuisines such as rice cookers, saki glasses, woks and cooking chopsticks. A person with the drive to making something delicious has all the tools and ingredients here.
Overall: This place will make anyone with an Asian craving happy. Anyone from the instant ramen aficionados to the home chefs will find something to love and will keep them coming back for their staples day after day, week after week, and year after year. I highly recommend this great little family owned Asian food market.

This is one of my favorite Asian markets. The staff is friendly and I love discovering new items and trying new recipes. I think their prices are reasonable and cheaper on some of their fresh produce than regular stores in town. The produce section is small but what they have is fresh and I haven’t been disappointed in any of my purchases. I love walking up and down the store reading labels and discovering new items.

Small but have the efficient Asian groceries I am looking for. Have Korean bread and Asian veges. Frozen fish but no live fish. I would go back!

Get all my Asian groceries from there. Looks a little shady from the outside like a «massage parlor» with the windows covered but it isn’t. Pretty much everything I need is there.

Great selection and (mostly) great prices! Coming back to Kentucky after 4 years working abroad in Japan, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my favorite dishes anymore. I can’t express how relieved I was to find Choi’s and see all the great and unlikely products they had: kabocha, ramen, soumen, soba, yakiniku sauce, nabe soup stock and ingredients, miso, natto, tea, rice, furikake, sesame and chili oils, mochi, wasabi paste, ginger, garlic, sukiyaki and shabu-​shabu sauces, soybeans, tsukemono, sweets, chips, and more. In addition to the Japanese products, they also keep Korean products well-​stocked, and I found lots of interesting things from other cultures, too.
I’ll definitely be a regular shopper here, I think, and I certainly recommend it those who enjoy Asian flavors and cooking. There’s something of interest here for everyone, and with the truly reasonable prices, it’s hard to leave without buying something!

Nice store w good selection of fresh greens, spices, and Asian groceries. Cleaner than a lot of the other asian groceries in Louisville.

Very nice store. Gotta love a place that loves Jesus and isn’t afraid to show it! My favorite place to find ramen noodles and any other asian staples. Very friendly people. I love this place!!!

Choi’s is decent little Asian grocer that specializes in Chinese, Japanese, Korean cuisine. Occasionally you’ll see a southeast asian influence thrown in (canned mangosteen anyone?). Overall I’ve found the prices to be higher here than in other Asian grocers I’ve visited elsewhere. A five dollar tub of miso that I saw in LA the week previous goes for 8 here. That’s a hell of a mark up but then there is the the cost of transport and the fact that a smaller market may mean they have to throw out more product.
In terms of selection, they’ve got a great, albeit small, selection of instant noodles. May I recommend the instant soba noodles along with the pad thai noodles? Both were good and if you spiced up the pad thai packets with some bean sprouts and chicken it could really be something. They also have mabo tofu spice packets. Grab some tofu and ground meat and get ready for the yum. The also have calpico (think yogurt mixed with sprite… better than you’d think) and aloe drinks (which are pretty freaking awesome). Oh, and just in case anyone thinks this place sounds like it’s whitewashed like Famima or something they definitely carry century eggs.
Overall, I found this grocer to be much more accessible than the Vietnamese grocers I’ve visited around town which seem to be geared almost exclusively to Vietnamese customers. It seems like a great place to pick up snacks and other essentials that can’t be found elsewhere but is a bit expensive for my tastes.

Ethnic lottery of groceries!!!
I was making some house tonic and needed to pick up some fresh lemon grass. After exhausting Whole Foods, Farmers Markets, and Rainbow Blossom I was told to try an Asian market. Per the Unilocal reviews I was told this was the best one in town and the reviews were absolutely correct.
I walked in to find plenty of produce. The lemon grass I found were whole stalks and not the already chopped that I normally find at Whole Foods. The size of the store was actually very large and contained ethnic food from all of Asia. I would say this is a find, but with all the customers inside I would more likely say that I have been out of the loop on this one.
The store carries great ready made lunch options for those looking to grab and go, but I will definitely be returning to discover more!

We are regular shoppers here — love the selection, and there’s always something that we haven’t tried before. The prices are very good to average — one particular spice at this store costs four times as much at Kroger! The shoppers and the staff are friendly and helpful, too — we usually end up striking up a conversation with fellow shoppers who are «foodies» like us! :)

I’ve only been here once but I’m giving this place five-​stars from just what I saw today. The produce was fresh — not what I was expecting from small markets but must be a sign they’re busy and have good turn around. They had all the asian things I was looking for. And the real reason I’m giving this place 5 stars is because they’re super helpful and nice. In fact, I came up to the counter and checked out only to realize I left my wallet at home! It was 745PM and they close at 8PM. He told me to go home and come back and he’ll stay open ’til 8:30! Amazing.

Very clean and well stocked grocery store, heavier on the Japanese and Korean products. They got a smaller selection of Asian fruits and veggies to choose from. I expected high prices due to its location, but their prices are very decent compare to the other Asian grocery stores in town.
The best part, I don’t have to trek 30 – 40 minutes to South Louisville to pick up decent Asian groceries.

I got claustrophobic here. It’s kind of dark too.
As Asian person, I have different expectation when I see the word ‘asian’. I expect ‘Asian’ as in Asia continent, not just East Asia.
And some ‘Asian’ food markets actually met my expectation-​means they sell groceries from India, Philllipines, Thai, Japan, Korea, Chinese, Indonesia, Vietnam and such– but not this one.
But if you think Asian = Japanese, Korean, Chinese, then yeah… you might like this store.
I think I rather drive to Cincinnati to satisfy my Asian cravings.

Jungle Jim’s (north of Cincinnati) this is not, but it will do the trick if you need some nori maki or other ingredients for delicious Asian food.
The store is well-​organized and inventory has always been in stock when I have gone for ingredients. The staff is also very helpful and easy to find if you have any questions.

This is a clean, well organized Asian market. I realize there are many many larger ethnic grocery stores in larger cities. But, hey, we are in Louisville and I am quite happy with this one. It does not have that typical pungent scent of an «ethnic» grocery store. I also go to Viet Hoa on Preston Hwy for its larger variety of fresh meats and seafood. But even I can’t ignore the smell when I first walk in there. Choi’s is just cleaner and most of the stuff are behind closed fridge/​freezer doors. Although the quantity of fresh veggies does not appear to be a lot, but they do have a large selection for all Asian food lovers.

Great Asian grocery. They have just about anything you could want including a good selection of materials for making sushi and pad thai. Great prices on everything.

I’ve been shopping here since I moved from San Francisco to Louisville but just now got around to reviewing it after another poster mentioned the new snack bar and I stopped by to try it out. First, the take-​out bi bim bop ($ 5.99) was pretty good. Reminded me a lot of the college snack bar type food in Korea. Light on the meat. The premade kimbap rolls at the front counter for $ 1.99 were also a taste reminder of school in Daegu. Service was a little interesting, the order was made/​taken down in kind of a mix of Korean and English so until the food showed up I wasn’t sure it was going to… not super quick like fast food but not horribly long wait either.
They have a good selection of food and while prices on some of the basics are a little higher than at say, the Vietnamese markets on 3^rd St, you also have to consider the area since gas/​Kroger/​etc on that side of town is more too. Differences are small though like $ 0.75 on bags of coffee and such. Great selection of frozen meals, dumplings, meats, and fish. Also a large refrigerated section of noodles, sauces, kimchi and all. I wish they’d pack some smaller sizes of their very good kimchi, I love the stuff but no way can I eat a 32 oz jar of it !
It covers all the basics plus packaged snacks and treats, some fresh veggies, and enough odds and ends to get you to buy stuff, take it home and wonder what in the world to make with it. Sure, not as large as the LA/​SF Korean markets, but honestly I don’t need 100s of types of noodles, 75 types will do fine.

Just like the other review on here, I’m considering the fact that we are not in Los Angeles and at a traditional Asian market. For those of you who know, this is no 99 Ranch or Marukai. Choi’s is primarily a Korean market but they do a pretty nice job of offering traditionally «Asian» things.
My wife and I like to do a lot of hot pot at home and you can basically find everything you really need for traditional Chinese hot pot — chinese veggies, different kinds of tofu, fish balls/​cake, thinly sliced beef, and asian satay sauce. We’ve been to a few asian groceries in the area and I have to say Choi’s is the largest in variety and has the best quality produce. Since the owners are Korean, they actually have some really good house made kim chee, best that we’ve had in Louisville at least.
Pricing is okay, it’s not too expensive, especially for the specificity in ingredients relative to the area. Being one of only a handful of places in the area that carries something like Shrimp Chips or dried cuttlefish, they don’t really gouge prices on those things. In fact, I think the overpriced stuff is really stuff you can find at Kroger. Overall, you can kind of compare prices to something between Kroger and Whole Foods.
I want to give fair warning to anyone who has never been to a privately owned Asian market in any city. Do not expect wide aisles, clean floors, etc. Do expect relatively unusual smells, random products being sold, and many non-​English labels. This is the kind of place that reminds me of home, but it’s not for everyone…