New Golden Sparkling
“I must admit the market, formerly known as Kam Lun, is remarkably larger and brighter than before with a larger meat and fish section.”
“You'll get used to the smell anyway.”
New Golden Sparkling
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Inexpensive
7 reviews
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Love the convenience of so many Asian grocery stores in this neighborhood for you can really shop around for items that you no able to locate in one store the other will have it.
Couple of things with Asian grocery stores. prices will change from weekday to weekend. Make sure you check produce to make sure fresh when shopping as well as the meats. Check expiration dates on packages. This store is not so bad with the expiration dates compared to the others.
I shop for snacks here like cookies which have a good selection and their fruits when in season are fresh. Guy outside screaming/yelling Cherries, Cherries.
Not my favorite spot, but sometimes you need to come here for items they don't sell in traditional markets.
A lot of things aren't cheap, like proteins, eggs, so may be best to hit up an actual supermarket with sales. Also don't have varieties like almond milk. Pretty basic here.
Has has a fish/seafood market — right when you walk in you see tanks of things moving about! Because of that, the entire place does often have a funky fishy smell, and the floor can be wet, which is gross. The smell fades the further you move into the store. So does the wetness. Still, maybe don't wear flip flops.
A lot of produce for cheap prices — when tomatoes are in season, prices are well under $1 ( as low as 80-90 cents per pound), and to make a homemade tomato sauce, this comes in handy. I love the variety of mushrooms, not just the standard baby bella or white button. (Shiitake, oyster, etc).
Bags of onions. Super large yams. Potatoes. Broccoli crowns and scallions often look better than other markets. Peppers are usually rotting and soft. A lot of the fruits are on the outside stands.
Cramped aisles, so you will knock into someone as you pass by. Customers are rude and don't care if you need to get by. So if you understand that's how they operate, don't be afraid to nudge or shove someone else if need be. Maybe not a preggers person — that's a social faux pas.
Their "bakery" area actually has very soft and fresh bread loaves. We picked one up to make garlic bread once, since this was the closest place to me. They sell a lot of staples, like salad dressings, cereals, cooking oils, flour, sugar. Have plenty of shumai, dumplings, potstickers to choose from in the frozen section. Packaged noodles, sauces like my favorite black bean/garlic, chili sauce, and others like oyster and fish sauce, etc.
By the registers there are snacks like Oreos and other cookies treats, as well as newspapers.
Workers don't really speak English, although the younger cashiers do know the basics, or at least understand enough to nod and point out something. Customer service here is not really valued, typical of overseas/Chinese businesses, but I understand culturally they probably work long hours, very menial labor, and aren't there to smile or hold your hand like other places. Pick out your stuff, shut up and pay, basically. Good luck trying to argue over a price you saw. So if you understand this, then that's not a problem. And once you're rung up, move quickly! I always try to grab my bags and my receipt and walk away, but people are always moving fast here, so you will be jostled. Heaven forbid you want to put your receipt in your wallet!
I only come here when I need to.
My grandmother lives in Elmhurst so I'm always in this area. I don't always get to hit C-town in Manhattan, so I'm very appreciative that I can drop by this market to pick up some ethnic ingredients and cheap produce every now and then. The location is ideal, right next to where the bus stops and the Grand Avenue R train station. The market is clean and the prices are very good, coming very close (and sometimes matching) Chinatown Manhattan prices.
The store has definitely been renovated since its previous owners were in there. Its aisles are wider, the store arrangement makes more sense and they now have regular debit/credit card scanners so it's not a "cash only " business.
When the previous store closed I was worried but now that New Golden Sparkling is here, I'm much relieved and happy with having another choice of venue to shop for Asian ingredients.
I've grown to despise this supermarket. I continue to go here because it's cheap and close, but otherwise I absolutely dread setting foot in here.
They don't keep the place clean anymore. There's always a ton of unidentifiable liquid around the seafood section and in the shopping baskets. They don't keep anything covered, things that I think qualify as pre-made food. Yet they are somehow always cleaning, always while still open, often during crowded times when they have to maneuver rudely around customers.
The lettuce is filthy, the bell peppers are always bruised and sometimes rotting. Flies are everywhere.
I haven't come across an employee who speaks English since my review.
The tomatoes, string beans, broccoli, onions, jalapenos, garlic, mushrooms- most of the produce are still good quality and reasonably priced.
But hold your breath, don't wear flip flops, don't come to browse, don't come with questions, and don't touch anything you don't have to.
If New Golden Sparkling wants to be sparkling, then management here seriously needs to clean the windows. This large Asian grocer has the dirtiest windows I've seen anywhere, as if someone had spray painted them with filth. Once you get past them and enter, you find your general array of produce, from vegetables and fruit to ramen noodles to frozen roti. The vegetables and fruits varied in quality, some appearing old and some very fresh. Pricing was comparable to places in Elmhurst. Other Yelpers mentioned that it was dirty. At the time I went in, there was a worker cleaning the floors and appearing in every aisle I was shopping in, and it was still busy with people shopping after work. Either he wanted to impress me or thought I was leaving a trail of debris! Thus, the floors seemed clean but somehow, the walls and some shelves did not. Perhaps it was the fluorescent lighting that made stuff look dinghy. The fresh fruit and veggies didn't look bad at all though I still had the general sense that the store was grimy–those black windows etch an indelible memory. I came in because it was convenient to the train station and I was in the area and needed some peppers, which were very fresh. A place I would visit again for convenience if I were in the area for packaged items like dry noodles or canned foodstuffs but I would definitely not pick up any prepared foods from.
Overcrowded chinese supermarket with all your hotpot needs. Came here and spent about 30$ for an abundant amount of meat, fish tofu, lobster rolls, veggies, etc.
The cashiers are not distracted and they work as hard as an asian factory shop. Just kidding, lets just say these are the type of cashiers you love at long line shops.
Only thing they lack is a bit if english communication, but thats definitely understandable.
p.s.
They have some dank men(young/old) that smoke cigerattes for days like some kind of pepe outside of the parking lot entrance which is really unappealing and makes me wanna U-turn my way out the fog of "i get it you vape" type smokers. Jk thats harsh everyone has their reasons.
Wow what a long review for a chinese supermarket!
I am such a nice guy ^^
TGood thing about this Chinese supermarket is cheap. They have Asian products I appreciate like Natto, but I am not a fun of this place because;
* They are not good at cleaning. In fact, the floor looks dirty and as soon as I enter, it stinks so bad. I have to hold my breath especially at the entrance area. Is it because fish section is near entrance? I don't know. I saw a crab was crawling on the floor. A shrimp was jumping on the floor. I felt bad to the crab and shrimp.
* Most of vegetables and fruits don't look fresh. Many of them have scratches or dents. When I was choosing ginger which is packed on Styrofoam trays, I saw live little flies inside. When I bought some Avocados, they were overripe.
* I feel like they are lazy. (I noticed they have run out of Japanese chapsticks before I moved near this supermarket two years ago. They haven't restocked them yet. These chapsticks were affixed to heavy paper and customers rip it to purchase. The heavy paper doesn't have any chapsticks on it for at least two years and the color is fading by the cashier. It is depressing to see every time I pay. Why they don't throw that away?)