There is a whole other wonderful world behind the Super 88 Asian food court, through the glass doors and up the ramp. Do not fear the strange smells or the bare-bones interior. This is not Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. There are no friendly employees in Hawaiian shirts handing out free samples. There is no self-checkout or organic section. What there is, however, is aisle after aisle packed with amazing discoveries and cheap, cheap food.
When you first walk into the Super 88 market, there are piles of sacks of rice to the right of the doors. If you really want to be all Costco about it, pick up a bag of 25 to 100 pound sack of rice (if you can pick it up at all). Or you could opt for the five pound bag of brown rice for $5.99, which is still a very fair deal.
Then there is the produce section, where you can score some serious deals. Here’s a quick price comparison: a crown of broccoli at Super 88 costs 89 cents a pound while it is $1.99 a pound at Shaw’s. Onions at Super 88 are 89 cents a pound. And at Shaw’s? $1.49. Yes, the onions may not be the best looking onions ever, but that’s why we have knives – to hack off the bad parts.
Near the produce, you’ll find the quintessential staple of every poor college kid’s diet – Ramen. This is the most impressive Ramen selection ever though, with everything from Kimchi bowl noodles to hot n’ spicy kinds, all for no more than $1 a bowl.
Shopping at Super 88 is an adventure. The aisles are organized by country or region and walking slowly down each one, it’s impossible not to stop every three feet to marvel at a different awesomely bizarre product.
Like six different kinds of Spam. Six. Who even knew that there were varieties of Spam? Who needs six kinds? But should a spam craving ever hit, you can choose from bacon, hickory smoked, turkey, Spam Lite, hot and spicy and with two percent less sodium. Or you could opt for the generic brand, Winner Mountain Luncheon Meat. Amazing.
Across from the Spam is an insane selection of canned fruit – canned bananas, mangos and even canned Toddy Palm’s Seed, a clear, crunchy and sweet Thai fruit. Another fantastic discovery is the 3.5 ounce box of Black Lumpfish caviar for $5.99.
The tea selection is also unbeatable. Choose from varieties like clear eyes tea, internal cooling and cleansing tea, special gunpowder green tea and many other kinds of ginger, green and oolong teas. A box of 100 jasmine tea bags is only $1.99, so that’s 2 cents a tea bag. Meanwhile, a small tea at Starbucks, including tax, is $2.08. That means you can get 104 times the tea at Super 88 for the price of one small tea at Starbucks.
Super 88 is not just food, however. Their dollar store-like section has everything from utensils to tea strainers to tooth brushes as well as loads of cute plates and bowls for around $2 each. Need a last minute present? A beautiful red ceramic tea pot and mug set comes to just $10.99 and a set of five pairs of chopsticks is only $4.99. Done and done.
The best part about the frugality of Super 88 is that its affordability encourages culinary risks. Even if your knowledge of Asian cuisine is limited, you can spare a couple of bucks for some some bok choy or shirataki noodles and have at it.
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