Bangkok Center Grocery

Want to try your hand at whipping up Thai specialties like pad Thai and Massaman curry? Then a visit to this tiny-but-packed Chinatown grocery is an absolute must. Literally a mom-and-pop, owned by a married couple that immigrated from Bangkok over a decade ago, this little store stuffs its shelves with all the southeast Asian ingredients you’ll need: fish sauce, shrimp paste, palm sugar and more, plus produce like green papayas, fresh curry leaves and galangal, a fragrant cousin of ginger. Check out the freezer case for excellent prepared curry pastes that will slash your prep time in half.