Flavours of Asia at Tai-Ping Glenfield Supermarket

The first thing that hits you when you walk into Tai-Ping Supermarket Glenfield is the delicious smell of lemongrass and fresh vegetables mingling with barbecued meats and other cooking stalls.

We’re barely two steps into the supermarket off 25 Porana Road, and already the unique Asian flavours are dragging us further in to the hustle of Wairau Valley’s most popular Asian store.

It’s a supermarket in every sense of the word, providing a refreshing contemporary to standardised European stores by operating like an actual market.

With the traditional groceries ringed in by side stalls offering freshly-cooked food from donuts to Filipino, Korean and other Asian cuisine, Tai-Ping Glenfield has all the excitement of a bustling marketplace while keeping a supermarket layout – fruit and vegetables in one section, rice and noodles in another.

For stalwart shoppers, this means everything is in one place for easy access: oils, marinades, frozen Yum Char foods and so much more on offer from the full range of over 3000 Asian products imported in.

As for us newcomers, it’s a deliciously heady experience of sights, sounds and smells that’s almost like walking into another world. Food-lovers will particularly revel in exploring the diversity of the store and browsing through authentic Asian ingredients such as Thai Sriracha chilli sauce and Korean Shin Ramyun Noodle soup – one has to only look around for inspiration for their next meal.

Leading past the Asian butcher cuts (including tripe and chicken’s feet) and the huge seafood section, we’re given a whirlwind tour by owner Michael Chan.

Having been in the family business for 30 years, it’s clear he knows how to run a successful supermarket – as part of the wider Tai-Ping Trading Company, the Glenfield store leads the NZ market in Asian foodstuffs.

Stopping in the expansive fruit and vegetable aisle, near-bursting with Chinese celery, Tong Ho and other greenery, Michael points to the supermarket’s uniqueness from its competitors.

‘‘The difference between us and places like Countdown is our huge range of Chinese vegetables,’’ he says.

Here too there’s genuine deals to be found, such as the 99c Shanghai Bokchoy, less than half the price offered at many other supermarkets.

It’s just one of the many reasons to visit Tai-Ping Glenfield Supermarket. Open seven days a week from 8.30am-7pm, you’ll find it on 25 Porana Road, Wairau Valley.

Located on 25 Porana Road, Wairau Valley, Tai-Ping Glenfield Supermarket is open seven days a week from 8.30am to 7pm.