Hard-to-find Asian groceries and cult-favorite snacks are now available in the heart of Midtown Savannah
Written by FEIFEI SUN
Photography by JASON B. JAMES
DURING THE LATE ’90s in Savannah, the grocery store my family frequented most wasn’t a chain known for its subs or its 10 for $10 deals.
Once a week or so, we stopped into Chinatown Market, a nondescript brick building in an unusual part of town, as far as grocery stores go, on the corner of Price and Henry streets downtown. Inside, walking past the front room that housed familiar convenience store goods like barbecue potato chips and grape and orange sodas, we would head into a chilly back room that held the Napa cabbage, Chinese ginger, dried tofu and LaoGanMa chili crisp that were staples in our home — but not on the supermarket shelves.
That’s changed over the last couple decades, and a new market demonstrates how far we’ve come.
With the recent opening of Enson Market, housed in the former Lucky’s Market space on Abercorn Street, shopping for these previously hard-to-find Asian foods is easier than ever. Not to mention more fun: There are two rows of different flavors of Ramen alone at the warehouse-sized market, including cult favorites, like the perfectly spiced or congestion-clearing (depending on your tolerance) shin, or the sweet and salty mi goreng.
Beyond the sheer volume and variety of goods, Enson Market brings something less tangible, but just as special: the serendipity of discovery.
Elsewhere, there’s a dizzying selection of fresh vegetables (gai lan, bitter melon); meats (silky chicken); frozen goods (dumplings, ice cream and buns); and packaged goods, from dried noodles and teas to rows of imported oils and sauce. Classics like oyster, soy and gochujang are on offer from multiple brands. And I’d be remiss to not mention the snacks in rainbow shades of packaging. My personal favorites from childhood include spicy dried squid, Haw Flakes, preserved plums and Yakult yogurt drinks with their iconic red foil cap.
Beyond the sheer volume and variety of goods, Enson Market brings something less tangible, but just as special: the serendipity of discovery.
For someone born in China and raised in the American South, specialty Asian markets were havens for families like mine and adventurous home cooks, offering pantry staples found nowhere else, but often at the cost of variety. It was on trips to Atlanta — to Asian Square on Buford Highway, in particular, for my family — that I first wandered aisles of grass jelly drinks, decided from among a dozen kinds of dried seaweed and marveled at entire shelves of packet seasonings.
Row after row, I discovered new delights while learning about nostalgic favorites for my parents, like shrimp crackers, red bean ice cream bars and youtiao, the crispy, fried sticks of dough we dipped in hot soybean drink.
A particular joy of travel is the pleasure of trying a new flavor that pleases and intrigues. Enson Market brings a version of this experience to the heart of Savannah. Its opening means locals won’t have to go out of town to get the specialty groceries they need — or discover something delightful they didn’t know they needed.
