Goods and Services
Best East Asian Grocery
HanAhReum Asian Mart
800 N. Rolling Road, Catonsville, (443) 612-9020
This relatively new supermarket on Route 40 in Catonsville could qualify for any number of Best of categories. It could win Best Exotic Produce, hands down, and you might not even need the "exotic" qualifier; Han Ah Reum's selection of fruits and vegetables is vast--everything from Idaho potatoes to Southeast Asian durians, the whopping-huge thorny fruits with the putrescent odor--and inexpensive. It could take Best Imitation of Chinatown for its total-immersion Asian shopping experience, encompassing everything from Pacific Rim kitchen staples to a panoply of packaged treats (various lichee delicacies, shrimp-flavored everything, etc.) to nonfood items like rice cookers. It could probably even make a run at Best Fish Market; Han Ah Reum boasts several tanks of live fish, as well as a choice selection of fish on ice. The white-coated mongers behind the counter will rapidly clean and dress anything they have in stock to your specifics, with the aid of a handy chart that makes any language barriers moot. Put it all together, and it takes Best Asian Grocery going away.
