We are lucky to live in a real melting pot with scads of super ethnic groceries. The best ones for children offer a good variety of products—both fresh and packaged, are medium-to-large in size with preference given to wider aisles, and are not at all fancy so your kids won’t get the hairy eye if they spend ten minutes staring down the live seafood. Since I do this fairly often with my kiddos because good cheap fun plus a take-home something-or-other to make dinner a little more exciting is a winning combination for us, I’ve included a few helpful tips for you to keep in mind when considering the recommended store picks.
 
Tips:
Growling tummies make for a rushed, not leisurely, experience so do make sure the kids eat beforehand. (You can always buy ingredients or prepared food for the next meal, though).
 
Do take time to really sniff spices and touch the unusual non-fragile produce when possible—kids totally dig the hands-on aspect. Also, always read at least a few snack and candy package labels out loud when visiting Japanese markets. Trust me on this one!
 
If your kids are super timid when it comes to trying out new foods, start out by first investigating the noodle or rice aisle as most ethnic markets tend to offer a unique twist on these familiar and unintimidating staples. Desserts are another way to introduce new flavors and they need not be sugar shockers; exotic fruits, nut brittles, and some amazing frozen “sicles” to eat on the spot (try lychee or sweet red bean) are good bets.
 
Last but not least, why not make a day of it?!  All our picks are in busy, fun-to-explore ethnic neighborhoods where you can also fill up on some yummy snacks before your grocery journey.
 

CHINESE
 
Great Wall of Flushing 2
137-45 Northern Blvd., Flushing Queens
Though other branches of this huge chain exist around town, this is the newest, cleanest, and most well stocked of them all.  The gigunda seafood counter filled with crawling delicacies and a brilliant array of bottled and canned goods meticulously arranged (we’re talking crazy anal precise here) from ceiling to floor for maximum artistic effect, plus plenty of fine frozen goodies (sweet and savory alike) make this place a worthy destination.  Awesome noodle aisle. Open daily from 8:30 am - 10:30 pm

 

Another favorite is Manhattan’s Hong Kong Supermarket (aka Dynasty, aka Mon Chong) at 68 Elizabeth Street.  It’s also a popular chain with other branches, not quite as fun as this one.  Get some Horlicks here for making malted milkshakes! Open 9am to 8pm daily

 
GREEK
 
Titan Foods
25-56 31st St, Long Island City (bordering Astoria)
The in-store bakery with honey-infused pasteries galore is an easy lure for kiddies, but do explore this wonderful emporium further. The entire counter devoted entirely to varieties of feta (they’ll help you pick mild non-stinky ones if you like) is worth the trek plus they have excellent octopus for tikes that are tentacle fiends (like mine).  Greek tube-shaped noodles are consistent kid pleasers as are the unusual jams (try the fig or pomegranate). Very friendly service. Open Mon-Sat 8am-9pm; Sun 9am-8pm

INDIAN
 
Patel Brothers
37-27 74th Street, Jackson Heights Queens
This larger-than-life store jam-packed with ten gallon sacks of rice and football-sized bags of spices is a little like Costco meets Bollywood, but the giant scale of things shouldn’t deter small fry one bit.  Patel Bros. snack aisle is loaded with all kids of crunchy goodness (we love the fried chickpea rings) and they have amazing all-natural (no preservatives or msg) frozen entrees and prepared veggie dishes in their mega freezer section (we actually thaw them on the train for a quicker warm-up at home). Try the nut brittles and buy some rose water to put in the bathtub or drizzle in your homemade yogurt lassis. Definitely explore the weird veggies too.  9:30 am to 9:30 pm daily, Sunday to 8pm

INTERNATIONAL
 
Kalustyans
123 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan
Truly an incredible place, Kalustyans manages to fill their modest space with a huge variety of spices, fruit, nuts, and an awe-inspiring collection of specialty foods from around the world. Eyes and noses will be delighted with new smells and sights that focus on delicacies Middle Eastern, South Asian, Greek and Indian.  Try real turkish taffy, marble halva that melts on your tongue, or check out the tahini collection that seem curated! This is our go-to spot for unusual legumes, organic couscous, and radical rices (black, red, stuff you never see anywhere else).  They also make many kidilicious appetizers including our fave Morroccan Cigars (no tobacco, only seasoned meat). Open Monday – Saturday 10 am- 8 pm  Sunday and Holidays from 11 am - 7 pm.
 
Tips: Leave the stroller at home if you can as some aisles will be too narrow for it. Then you can snag a marvelous middle eastern sandwich, plenty-big to share, from their upstairs lunch counter.
 

JAPANESE
 
Sunrise Market
494 Broome Street ,Manhattan
In addition to the trendy young things in the aisles (that’s the customers, not the food!) you’ll find everything edible-Japanese that you could possibly want and then some.  Graphic packages of sweets, crackers, cookies and confections are always tempting besides being hilarious if you read ‘em.  Apparantly Japan excels in entertaining food like chocolate dipping sticks and Hello Kitty-shaped munchies.  We tend to go healthy here and strongly recommend their little take out counter (they have tables) for tempura or noodle dishes.  Their Kamikaze carrot salad dressing (which you can get to-go too) will get veg-o-phobic kids devouring anything you douse it with. Silly square white bread makes killer PB&J sandwiches (a confession). And they carry super-fun Japanese tchockeys like little erasers and soaps and mini trinkets that kids love and never ever need. 10 am to 10 pm daily.
 
Note: they also have an East Village location at 29 Third Ave but it’s an elevator ride up and much smaller so stick with Soho.

For a less trendy but more expansive Japanese (and Pan-Asian) shopping experience do visit Pacific Supermarket at 7501 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens.  It’s a totally different experience than Sunrise and every bit as fun. The have a lot of live fish action (very stinky but excellent for entertainment value) and though their produce is a bit peaked, they make up for it with oodles of noodles, sauces, packaged foods and plenty of green tea ice cream. Open daily, call for details: 718-507-8181
 
 
KOREAN
 
NY Jong Hap Market (aka Chong Hap)
 72-11 Roosevelt Ave,  Jackson Heights Queens
Stuck in an odd strip mall (they have parking!) and not looking like much from the outside, NYJong Hap is unexpectedly large, spotlessly clean, and amazingly un-crowded.  Though Korean noodles and snacks all get their due here, we especially enjoy their homemade kimchees (from the kimchee counter, natch). It’s also fun to assemble your own Korean barbeque among their jewel-like packages of marinated spare ribs and perfectly prepared vegetables.  Need bibimbap sauce? Here’s where you get it! Open daily; call for details 718-476-8743.

If you’re in Flushing there’s also HMart, a Korean mega-supermarket chain which has three outlets in that area alone—though we favor the one at 156-40 Northern Blvd. where they sometimes dish out free food samples that are definitely far better than some of the doosies they foist on you at Trader Joes.  Open from 8am to 11pm daily.

 
RUSSIAN
 
Brighton Bazaar
1007 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn
Basically if it’s Russian and it belongs in your mouth, it’s here!. Wonderful dark breads, swell smoked fish for Sunday brunch, plus sweets and chocolates galore. Other good bets are the frozen specialties like pelmeni (russian dumplings). While you’re at it, the hot bar is awesome and very reasonably priced so save a little room in your tummies for take out and eat on the beach with the locals or even take home some bodacious blintzes for later.

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