It's the closest thing to Chinatown the valley has to offer. The smell...well, to quote an old saying, it's like dating a girl who doesn't shave her legs - it ain't pretty but it sure is real.
Yep, there's lots of stuff here you can find elsewhere, but lots more you can't To me the most fun is trying to figure out what half the stuff is, since I'm not really good at reading languages that don't even make use of letters I recognize. But I've found some great confectionary stuff I've never seen before or since (that's one of the fun aspects...you never know what they're gonna have, and you may never find it agian), and what other place can you agonize over 4,763 different kinds of curry spice? The produce is hit or miss, and be careful what you pull out of the freezer section...but overall, it's the best asian grocery store between here and SF.