| rev:text
| - I've experienced better.... HERE. My most recent trip to Lee Lee's market in Peoria might be my last; it seems SO different from the times I've been here before. I'm going to break it down by department since this is basically the Wal*Mart of ethnic foods.
Produce:
-significantly less produce than before, about half of the produce area is now empty.
-most vegetables are denoted by their Vietnamese name, difficult to figure out what's what.
Seafood:
-still very well stocked, most fish looks relatively fresh
-they can clean, descale, debone the fish for you and even fry it if you want (I think)
-I was disappointed that I asked them to simply clean the fish (not take off the head or tail) and they ended up taking off the head and tail anyway.
-mudfish/snakehead fish ended up cost ~$10 and a pound of head-on shrimp also cost ~$10, which seems a bit pricey to me
-the men who work in this department are always laughing and joking with each other and their customers, definitely the most "fun" and lively department
Meat:
-very clean, butcher was very friendly
-I love that they can grind any meat for you (most places will only grind beef in-house, not pork or chicken).
Dry Goods:
-a majority of the loss of stars in the review is due to the massive shift in the amount of dry goods. They used to have an aisle dedicated to each type of cuisine (Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, etc), now, everything is shoved together, helter-skelter.
-the shelves are disorganized and largely unstocked, empty.
-most of the shelves do not denote the price for items, you'll have to guess or wait til checkout.
-the area they used to have for rice (pallets of rice, huge bags) has now been reduced to a small strip next to the beer coolers (about 1/20th of the original stock). Very little variety.
-they have all but dissolved their home goods section, they used to have hard-to-find Asian cosmetics/toiletries, kitchen accessories, home goods. There are now a few random pots, pans and steamers and that's about it.
Frozen:
-2+ aisles of frozen foods, ranging from meats to meals to veggies, fruits and desserts. Most of it looks like it's been there awhile.
Service:
-most employees speak little to no English, which is difficult when you're trying to find something or ask a question. They are polite, however, and do try to help.
I spent about $100 on items that I absolutely needed for cooking my normal Thai cuisine: seafood, rice powder, produce, seasonings/sauces, Singha beer :) but this place looks empty; it looks like they're closing down. To be honest, it looks like a post-apocalyptic raid happened here, leaving everything disheveled and desolate. It really dampens the mood on what used to be a fun day trip to Lee Lee's to stock up on essentials.
I wish they'd get back to their old ways, but as it appears now, I wouldn't be surprised if this location actually IS closing.
**UPDATE** per Ricky D's suggestion, I called Lee Lee's office. The woman I spoke with stated they were not closing the Peoria location, that they had switched vendors and that it was affecting their stock. I asked her if their stock would return to normal sometime in the near future and she said yes. I'll write an update when I return to Lee Lee's and see if this was, in fact, the problem.
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