Fubonn is named for the Cantonese phrase for wealth and health, and they are a full service SE Asian grocery along the lines of Uwajimaya, just on a slightly smaller scale. They have a deli with $1.75 bánh mì sandwiches as well as hot and cold prepared foods; huge and beautiful produce and meat areas, and just about everything you'll need for Vietnamese or Chinese cooking. For example: fresh noodles. Fubonn stocks bánh canh, bánh bot loc, hu tieu xao, and bánh tam—and that's just the rice noodles. There's also yakisoba, udon, mì hoành thánh (egg wonton noodles) and mì trung gà (thin egg noodles). Need a stewing hen? Duck heads? Bung? They've got 'em.

The live seafood selection is better at Uwajimaya, but Fubonn is clearly still gearing up.

Oregon's largest Hispanic market has opened in Cornelius, the next town west of Hillsboro. The produce section is huge and beautiful, filled with fresh and dried chiles, tomatillos, mangos, coconuts, plantains, and papayas, as well as more typical US produce. A full-service bakery specializes in pan dulces. Everything is labeled in Spanish and English. The carneceria is filled with tongue, tripe, beef cheeks and pork ears. A huge selection of fresh mexican cheese are available. A tortilleria prepares fresh tortillas all day, and a steaming bag of them is just a buck and some change. And of course, there's a deli/cocina with Michoacan specialties like carnitas. I would tell you more, except that there were so many people around the cocina, I couldn't get close at all or see anything in the cases! And mexican sodas like jarritos are 59 cents for a glass bottle, chilled.

Considering that the latino market in Washington County has grown almost 250% over the past five years, this is way overdue.

I just heard from PDXJule who had this sad bit of news:

This has been my favorite Asian market in Portland for years. I always buy more than I can carry...a great source for dried and tinned mushrooms,sauces, coconut milk, vinegars and more.

I was suprised to see a Liquidation Sale sign last week - so I called today, and unfortunately they don't have much left. Will probably be closed after this week I think. They do plan to do a remodel and open another business at the location.

I guess the Seafood freezers are all cleared out, and there's not much left. 50% off their already low prices is a great deal. They used to stock dried and canned mushrooms of all kinds.

This store, in the former Fou Lee location, supposably has the same owner, but it was renamed to celebrate the extensive remodeling. This primarily Vietnamese grocery has a great looking meat and fish counter, and lots of pan-Asian staples, as well as inexpensive produce.