 Wing Yips green arch is well known 
Wing Your Way To Fantastic Chinese Food
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Recommendation added: 14/07/2006 22:16
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +825)dewberry has been thanked 9 times for this contribution
"I've known Wing Yip Chinese Supermarket was located just down the road in Nechells, Birmingham for years but it's one of those places I just never thought to visit on shopping day. To call Wing Yip a supermarket is like calling Moby Dick a minnow, however, they call themselves a 'Superstore' and I'd definitely agree with the description. It shares a seven acre plot with the Wing Wah Chinese Restaurant and the store itself is absolutely massive.
Wing Yip is sectioned into a warehouse area where they sell sacks of rice bigger than me to the restaurant trade and fresh beansprouts by the tonne. I can't imagine anyone other than Chinese restaurants and the growing Chinese community shopping in this section, so I headed straight across to the 'main' public supermarket to browse the more user friendly sized portions!
You're asked to grab a trolley as you enter a waste of time I thought as I was only intending to have a look at what's on offer today, perhaps pick up a bottle of chilli sauce or something. How wrong I was. There is so much available here that I had to constantly remind myself that I'd only got £30 in my purse and couldn't actually run amok like Michael Jackson in Hamleys!
Much of their stock is frozen so obviously the store is based around rows and rows of chest freezers, although tinned and bottled goods are available on shelves mounted above these freezers. Considering the vast quantity of goodies sold here, I think Wing Yip makes fantastic use of space with every possible flat surface and wall being made into a place to display yet more stuff.
The aisles between the freezers and shelves are extremely wide, meaning that to see absolutely everything you either need to be dashing from one side to another or travelling down each aisle twice. I loved the space in Wing Yip, rather than feeling claustrophobic enclosed between shelves I felt relaxed and able to wander around the store at my own (slow) pace and take in everything they had to offer.
The frozen foods range from huge joints of New Zealand lamb and whole fish to Cornetto's and authentic Chinese desserts, with just about everything in between. Obviously the main theme for the store is Chinese food so I'd say 85% of the stock is Chinese ready meals and foodstuffs, cooking sauces, rice and odd sounding species of fish. Everything is well stocked and I didn't see a single empty space in any of the freezers, staff are continually going around with large trollies filling up anything which is running low and neatening up the displays after customers have rummaged around to find the perfectly sized fillet of eel or mackerel.
I'm a big fish lover so was excited when I realised there were two aisles literally heaving with fresh frozen fish. The choice is probably the best in Birmingham, better even than the well known fish market in the town centre. Your usual Cod, Hake and Mackerel fillets are available at very good prices, along with the more unusual whole Red Snapper and Dace. I picked up a large shark steak for the very good price of 99p and two meaty pieces of tuna cost me just £1.96. Most of the fish are sold singularly or in packs of two and priced according to weight, although you can buy larger packs of certain fish fillets at a standard price of £4.49.
The frozen meat section is also extensive and reasonably priced with choices ranging from large joints of good quality beef to whole duckling. A pack of four duck legs cost just £2.59 which is a brilliant price considering Tesco are charging double that at the moment. Another part of the supermarket I particularly enjoyed looking at was the Chinese 'nibbles' (for want of a better word). Rice dumplings, won tons, Chinese chicken drumsticks, BBQ spare ribs and all sorts are displayed if fact everything my local Chinese take away offers is available here, without the £13 bill!
I spent just over £25 on my first visit to Wing Yip and took home three carrier bags containing a selection of fish (obviously!), cooking and table sauces, Chinese 'nibbles', duck legs, a small bottle of Saki and a couple of watermelons. Prices are brilliant, honestly. I didn't see anything that I could get cheaper elsewhere, and a lot of the stock is priced considerably lower than Asda, Tesco etc
I'm quite an adventurous cook and now I've found Wing Yip I'll be able to broaden my repertoire of Asian dishes as the cost of the ingredients in mainstream supermarkets has always put me off. Here I'd imagine I'd be able to buy the ingredients for a slap up Chinese meal for a fraction of the cost of a take away for the four of us.
The wide aisles make Wing Yip ideal for disabled visitors, don't be shy to ask if there's anything on the upper shelves which you can't reach as the staff here are very friendly and helpful they even pack your bags at the checkout and actually reprimand you if you dare try to help! The huge car park at the front of the store has several disabled parking spaces located within a very short distance of the entrance and staff will happily help you to the car with your bags if you ask.
Visiting Wing Yip by car is really the only viable means of transport if you're planning to get some shopping in, it's located not far from Birmingham City Centre and is dead easy to find. From the middle of Birmingham simply get onto the A38 and follow the signs to Nechells. Once on the Lichfield Road (A5127) you need to drive straight for around half a mile until you reach a roundabout, take a second left onto Thimblemill Lane and left again for High Park Street Wing Yip is located at the bottom of this road where it meets Nechells Park Road. You can't miss the dramatic Chinese style architecture as shown in my picture.
Duddeston train station (on the Redditch Lichfield line) is within walking distance of Wing Yip although, to be brutally honest, Nechells isn't the nicest area to walk through at any time of day.
375 Nechells Park Road
Nechells
Birmingham
B7 5NT
Tel: 0121 327 3838
*Open 9.30am 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11.30am 5.30pm on a Sunday*"
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