I changed my weekly shopping trip and I ended up with black fungus

I finally had the chance to explore Asian supermarket WH Lung after adding it to my bucket list months ago. You may be familiar with the store as it's directly attached to Chinese restaurant Tai Pan on Blackstone Street.

I've wanted to kit out my kitchen cupboards with more extravagant food for ages. I don't have anything against the retail giants, but they can get a little repetitive.

I was on the hunt for extravagant, interesting and ideally spicy items I could revisit time and again. After a single visit to WH Lung, I think I'll become a regular shopper.

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I was thoroughly impressed by the sheer quantity of options available. Endless varieties of items I was searching for were extended even further by slightly different variants. If you wanted a cooking sauce you had everything from Szechuan, char siu and chu hou to satay, black bean and plum.

Kitchen must-haves like soy sauce and crispy chilli oils sat in their dozens with massive jars available. There was an entire aisle dedicated to seasoning, which is a dream for any home chef to lose themselves in.

There's everything you can dream of and a few nightmare items sprinkled in for good measure. Freezers boast hundreds of dumplings, gyoza, fish balls, spring rolls, hot pot meat rolls, siu mai and more, to name only a few things that caught my eye.

Hidden behind the WH Lung's main wall is a warehouse offering items in bulk. There's another frozen section which includes chicken feet, squid tails, whelk meat and plenty of seafloor creepy crawlies.

There are also refrigerators for fresh produce including leafy vegetables, meats and desserts. After scouring the aisles, this is what I bought:

• Char siu bao buns: £3.15

• Coconut mochi: £3.40

• Hot chicken ramen: £5.60

• Dried udon noodles: £1.40

• Rice sticks: £1.55

• Fried chilli fish balls: £1.80

• Pickled lotus rootlet: £1.80

• Soy milk-less: £0.95

• Pickled radish: £2.15

• Fish roe dumplings: £3.60

• Enoki mushrooms £2.15

• Black fungus: £0.60

• Chu hou sauce £1.80

• Peanut sauce: £1.85

Total: £31.90

The most surprising result of the shop wasn't the items. It was how easily all of these purchases combine with my daily cooking habits.

Although they're not the typical high street brands, they're now welcome and permanent additions to my kitchen. For example, I've swapped the well-known Blue Dragon noodles for Kirin and Akagi because I can taste the difference.

I prefer the texture of enoki mushrooms instead of the unpleasant rubbery texture you experience with typical button mushrooms. The bao buns are a delicious side dish for any Chinese meal. Surprisingly, despite its name, the black fungus is great for soups and ramen bowls, adding a gentle pickled taste that is yummier than it is foul.

If you are nearby or simply want to make a change to your normal shopping habits, give WH Lung a chance. I will definitely return.