Strolling around the Creative Quarter, there are few more arresting sights than the lanterns and the Chinese lettering that adorn the front of the Asia Market, which has been a mainstay of this culturally rich and diverse Dublin neighborhood since 1981. Also visible from the street are the deli counter serving bubble tea and hot steamed prawn, pork and char siu buns and dumplings and the terracotta warriors that stand guard over one of the city-centre’s most unique and viscerally thrilling spaces. A riot of exotic smells, tastes and colours, the Asia Market has grown from a single store just down the road from its present flagship, into one of the country’s most dynamic businesses with a sister Duck Hong Kong BBQ deli restaurant around the corner on Fade Street; a second store out in Ballymount, Dublin 12, and an online shop stocking Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, South Korean, Philippine, Mediterranean and Western goodies.

“We want people to be able to pop in and get an authentic taste of Asia,” explains Eva Pau, who moved to Dublin as a month-old baby and remembers playing hopscotch outside on Drury Street whilst her parents looked after customers. “They were working seven days a week, so the store was my playground,” Eva adds with a smile. “In the early days, my dad did all the deliveries and my mum took care of the invoicing which, because there were no computers, had to be done by hand. The scale of the business has changed completely, but the passion and love we invest into the Asia Market is the same as it was back in 1981.” No matter how many times I visit, and I’ve been an Asia Market regular since the ‘90s, I always manage to find something new – especially in the fresh vegetable department where a friendly member of staff is required to tell me whether the item in question should be boiled, braised, roasted or fried – or a combination of all four! Asia Market has also been central over the past three decades to my torrid sake love affair! Eva and her team will be at the heart of the celebrations over the next few weeks as the Year of the Dog is ushered in with an exciting series of Asia Market events. February 16 is dumpling day with free samplings, a cooking demo and a talk about the origin of the dumpling – I’ll be the guy with the man-bun down the front taking nerdy notes! – with more goodies to be sampled in the aisles on the 17th and 18th. “It’s a wonderfully hectic time for us,” Eva enthuses. “We love people coming in, asking questions and experiencing a genuine slice of Asia that they won’t find anywhere else in Ireland.”

Asia Market, 18 Drury Street, Dublin 2

Merrywell Business Park, Ballymount Lower, Dublin 12.

Tel. (01) 677 9764

See asiamarket.ie for details of their February 8, 15 and 22 and March 1 Tasting Tours, and February 16 and 23 and March 2 Lunchtime Cultural Tours.