Super cute Filipino/asian store! With all the big stores like Seafood City and Island Pacific, I…read morehope they survive and thrive for a long time. They have a small produce section and I found malunggay! Also got green mangoes (about bit pricey). Everything was super fresh. Definitely would be back!

I like supporting this small business in Sunnyvale. They are conveniently located next to one of my…read morefavorite hole in the wall Pinoy restaurant, Clarita's. They have all the *fresh* produce needed to make your homemade tinola, arroz caldo, singigang, adobo-they got it all. They tend to regularly have stuff I can't find at even Seafood city such as green baby mangoes, malunggay (moringa in English), and calamansi! I usually call ahead to confirm before I make the drive out. It's also a very well maintained/ clean store. They have their snacks, random filipino knick knacks (barrel man, mini parol, etc.). Leading up to the holidays, they will have those gigantic stars to celebrate Christmas in Filipino style. Many of these small stores are hard to come by these days as many are closing up shop so please visit this place for your Pinoy needs.

Joyheart is a part of a Taiwanese buddhism organization. (There are many.) They used to…read moreimport/resell "clean" things -- vegetarian, pollution free, etc. -- for the members; similar to halal or kosher labelling, but not formal. For popular demand, they opened to the public, then moved to this location a few year back. Most things here are "buddhism compliant", if your restrictions are strict, ask for the exactness. Recently, they started to offer "wheel pie" 車輪餅. It's a popular Japanese/Taiwanese snack. Basically a pancake-like batter to form the shell made a mold, then fill with whatever. This nostalgic snack were well made: crisp shell (toast oven reheat well) and fillings delicious and at the right ratio. Pick your own flavors among about a dozen.

Who knew there was a grocer, cooking school, events space and other stuff in what looks like an…read moreold tech office building? A friend of a friend told us about this place and we came to find a ton of mainly Taiwanese goods. Since the island is famous for tea we picked ups few of their organic only selections. The employees are super helpful and explained a lot of the goods to us. Need to comeback and explore more of their services

I've lived in Santa Clara my whole life and have passed by this market so many times. The only time…read moreI remember ever being in this plaza was for the restaurant next door. This week I decided to finally set foot in this supermarket to see what it was like and oh man, I love this place. I love that it never got a renovation and still feels frozen in time. I love the shelf space organization and the overall vibe, especially with the Chinese music playing throughout the store. I was very surprised with the amount of Filipino products available for purchase (I'm Filipino) cause I wasn't expecting to see so many familiar brands and ingredients in a store very close to home other than Western Pacific. I really liked the variety of snacks and items from Sheng Kee Bakery available too, I thought that was pretty dope. The service here was pretty good too when it came down to paying at the register, the staff was very friendly and welcoming. I really wasn't expecting this supermarket to lure me in the way it did but I'm happy it did and I'm looking forward to continuing to support this local gem.

A-Okay Asian Supermarket…read more New Wing Yuan Market offers your typical products found in your average Asian market. Snacks, produce, meats, seafood, instant noodles, and even cooking pots, bowls, & eating utensils. While the store may not look its best, I do appreciate the large aisles that allow for comfortable maneuvering. It's always great when people aren't in your personal space. A perk of coming to New Wing Yuan Market is the large variety of packaged instant noodles. No need to commit to a box or even having to get stuck with a pack of 6- here they offer tons of single package brands & flavors. 3 stars as a whole. I wouldn't mind coming back out of convenience if I was in the area but the pricing here is slightly higher than the Asian market located near home.

Beef No' Guy here…read more For today I'll be the Hokkaido Fair Man. Folks it is still not too late to check it out. http://www.yelp.com/events/san-jose-hokkaido-food-fair-mitsuwa-supermarket runs from 9/18 to 9/21 Low tech cel phone pix http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=bxwgG7b_cC-oH1Os-_QpRQ But is it worth the trip if you are coming from as far up as SF? That depends how hungry for a slice of Hokkaido you are. This Hokkaido Fair is arguably much smaller than the ones at Costa Mesa and Torrance which hosted Sumire's miso buttercorn ramen and another vendor's. $an Jo$e only got $antoka, FYI, so if you love shio ramen you are in luck. $antoka Ramen temporarily takes up shop in Mitsuwa's Daikichi Sushi booth (that has a full blown kitchen in the back), where they sell sushi and bento boxes to go, adjacent to Miyabe Tei. For $7.99 + tax (ca$h only), you get a ticket to redeem one bowl of freshly piping hot ramen. Quickie slam bam thanks doods and mam's review: $ANTOKA RAMEN (Kanji is Fire Head Mountain, like a volcano) Men - good yellow and not too thin slightly curly al dente slurpy noodles that were a bit on the hard side. Net reports say the noodles are imported from Japan. Toppings - one thin but large piece of cha shu, followed by two small blocks. Nice flavored porkgasm. - Not sure why they put the fishcake in there, but it was not needed. - Several long slices of menma (bamboo shoot) that was decent but I've had better. - Several strips of nicely cooked kikurage (woodear funghi or mushroom) - freshly cut up negi (scallions) that elevated the experience - the grape sized looking chesnut was UMEBOSHI! WOOOOOOOOOOOF it kicked my ass. Tasty but interesting addition to the ramen. Broth - fatty but flavorful, thick, and well textured. Shio-Tonkotsu? Definitely a highlight. Overall? 3.75 stars. Fan$ who are $ick of overhyped $anta Ramen (aka $aint Nizzle) will enjoy thi$ bowl that is a ta$te of Southern Cal Japanese ramen and probably better than most of the top 10 in the SF Bay Area. My biggest gripe? They used disposeable bowls. Creeps me out that the uber hot broth and ramen contents will cause chemical reactions to break down the material of the bowl. It is like drinking hot coffee from a styrofoam vs ceramic cup. C'mon $antoka, please use CERAMIC bowls and REAL wooden spoons otherwise it's high end food court ramen. When inquired with the cashier, she was unable to tell me whether Santoka plans to open in the SF Bay Area, but they have a location in hmmm Chicago, and New Jersey as well as Southern Cal. Either way, if you are sick of the SF Bay Area ramen scene, head to Mitsuwa SJ this weekend to see why Southern Cal has it good. Other than that, there was a Hokkaido Seafood booth that sold mini bento boxes of crab meat, crab legs, ikura, and uni over sushi rice. Kanikosen Bento (crab and ikura) - $15.90 + tax King crab gokai bento box (leg meat and ikura) - $19.90 + tax Sanshoku Bento box (all three minus crab leg) - $17.90 Skip the uni, it tasted meaty and dry. Uni is supposed to be smooth and silky. Imagine having female gonads and tasting male gonads instead (uni that is). Ugggh....Hokkaido uni fans will be very disappointed. (Update: Thanks Randy F for spotting that the folks were DEFROSTING the uni, squid, crab etc). However the Hokkaido ikura was "bomb a$$ yo", where you can taste the natural flavor (unlike overly salty salt marinated ikura from farmed generic salmon fish bait offering clumped together that looks like George Costanza's shrinkage at your local pseudo sushi joint). Next to the seafood bento booth were two booths of deep fried stuff (croquettes). In the back of the right corner of the supermarket is the rest of the fair, ranging from fresh seafood/whole fish from Hokkaido, refrigerated desserts/cream puffs/caramel candy from the city of Otaru, a booth that sells assorted snackeries from shiokara to marinated fish. The only fresh dessert snack made on the premise is Ishikari Ohaga, a ball of flavored rice (could be sticky rice, but uber small grains), wrapped with dark delicious looking red bean paste all over (hence the shape of a stone, or ishi). Also spotted: Fish booth: Big whole piece of kinmedai (alfosino) Karei (flounder) Surume squid Pike Mackeral Marinated seafood booth ($13.99 to $49.99 /lb): Ika Shiokara Koika Tobiran Karashi Mentaiko Asari Jyan Ikasashi Wasabi Ika Jyan Kara Ikasashi Matsumaezuke Hotate Wasabi Miso Ika Shiokara Kazunoko Matumaezuke Amakuchi Tarako Hokkai Tako Wasabi Yubari Melon Jelly - $7.99 Hokkaido Eco friendly red beans Hidaka Seaweed (Konbu) - $10.99 Hokkaido Vinegar (3 kinds) Seafood bento booth: Ika Meshi Bento Box - $5.90 (two pieces of grilled squid over rice) Go go go! Hokkaido Fair Man - Miso Hawny For $antoka $hio Ramen and Hokkaido Ikura, Me Luv You LONG time! Well until the end of $unday. :-(

I had heard about these festivals at Mitsuwa before, but I always missed them because I was too…read morebusy. So this year after getting several reminders about it in the Chow website, I made an extra effort to not miss it. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=09ldJd8T-yEYWWuaQkGFrw I got to try the shio ramen with pork broth ($7.99) from the Santoka booth, located to the left as you enter the store. It was good. CASH only. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=e2YlIJU0nf1H5n85h7634w Once you enter on the right side of the market, it's like in any supermarket, you pick up anything you want to buy and then take your basket to the register when you're ready to pay. Credit cards accepted. My favorite items were the croquettes (what can I say, it's fried food): http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=xojt96xqBBAnMuFfqW-dNw - corn, vegetable, priced at 3 for $4 (or $1.50 each) - fish cake, fish cake with crab, with scallops, with shrimp, etc. all @$2.50 each They also had a tiny version with squid, 20 for ~$5. I didn't think that those were worth it, so I skipped them. The croquettes were so good that I had to get 2 orders, but more about this later. I bought the king crab sushi combo for $15.90 - 3 slices of maki roll and 4 slices of oshi sushi (pressed sushi). Expensive, Costco sells king crab @$15/lb. Ishikari Ohagi, 2 kinds, sold in packs of 2 for $4. This is sweet glutinous rice balls wrapped in sweet red bean paste, one smooth & one coarse. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=27RnbWcag8j5TcHPTGwrkw They had a display of seafood from Hokkaido for sale that included hairy crab, king crab, squid, clams, snapper, flounder, mackerel, fish roe, etc. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=8u4tAzWFxo_lNF9q4rPk2g Marinated seafood from Yamacho Hasegawa. This was really great! I got to sample all of them. They were all good, but I liked the ones with wasabi better (it wasn't too spicy). http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vvguHpTixlM3xztWDybefw?select=hgqtOomy6xvPhHhBLytX-Q I also bought some of their specialty sweets and grocery items, including their melon jelly. There was no Kare Pan (curry bread) here, but you can always head to the Clover Bakery & Cafe located next door along with other retail stores, to buy some Kare Pan, sandwiches, assorted breads and pastries. Apparently some customers bought an empty box of the frozen cream puffs from Hokkaido, so the employees were opening and checking all the boxes. They found about 8 empty boxes. I think that they gave some free samples earlier, but someone mistakenly put those empty boxes in the freezer. Later I decided to go back to the croquettes booth section, and one silly security guard was following me around thinking that I was not going to pay for the food I picked up. I kindly asked the serving lady to make me another order of the croquettes because I had already eaten everything, and I showed her my basket with empty containers. The security guard laughed and then left me alone. At the checkout register the bagging lady was chuckling because I was paying for empty containers (I had already devoured half of what I was buying).

My friend has been talking about this place for a while. I finally stopped by to buy yuba (fresh…read moretofu skin) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ha7zOLIhvjU?si=kHP0vGPjL8Y5VLah. This is a small Taiwanese grocery store founded by 3 moms where you can get frozen or refrigerated quitems not in regular Asian markets. My friend says Penghu fish is hard to get in Taiwan. We are lucky to get it here. They also have fresh Chinese vegetables, tofu and work with local restaurants to deliver to shop for pick up. You need to join their line group and order there. Everything is in Chinese but Line can translate notes. If you order $20, you get $1 coupon for frozen bakery items you can toast. I got this small chocolate puff with $3 coupon. It was good.

I've somehow run into two Taiwanese markets back to back. Between the post office and Starbucks is…read morethis tiny corner market that specializes in a lot of frozen foods and dry goods from Taiwan. I had previously been to one that specializes in vegetarian and organic produce from the island. Having never been I didn't realize there was such specific niches that made it to CA . Since I was on the way to errands i did t get to linger but they have a lot of things In not familiar with. It would like to try and cook with.

This seems to be a very authentic Korean bakery. I got a Soybean Rice Cake and a Black Sesame Rice…read moreCake. The soybean flour tastes very good. Both texture is soft and chewy. The portion is small and the price is a bit high.

Situated inside a Korean plaza with Kunjip, Ewha was unfortunate to be affected by its neighbor…read moreIndian restaurant that they had to do some construction work. It looks like they've been closed since Jan this year with only the electrical license inspected on the 16th of Jan. So don't waste a trip like I did.

Tokyo Central had a surprisingly wide selection of Japanese snacks, specialty items, and premade…read moremeals. The produce section was not as extensive as those at other Asian markets, but it was still adequate. However, the store carried many unique candies and snacks that I have not seen elsewhere. Notably, sakura flavored products were especially common during my visit. There were two large sections dedicated to premade meals, including rice bowls, hand rolls, onigiri, and sushi. The rolls seemed overly heavy on the rice, with relatively little fish filling. The prices also felt somewhat high for the portion sizes. However, the store offers a 20 percent discount on sushi and bento boxes daily after 6 PM. I ordered the nigiri combination, which included salmon, tuna, and scallop. The scallop was plump, and the tuna was sliced thickly. The salmon was slightly thin but still rich and fatty. Overall, the fish quality was good. The sushi rice was above average, with a distinct vinegar flavor despite being refrigerated. The total cost for the eight pieces was close to restaurant pricing, though the convenience factor partly justified it. I would rate this market a 3.5 out of 5 but rounded up for the good sushi rice. I would recommend shopping elsewhere for produce, but this is a good place for snacks and premade meals, especially after 6 PM.

Tokyo Central as replaced the former Marukai Market in Cupertino. I didn't realize it initially but…read morethe iconic Don Quixote chain in Japan is the parent company, which explains why their private label Jonetz products are featured in the store. The store is clean and popular, with all sorts of Japanese items. There's Andersen bakery items, food to-go, big variety of Japanese soft drinks, and a rotation of weekly features with goods from different parts of Japan. Great location with very good adjacent stores like Izumi Matcha, Daiso, Curry Hyuga, Hui Lau Shan dessert, etc.

So glad Fugetsu opened their second location! They have a ton of options for grab and go Japanese…read moretake out and in this economy, the prices here are fair for the portions they give. There's a lot of snacks, merch, and lots of goods to explore. You name it and it's there.. sushi, bento, onigiri, drinks, or snacks. I'm interested if they'll be adding more things because it's a big space. I do wish there was some sit down benches around this area, but no matter. It's a good way to get a few takeout meals for the week! The team is the same as the Fugetsu marketplace near Mitsuwa. Good quality food here. It's brand new and has a fresh look! Tip: it's hard to find parking spots here. I parked in the residential areas and walked.

Yay! I'm so excited they actually opened! For the longest, their signage was up but I thought it…read morewas because they closed up. Last night we drove by and saw the Grand Opening banner and folks were inside. Fast forward to earlier today. I drove into the lot and should have taken a spot by the empty grocery area. So keep an eye out if there are any open stall near them, otherwise you'll need to u-turn on El Camino. Staff is super friendly. Very organized and clean. There is A LOT of blind boxes (wooohooooo) too. I asked when they officially opened and she said yesterday. I usually go to the one in Saratoga Ave., in the Strawberry Plaza but parking can be annoying. THIS will be my go to since it's less than a mile from home. Their spam musubi w egg was so delicious! I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it. But here's the rest of my haul. Of course I had to get some Smiskis.