Lost (Yaohan) & Found (Mitsuwa)

Everybody remembers Yaohan. Errr....well, at least, any generation with me and older, will. Yaohan is yet another Japanese retail (used to); and in Singapore, a supermarket(used to). And Yaohan somehow reminds me of fishballs (a trio) on a bamboo skewer/stick - those large round fishballs(with and w/o meat stuffings) smeared with lotsa chilli...woooo....where can I get that now? Former Yaohan stores in the U.S. were bought by Mitsuwa, Maruwa and Marukai - the latter two based in Los Angeles (the SoCal ladies-RM, MW, BC & the rest, any where near you?)

I found Mitsuwa in the Bay Area, NorCal !

Mitsuwa Marketplace
675 Saratoga Ave.,
San Jose CA 95129

Lotsa lotsa of Japanese products...

I would like to get these fresh noodles one day...




And the queue at the cash register was so long...

Practically, the entire store was packed with people (80% Japanese, I think). But it was a weekend (what do you expect ?)

What I bought:


And I got so much of these: Can you find the tofu I used here?


Mitsuwa has definitely more variety to offer but to avoid the crowd, there is always Nijiya.

Tag: , , , ,

14 comments:

  1. Yuzu1/19/07, 3:24 PM

    Wow, I've never stood in a line that long at a Mitsuwa!

    I used to go to the Yaohan shopping center in L.A.'s Little Tokyo a long time ago. Then it shut down for a while. Then it was resurrected as Mitsuwa Marketplace. I rarely go there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. tigerfish1/19/07, 4:38 PM

    It was very long at EVERY cash register :(...could hardly walk along the lanes to browse thru'/explore ingredients/products. Did not want to queue initially but I've gone all the way there...so need to get something to make my trip worth ;p
    In the end, I did not buy much...as you can see, just some cakes, biscuits,crackers that you can get elsewhere...uh-oh!
    But I would love to try those fresh noodles someday if I go again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BuddingCook1/19/07, 10:02 PM

    :) mitsuwa is very close to my work. i've bought yummy snacks from there. i also got some curry mix on sale. yup this one was also a yohan before. it's cool there cause it has a food court.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shilpa1/20/07, 3:56 AM

    You mean Yaohan as in the supermarket that used to occupy Plaza Singapura way way back in the early 80s?? :) That's ancient man! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rasa Malaysia1/20/07, 10:35 AM

    Yes Mitsuwa is just across from the office, and sometimes Budding Cook and I go lunch there. :P

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous1/20/07, 10:08 PM

    buddingcook, so lucky. We have to drive abt 20-30mins to the nearest Mitsuwa. Do you like snacks or just Jap snacks ? You bot SB or Vermont curry mix...seem to see Vermont being on sale in NorCal Mitsuwa b4 but I', more hooked to SB curry since it's quite authentic jap.

    shilpa, shd be the same company but yaohan in sg(the plaza singapura one) a bit localized (if not how come there's fishball on skewer smeared with chilli ?).But yaohan went banktrupt, so this Mitsuwa in US has taken over the old site of Yaohan.

    RM, you are very lucky. I saw the food in Mitsuwa , Norcal is not too bad.

    ReplyDelete
  7. BuddingCook1/20/07, 11:02 PM

    oh it was sb. :) i think it was 1.89? or something i bought like 3. hehe my mother and law has bought me vermont before. :) i like snacks. but they once had a $1 sale and it was sooo cool. hehe so i bought all types of snacks. addicted to fried peanut like snacks. but i try to stay away. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous1/22/07, 7:30 AM

    I used to go to the Yaohan at Bukit Timah. The bbq chicken there is very nice and it cost around $6+.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous1/22/07, 9:49 AM

    buddingcook, look out for SB when they go on sale (2 for $3, usually). I got this deal twice before, recently in R99! I bot it again too!
    I try to stay away from snacks but it's tough :(

    omnivore, was there a Yaohan at Bukit Timah? I only remember the one at Plaza Singapura(basement). $6...seems that bbq chicken price dropped instead of inflated. Now, bbq chicken at cold storage or carrefour only $4.99!;p

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1/22/07, 7:53 PM

    Yes, there used to have one at Bukit Timah and i went there a couple of times before it disappeared.

    ReplyDelete
  11. eastcoastlife1/22/07, 11:38 PM

    I used to go Yaohan Supermarket in Plaza Singapura when I was in primary school, because my Mom works there as a cook. She deep fried the crispy Yaohan chicken wings. Her colleagues would secretly pass food for me and my two younger brothers.

    We were poor and there was no way we could even afford to spend 70cents on a chciken wing then.

    My Mom's pay was only S$400 then. And she has many scars on her two hands due to the splattering oil everyday. It was tough for her.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Keropokman1/23/07, 7:57 AM

    it's like Meidi-ya in SG? or better?

    ReplyDelete
  13. tigerfish1/23/07, 1:56 PM

    eastcoastlike, looks like yaohan bring u many memories. So, did you learn the crispy fried chicken wings
    recipe from her ?

    KM, this one seems to be bigger, thus carries more products. Better or not? I need to take a good look at Meidi-ya again when i'm in sg.

    ReplyDelete
  14. eastcoastlife1/24/07, 8:27 AM

    yes I did! Can open a stall & sell liao! hehe......

    ReplyDelete