Asian Grocery Store

[ErinB]

Any recommendations for the closed with a good selection?

[JFLinLA]

Erin -- Have you hit the strip of Sawtelle between Santa Monica and Olympic Boulevards? Lots of Japanese stores, restaurants, nurseries, and markets.

[ErinB]

I know the area, but wasn't sure which one to go to.

[mongo_jones]

there's also the huge, very non-japanese user-friendly, japanese grocery store in palms. i forget what it is called now (been through some name changes-- maybe mitsuwa?). basically, take ocean park east to centinela. turn right, keep on trucking past the airport etc, past rose--when you get to palms it'll appear in a large strip mall on your left.

it is a good place for both processed and fresh ingredients, including sushi and sashimi grade fish.

there's a pretty good food court too with great ramen and other stands.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Not Santa Monica, but I HEARTILY recommend you head south to Gardena. An afternoon at Marukai on the corner of Artesia and Western will have you completely addicted to shopping there. Also, Matsui is another great market on the otherside of the freeway (west of the 405) at 1501 West 178th Street - about five minutes away from Marukai.

Both have great food courts, tons of fresh groceries, and all the other stuff needed for one-stop shopping.

[JFLinLA]

I know the area, but wasn't sure which one to go to.

I think the biggest one is called Granada market. However, this stretch is only a few blocks long and you would have a better sense, and a lot more fun, if you just got out there and explored for yourself. It wouldn't take much time. Plan an afternoon and eat along the way.

[tissue]

The on on Sawtelle is called Nijiya.

[Louisa Chu]

My favourites closest to Santa Monica are Nijiya and Mitsuwa.

Nijiya has an amazing selection of prepared foods - my favourite is the salmon bowl - sticky rice, shiso leaf, salmon teriyaki - light on the sauce - and ikura - only about 5 bucks. For me, it's that or Spam roll.

[dano1]

99 Ranch Markets are one of my favorites. There's one in Sepulveda&Victory? i think in the valley, another in Gardena. Not sure about S.M. area though...

hth, danny

[Louisa Chu]

I like the 99 Ranch in Monterey Park better than the one in Van Nuys - but both are a bitch of a drive from Santa Monica.

[mongo_jones]

I like the 99 Ranch in Monterey Park better than the one in Van Nuys - but both are a bitch of a drive from Santa Monica.

do you mean the one in the big complex on 140 west valley? it totally rocks. they have the most amazing fish section. the asian answer to santa monica seafood, except with more, and cheaper. totally worth the drive. we used to make a weekly trip of it--dinner at a different place in the complex each time (that shanghainese restaurant is pretty good--forget the name), then fill the icebox with fish from the market and return home happy. it is one of the things we miss most about the l.a food scene.

[FoodZealot]

ErinB-

do you have specific ingredients in mind? For what it's worth, Nijiya, Granada and Mitsuwa are smaller Japanese markets, with not much else. Marukai has a supermarket size selection of everything Japanese plus housewares, gifts and furniture, but also has many products familiar to Hawaii residents (Gardena/Torrance has a high concentration of Hawaii people).

99 Ranch is a supermarket with more emphasis on Chinese, SE Asian and Filipino products.

Although it's not nearby, for Korean groceries, I prefer Hannam supermarket (Koreatown, Olympic, between Western & Vermont) to HK.

edit: added size comparisons

Edited February 5, 2004 by FoodZealot (log)

[ErinB]

The ingredients I look most commonly for are Thai, Chinese, and Japanese. And, I really don't want to travel very far to get them.

I was hoping for a one stop shopping type of place. In Connecticut, where I'm from, we have an asian market that carries Thai, Chinese, and Japanese ingredients, but I suppose that's probably less common here, given the more diverse and larger population.

I guess I would probably go to Thai town, but ideally, I'm looking for anything around Westwood, Santa Monica, since I don't have much free time while I'm here, except on the weekends.

[FoodZealot]

You know, I always hear that on cooking shows - "you can find these at any Asian market" - but I didn't really put it together that there would be local neighborhood markets that cover several Asian cuisines.

Maybe because people are more willing/likely to drive in SoCal, supermarkets are forced to carry more ethnic items to be more competitive with each other. Then small markets are forced to specialize more and more to compete against supermarkets.