Unusual Korean grocery store with "premium" products. . .I saw them unpack boxes that were packed…read morein ice, some stuff here I'd never seen before in other Korean stores, things suitable for gift giving. A woman possibly the owner was very friendly though she mostly spoke Korean. They had some Korean cosmetics and I got some for half off. The store is tiny but the items are well displayed.

Growing up in the early 80s, there were only a few small Korean grocery stores around here. Over…read moretime, I see big markets like Hankook Market, Kyo Po Market, Mega Mart, and H Mart and it's been amazing to see the change. But, I really miss those old mom/pop grocery stores there was such warmth and heart in those places. Wooltari, though a smaller grocery store, is on a different level. They carry high quality food, most of which comes directly from S.Korea either frozen or dried to preserve its freshness. Seafood, variety of rice cakes, ready to eat meals, excellent sesame oil, handmade dumplings, seasoning marinades, crab, and many organic items. I tried their frozen persimmon shake a bit pricey, but I loved it. I think the guy working there is the owner, and he's incredibly pleasant. If you have any questions about Korean food, he'll kindly answer them all. I highly recommend it definitely check it out.

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.

Little secret hidden gem…read more Get your snacks from the mainland here, all sorts of eastern chinese snacks. Prices are very fair (you have to realize that it is not cheap to get these shipped + tariffs). But the prices are very very honest and fair. Staffs are great and the selection is very decent.

This is such a cute and cozy Taiwanese convenience store filled with many different Taiwanese…read moresnacks and drinks. My husband and I visited while waiting for a table at Flaming Ox, the restaurant next door. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted warmly by the cashier and we browsed around leisurely looking at all the different food items. This establishment is small, but there are so many different offerings: pineapple cakes (a Taiwanese staple), chili oil, tea, coffee, ice cream, and so much more. I'd really love to come back here and try out the more unique foods like their rice cakes and mung bean ice cream, but my husband and I got a notification that our table was ready so we went to eat our lunch. We returned after our meal and were greeted again. We looked at all the pineapple cakes again because my family enjoys them so much and my husband wanted to gift them a box for a Christmas present. All of the boxes are so beautifully designed and we finally settled on one. The cashier was very kind and talked to us about the iTaiwan membership and how to get the most benefits out of it. She also packaged the pineapple cakes in a cute bag for us for free! A very cozy story run by cute people. I will most definitely visit again.

Stopped in for kimbap & produce, found parts of the ready-to-go food area had been updated with…read moremore choices - inc. more sushi rolls, poke bowls, & ice cream. Service is always fast, store is always clean, & you are always bound to find a new delicious food to try.

Shame on me for not realizing this place existed. I love…read morethe variety of asian markets in the South Bay, my usual is mitsuwa but after seeing this on Yelp we decided to give it a visit. The pictures I've seen didn't do this place justice, it was way bigger then I expected, it reminds me of hmart but there was no crazy crowds as a hmart can have so we were able to leisurely shop without having to navigate oncoming cart traffic thought the aisles. We stocked up on various snacks and there was a huge amount of grab and go foods. We were heading for dinner after so I didn't get to try what I wanted but there is next time because the bossom looked delicious. We got a bunch of the Dubai cookie mochi things, an other baked goods, some chicken wings and japchae. The prices I feel are really good. I'm not sure if it'll replace my trips to mitsuwa entirely but I really can't wait for the next time we are in that area to visit again

I found this spot while looking for pierogies for my husband and was really happy we came across…read moreit. It's a great place for Eastern European foods with a nice variety of unique items you don't easily find elsewhere. We tried a few things, the sourkraut pierogies were okay, but the classic potato and cheese pierogies were delicious. We also picked up some Russian wafers and a few other items, which was fun and nostalgic. We tried their in home sour cream, and hands down it's the best sour cream I have ever had (and I am typically not a sour cream person but this I liked). They even carry butter from Turkey, which was interesting to try. Overall, a solid spot with lots of good finds, and we'll definitely be back to grab more goodies. Their service is decent, and they have their own parking lot out front, and have good hours!

Extremely expensive but it tastes absolutely delicious…read more Make sure to always check the expiration date.

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).

Cuper-Market is just located by I 85- that makes it a prime spot for gas and munchies and oil for…read morethe CAHR. Awe, damn. Stuff like that. I randomly happen to be at this place with my dad, for a gas stop and saw they carry OWL Chocolates! HOO. HOO. They seem to be somewhat of a rare candy to find, only seen them at on 4th in Downtown San Jose. I think each single owl candy is about 1 cup of Joe! It actually tastes good and not all funky. They have regular stuff like Star-B. Capps, energy drinks, hot dogs, newspaper, and a bunch of other Crispies like Ruffles!! I think this market used to be a 7-E like this year, the gas station is still here. El.Oh.El. They also carry dry fruit and have hot foods too. + Not far from Foothill Expressway Gas Near I85 and De Anza Blvd and 280............ - Pumps don't work sometimes. Traffic crazy corner. trust. Watch for more foot/ bike traffic lately. Enso#106 Cuper-Market#2 Yr:48 _Gimmie the code!

This place is amazing, with almost everything you need with high quality and good price!…read more My favorite is its premier coffees (both hot and cold ones served by different machines), different flavors (mocha, cappuccino, french vanilla), different sizes. High quality yogurts, including Chobani. Hot dogs, fresh from the grill. Sunglasses. Very clean and modern place, and very friendly cashier.

Judy's store is located in Sunnyvale. Her food is freshly made. She offers some Taiwanese cuisines,…read moreas well as freshly baked bao, cakes, and rolls. She also serves some specialty Taiwanese dishes. Winter is the perfect season for a comforting bowl of sesame oil chicken soup. The rich aroma of sesame oil blends beautifully with the warmth of ginger, while tender chicken pieces soak up all the flavorful broth, sweetened slightly by goji berries. Each spoonful warms you from the inside out on a chilly day. Pair it with smooth, delicate noodles to enjoy the full taste of home. Whether you're missing the flavors of your hometown or simply want to soothe your body and soul, a bowl of sesame oil chicken soup is always the most heartwarming choice. You could find the order link and pick up in store: https://shop.goairmart.com/c/s/78348/creator/1f8aa3b2-5857-5811-baa5-6759c35c2bb9?utm_medium=s

3-3.5 stars, but not quite 4 for my first visit so rounding down. I've had Judy's on my bookmarks…read morefor a while now, but you have to pre-order for pick up; although they have a retail space, walk-ins are not accepted. They are located in the small plaza with the Firestone tires.I tried: [https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=4F_GkBMNfdIOMDH_NQ8pBg&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg, https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=cwKpJY_YulaytMoDAqYeyg&userid=76vIFZcC7owykCBjMfGVXg] -Matcha Roll Cake w/Red Bean Filling: I liked the matcha flavor, which was strong but not overpowering. However, the cake was a bit dry, and the red bean in the filling was undercooked and on the hard side. I liked how light the cake was, and the whipped cream filling, and likely came on an off day. -Chocolate Roll Cake w/Pudding Filling: The chocolate cake was more moist than the matcha, and I liked the chocolate flavor, which was present but not too strong. The pudding and whipped cream filling were good, but I didn't think they quite went with the chocolate cake. All the ingredients seemed very fresh and quality, and I would come back to give their fruit desserts a try. No seating is available. Parking was easy to find since this small plaza had plenty of spots.