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).

Fresh food always, politely personal. Excellent cuisine. An excellent selection of European…read moreproducts for every taste.

I've been a regular customer here and often bought their house-made meat crepes. This time I bought…read more10, and when I got home, they smelled like spoiled meat. I called the store and was told to return them. When I came back, instead of addressing the issue, the employee tried to place the blame on me for not bringing the receipt, shifting the focus away from the fact that spoiled food had been sold. I then received a silent cash refund placed on the counter -- no apology, no explanation, and no acknowledgment of the problem. Selling food that smells spoiled is unacceptable. Handling it without even basic courtesy makes it worse. Very disappointing experience. . 10 -- . . , , , , , . -- , , - . . . .

Euro market is a local Balkan market where you'll find Balkan staples that you won't find in…read moreAmerican markets. It's steps away from Euro Grill. Some go to staples that you'll find in Balkan households are vegeta - a universal seasoning for soups, meats and most dishes, chicken noodle soup packets with said vegeta seasoning (so flavorful, hands down better than any chicken soup you've tried), ajvar (mild to spicy roasted vegetable spread), smoked meats and frozen cevapi to name a few. You'll find tons of candies, cookies, sweats and treats. Keep in mind everything is imported so check dates and remember dates are going to be day first month second. Nelle gives friendly service, he is always so welcoming and happy to see you.

We stopped by after a Bosnian game in Santa Clara and were so excited to see so many Balkan…read moreproducts. It's a cute little store and definitely a must stop if you're in the area. The owner is the sweetest, he gave my son chocolate and treats. We'll definitely be back!

einstein famously said that "everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."…read morewell i'm too simple to accurately interpret that quote and also simply speaking, mitsuwa is not simple AT ALL. why do they have literally everything. every time i come here it feels like another aisle has been added. this is crazy guys i feel overstimulated! in a good way of course ! notable items include LOCAL COFFEE BEANS!!, a random entrance into some claw machine thing, and k beauty. also a matcha stall but it was mid. AND SASHIMI but jagalchi in daly city is much better. prices are okay, there's a lot of interesting things to look at so you might go crazy and buy a lot. or you can be like me and erm just not HELP i'm broke! cashiers are pretty cool looking too they all look like they jumped out of anime

If you're looking for Japanese groceries, snacks, skincare, household goods, and specialty items,…read moreMitsuwa is hard to beat. The selection is extensive, and you can easily spend an hour or two browsing everything from fresh food and pantry staples to beauty products and kitchen essentials. It can feel a little chaotic and crowded at times, especially the parking lot but that's part of the experience. The variety is impressive, and there's always something new to discover. A great stop for anyone who loves Japanese food and culture.

What a great idea when you want authentic FRENCH foods. I have a hard time finding boudin noir…read more It was magnifique!

Pre-ordered $75 of Bordier butter through their Frenchery pre-order program. Pickup date was…read moreconfirmed twice in writing (receipt + the owner's own email) a month ago, then pushed 2 weeks out the day before scheduled date. They admitted they only caught the error because I contacted them. When I said I'd still keep the order and wait, they cancelled and refunded it anyway without asking. Then came the texts: I should find another Bordier vendor because they're "obviously not up to your customer service experience standard," followed by "There's nothing more I can do. Feel free to leave bad reviews." (Screenshot attached.) The refund was quick and there were plenty of apologies, but cancelling against my explicit wishes and then telling me to shop elsewhere was the worst customer-service experience I've had with a specialty food shop.

I have a real problem, I cannot stop coming back to International Food Bazaar and at this point I…read morehave fully accepted it!!! This place has been a San Jose staple for years and has been my go-to main supermarket for as long as I can remember. The selection covers everything you could possibly need, from international products to everyday household essentials all under one roof, the kind of variety that makes any other grocery store feel incomplete. What keeps me coming back just as much as the products is the staff. Many of them have been there for years, always friendly, always consistent, always making you feel genuinely welcomed. That kind of familiarity and warmth is something you just cannot put a price on. You come in for groceries and leave feeling like you just visited old friends. This Food Bazaar is a true San Jose international community treasure and deserves every bit of loyalty it has earned over the years. Highly recommend making it your regular stop, you won't regret it

I've been coming here my whole life! Great ingredients & the food is so good. I always get lunch…read morehere when im nearby. Everything I've had is really flavorful & fresh. The service is so excellent, they always remember me and are so kind!

Unique Market is a great store with a large variety of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern products…read more They have many spices, teas, cheeses, rice, frozen foods, sweets, and Persian items. I was impressed by the variety of stuff they carry. The store is clean and organized, and the staff are friendly and helpful. I recommend this place if you want authentic and unique foods.

Unique International Market has a wide variety of Persian and Middle eastern goods. This local gem…read morewill give you a wonderful and pleasant experience from staff and locally made dairy products ranging to more local fruits and exotic products. My favorite is their Dough a traditional Yogurt Drink made at their market by hand fresh. This is a must experience for everyone to exp

If you're looking for halal Mediterranean/Egyptian food, this spot is definitely worth checking…read moreout! They have tons of options and are very vegetarian-friendly as well. Everything is made fresh to order, and you can really taste the quality in every dish. I especially loved the grilled meats -- they had that perfect smoky char flavor straight from the grill. The staff were incredibly friendly and took the time to explain the different dishes and the best way to enjoy them. Beef, Kofta & Chicken: Super flavorful and packed with spices, with an amazing grilled/charred flavor. I loved being able to build my own wrap with all the different veggies and sauces! Hawawshi Traditional (Egyptian Meat Pie): Similar to arayes, but even more flavorful and juicy. It comes generously stuffed, and the arugula paired perfectly with it. Chicken Breast Bowl: OMG, the fries were so good! The chicken and fries combo worked perfectly together. The chicken had subtle hints of lime and was served over a creamy mayo-style sauce that tied everything together. Salad: Light, refreshing, and topped with onions, pickled veggies, fruit, and vinaigrette. Overall, it's such a fun and casual place to hang out. There's an outdoor patio with self-serve tea and water, and I loved the cozy lights and tent setup. I'll definitely be back!

I was mainly there to get halal goat. Goat prices were reasonable and meat was fresh. I keep going…read moreback here to get goat meat. Once I tried the whole chicken, which was like $17. They were nice enough to skin and cut it. But I found it was mostly bone, with desirable meaty pieces missing. The grocery store had several middle eastern products, which all looked interesting. There was also Gol persian ice cream. They had a reasonably priced food menu as well. I love the Egyptian items in the menu the most. Hawawshi is my favorite. Chicken kofta kabob skewer was good. Beef/lamb shawarma wrap was ok. It didn't have much flavor. They give a garlic sauce (Toom) as side. That is super flavorful. Everything tastes better with it. Side pickled vegetables was very flavorful too.