Mitsuwa Japanese Market

*I am so sorry for the long hiatus. I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well!*

With the pandemic still going on, embarking on long trips wasn’t ideal, so my family settled on sticking with day trips over the summer. So, we decided to visit Mitsuwa, a Japanese market, for some authentic Japanese eats. Mitsuwa comprises a food court and supermarket hybrid, and specializes in Japanese food. When you enter from the front entrance, the supermarket cash registers are to the right, and the food court is to the left. There are also specialty dessert shops, like Mochi Donuts (which are one of my favorite types of donuts and also the specialty of Mister Donut) and Royce’.

In order to avoid the crowds, we opted to visit in the early afternoon during a weekday, and as we’d hoped, the place was much less packed than the last time we’d visited. I was a little stunned at how few people there were, but I supposed it was to be expected, given the combination of both timing and the pandemic. There were COVID precautions in place everywhere, from the signs asking patrons not to eat indoors and to wear masks to the clear plastic barriers that separated staff at the food booths from customers. However, the sampuru (plastic models of menu items that are a staple in Japan) were on display, and they looked as delectable as ever. I’m always stunned at how realistic and delicious they look! It reminded me of the sampuru I saw on my trip to Hokkaido, which you can read about here. We decided to eat first and then return to check out the supermarket, so we made a round of the food court.

We decided on a ramen bowl combo at Santouka, an order of three onigiri (rice balls with various fillings) from Gonbei, and two sets of ready-to-eat sushi from the supermarket. The ready-to-eat sushi might seem reminiscent of sitting in at a restaurant just to order tenders and fries, but even supermarket sushi at Mitsuwa can be expected to be quality! Since the seating area at the food court was closed off, we returned to the car to eat.

From Santouka, we’d ordered a miso broth as the base for the ramen, which came with a Shake and Ikura Rice Bowl (salmon and salmon roe served with rice) and a tea egg.

The attention to detail was evident even in the design of the takeout ramen container: a plastic dish elevated the noodles and toppings from the piping hot miso broth below, which would have prevented them from getting mushy and soggy if we’d waited to eat. The Shake and Ikura Rice Bowl was delicious as well; it had been a while since I’d eaten salmon roe.

I highly recommend ordering onigiri if you’re not familiar with Japanese food and aren’t an adventurous eater; you have a variety of flavors to choose from. We chose ume (sour plum), brown tuna, and shiso onigiri.

After we ate our fill, we returned to the supermarket section of Mitsuwa. There were rows of Japanese fruits and vegetables, kitchen appliances, snacks, beauty products, and alcoholic drinks.

Unfortunately, the Mochi Donuts store was sold out by the time we’d returned, so instead we ended our trip with a visit to Matcha Love, which sells drinks and soft serve with a focus on matcha flavoring. Being a matcha aficionado, I was happy that we decided to stop by. The matcha soft serve ice cream was indeed delicious— it was creamy and rich, and full of matcha flavor. However, the black sesame and matcha ice cream swirl and black sesame shake caught me by surprise. The nuttiness of black sesame played very well with the sweetness and rich flavor of a dairy base. I would highly recommend giving black sesame a try if you ever visit Matcha Love, even if you aren’t normally a huge fan of it— it’s stunningly good!

We also decided to grab two more types of onigiri before we left- eel and kombu, as well as a plate of California Roll sushi from the market. I also decided to buy some natto for the first time, which you can read about in Munchie Log #7 here!

Mitsuwa is a fun place to spend a few hours if you’re looking for a place to shop and buy Japanese food products and dishes. If you’re looking to avoid crowds, plan ahead and choose a day and time when less people tend to be out. Follow COVID protocols as instructed, and you can still have a nice time and stay safe!