Japanese supermarkets in the USA - CALIFORNIA, BOSTON

For those of you who don't know, I have been constantly updating my twitter feed @jpinsider!

Now to the main topic of today.

Thanks to California (San Diego), I was introduced to numerous sophisticated and legitimate Japanese supermarkets!
MITSUWA, NIJIYA and MARUKAI being the main ones. I loved them! It reminded me of grocery shopping in Japan. You can find any kind of Japanese food product you can think of at all these stores. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to step into Marukai since I fell in love with Nijiya, but I must say, the selection available at both Nijiya and Mitsuwa is outstanding. Ready-made bentos, thin sliced meats, pickled vegetables, frozen foods, snacks, bread, alcohol and the list goes on.

Now that I am back in Boston/Cambridge, MA, I have lost that privelage. The closest Mitsuwa is apparently in New Jersey...The one and only Japanese "mini" supermarket in Boston is on Newbury street, "Cherry Mart". It's tiny and quite pricey but it is a place to go when I am in need (349 Newbury St).

I've also been to another small but legitimate Japanese supermarket located in
Brookline called Japanese Village Mart (200 Washington St), but
it's too far for me; if you're close, definitely check it out!

Some other alternatvies for a Japanese supermarket may be going to a Chinese supermarket (e.g. C-MART) located in China Town and such, but I question the cleanliness; therefore have stopped visiting. I just don't enjoy the experience there as a consumer.

Recently I've observed many Japanese products being available at large retail chains like Shaws. I've seen Japanese green tea (from O-i-ocha), pre-packaged yakisoba, pre-packaged udon/soba, soy sauce, rice...Doesn't fully satisfy my Japanese heart but definitely a minor option.


                                                                       (e.g. Yakisoba from Sapporo ichiban)

I used to buy pre-made Japanese products to consume, but now that I don't have
 that privelage I've turned to pure, fully homemade Japanese dishes! (Below is my
chahan, Japanese fried rice) Let me know if you would like recipes of this dish or any other dish :)