Mitsuwa Marketplace

Love Japan. Good market with decent selection of groceries. Food court is lovely. Only crappy part about the food court is cash only. Nom nom I’m fat now.

This place is the bomb. Have been coming here for years! This is where I always come to eat Ramen in the food court and fish for sushi. Downside is that the parking lot is smmmmmaaaalllll… did I mention small. Weekends are a pain. I love that it doesn’t stink like other Asian markets.
People have no sense of personal space.

I love this place! Parking lot is a little small but eventually someone leaves & you’ll find a spot. Nearby occ campus (that’s how I found this gem). If you’re looking for a place to kill time & eat some really good food or find little gifts definitely hit up this place!

Once upon a time, …oh…say 35 years ago… I escaped being swallowed up by the giant capitalist ogre, aka Orange County, by turning my back on the beautiful people, those ocean breezes, and chilled foggy mornings and allowing myself to be lured by the Pied Piper to a land of sunshine and low key living. I planted my feet on the «other side», in the Inland Empire to be exact, where freeways still moved, houses had big yards, property values meant I could have twice the house I once had, and ordinary people lived. It was a good place to set down roots, a good place to raise kids. I languished in contentment.
Fast forward to today. Something happened. All the freeways clogged up, the SoCal demographics changed, and worst of all, where I «used» to live in middle OC turned into an Asian foodie paradise. Sadly, where I come from now is relatively unchanged, the same Mexican restaurants reside on every corner, a little bit dowdier if anything. Not saying they aren’t good, they are. But how many ways can you present beans, tortillas and carne anyway? Well, I guess I can’t win them all, but at least the kids grew up right and I still love my home.
But here I am, finally an empty nester. After a healthy dose of Unilocal today, I found myself longing for a Mitsuwa Marketplace fix. And it’s not too far from the nouveauland of dim sum and hanging duck, aka Irvine, another favorite of mine. So, that is why I am so bummed. I love it. I would marry it. I could spend countless hours browsing and noshing and soaking in the cultures that should have been mine! All mine. But instead, I get to drive 30 something miles (including a toll road) to get what coulda/​shoulda been right in my original neighborhood. Wow, is that sucky or what?
Mitsuwa has it’s very own climate: a very comprehensive Japanese grocery store, an exciting all Japanese food court, and a string of indoor mini shops with techie stuff, colorful Japanese toys and dry goods, teas, and even a kiosk where you can watch a chef making the most gorgeous, Japanese, sweet stuffed waffle concoctions known as Imagawayaki (and the line nearly extends out the front door). It is a cultural shot in the arm for those of us who live a more demure, sheltered life in the IE.
There are more Mitsuwa markets around, as far north as San Jose, as far south as San Diego. There is even one in New Jersey and one in Illinois. So put out your own feelers. I think you will find out why it tickles my fancy.

This place seriously needs an audit.
I know you guys have suppliers under contract to exclusively bring you guys imported s— from Japan but that doesn’t mean you can sell expired food with lowered price. Your customers’ stomach is not a trash can. Nope.
The first time I bought shirasu (tiny baby white fishies that are dried up) in a plastic container, a good chunk of that plastic bowl had been broken and now the plastic bits were in my food. Can I tell the freaking tiny white fishies apart from broken bits of plastic? Nope.
The second time I came here I bought a bag of frozen shrimps. The bag was ripped. The third time aka tonight when I bought a whole package of sashimi for over $ 25, pretty much all of the raw fish meat inside had changed color and that helped me realize that they were selling a day old stuff. Tuna — which is really supposed to be bright red if it’s fresh– was pretty much black. Did I just waste like $ 30? Yup. Am I gonna be able to eat this trash? Nope.
Nope. Nope. Nope. This place has got to learn QUALITY CONTROL.

Pretty good size market with lots of choices. Parking is limited like all the reviewers mentioned. Price is not too high considering most products imported from Japan. Their ready made bentonite box and sushi are pretty and tasty. Younger workers are friendlier to approach and ask questions. Older workers are quiet and focused so I stayed away.

Great place to get some Asian food !! Everything always fresh there, I’ll recommend this place to anyone who like Asian fresh food ;)

Coming to Mitsuwa is always a treat for sure. I love that the market has all the traditional Japanese/​Asian ingredients that I can’t always find at a regular supermarket. The variety is good and prices are reasonable.
The food court is my favorite part of Mitsuwa! I always opt to eat at Miyabi-​Tei and LOVE their Miyabi bento. I’ve tried a couple other places but this one stands out the most to me. AaaaND, the beer bar!!! I can’t not mention the beer bar. Grab a drink from here to go with your meal, especially during happy hour. My other 2 favorites here are the Matcha Love stand which serves delicious Japanese flavored ice creams, smoothies, teas and lattes; and J. sweets or Japanese sweets deli, which I come to for the delicious mochi. I can’t leave here without dessert at either or both places!

I love it here. The food court always fulfills any cravings and the best part is that when I take guests, they’re baffled as to why we’re at a supermarket, then they taste the food. The marketplace is also really fun with little knicknacks and kitschy items being sold in the aisles and the little specialty stores. I love the bakery and the snack area in the supermarket.
My go to places are Santouka ramen, the grilled beef tongue place, the chinese place for boba, and the katsu plate special place next to Santouka. CASH only for the food court!

Beware: worst parking ever. Try to arrive well before lunch. The food court is great with plenty of options.
They need to seriously overhaul their parking because it seems to have gotten worse recently.

Mitsuwa is a great place to eat, shop and explore the cultures of Japan. While parking can be quite the hassle, your patience will be rewarded.
If you are here to purchase food then Mitsuwa is the place to be. Every stall will contain some form of Japanese food from: Fried Tempura, Udon, Katsu and much more. My only gripe about this area of the Marketplace is how limited the seatings are. Expand this and it will become a true site for tourists, locals alike.

BRING CASH (up to $ 15 per person) if you want to experience their awesome Food Court! Every KIOSK is unique, specializing with certain dishes that’s not offered by any of the other vendor in that room. One of the kiosks you may want to try is the one offering grilled Beef Tongue. We would like to try one kiosk for every visit we make to Mitsuwa.
Mitsuwa Grocery has many different choices of Matcha Green Tea, including freshly-​prepared sushi, sashimi, uni, unagi, etc. They do accept Debit/​Credit cards.
You will enjoy your visit to this marketplace.

Mitsuwa is like a supermarket home for me. When I miss Japan, which is quite often lol, I find myself at one of the Mitsuwa markets. It’s definitely not the same as being in a Japanese supermarket in Japan but pretty close. I come here if I’m in the area or need to restock on Japanese groceries and ingredients that can only be found here. When I want to watch my Japanese programs or movies on DVD, I buy them here for super cheap. Maybe I am biased because I’m Japanese but maybe not, I believe Japanese markets are cleaner than other Asian markets. It’s important to be clean, it shows that you care about your customers. Ok pros and cons!
Pros:
–Lots of little stores and there is a food court… you can almost find anything Japanese here.
–They have a bookstore here with Japanese books and magazines.
–SNACKS and DRINKS.
–Pastry shop in grocery store and obento boxes
–Video store
–Elevator posters almost always has funny drawings or mustaches drawn on celebrities lol.
–Fav places to eat are Santouka ramen, miyabi tei, and gyu tan!
— Buy the squash car air freshener here!
Cons:
–Parking sucks and people will hit your car eventually if you park on the first level.
–Food court only takes cash… they seriously need to get with the program for real, it’s almost 2016. I think they would make more money if they changed this system. They have an Bank of America ATM by the elevator.
–Food court can get super crowded and no place to sit down.
–Everything is about 3 times the price in Japan :’(

What’s not to love about a Japanese market?! Nothing! The mitsuwa market chain is by far the best one among other japanese markets. They carry a very wide selections of snacks, candy, drinks, dry/​frozen/​fresh goods, and difference condiments. I was looking for a specialty jap chips that you can only find in Japan, but guess whaat? I FOUND THEM HERE! :)
Another aspect of why i love this place is the food court… seriously though? Have you ever seen such a glorious food court?!? «emoji insert with the happy tears»

If you’re looking for a large selection of Japanese things e.g. food, produce, tea, cosmetic, pastries, gifts, etc. in one place, Mitsuwa is probably the best shot around here. In addition they have a huge food court which was the reason for my visit and this review.
I came here on a weekday for lunch (11:30’ish) and parking was crazy. I don’t want to know what it’s like on a weekend. Some older couple in the parking garage almost reared into me as I walked to the exit. The Asian driver stereotype, let’s not elaborate on that.
It wasn’t a surprise to find the food court crowded and busy judging from the chaos in the parking lot. There are a couple stores offering sushi, ramen, udon, rice bowls, matcha and every standard Japanese dish in between. Since it was my first visit I had to go with Hokkaido Ramen Santouka which I reviewed separately. After I placed my order, finding a table was challenging. I took the first available across the hall and didn’t worry about missing out on my order as they yell your ticket number pretty loud (which can be disturbing for some people). I just needed to make sure the yelling came from the right shop/​direction. Don’t lose your ticket, they won’t hand out your food if otherwise.
After my ramen meal, I took a stroll in the grocery area and checked out the many taste sample stands to fill my belly. Yep, mochi and green tea for dessert, way to go.
Tip: Bring cash for the food court.

This is everything you have ever wanted in a grocery store. Fresh produce, Japanese goods and awesome food. Mitsuwa has a kickass food court! You can get all types of Japanese food: curry, sushi, ramen and rice bowls. I love coming here for a hefty lunch. I have never been disappointed eating in their food court, especially with the katsu curry. In the store, there is a bakery and to go section for food. This is the Mecca for cheap Japanese food! Dont’ forget to get the iced matcha tea to go!

Definitely got some really interesting stuff here. The prices are hella expensive tho! I only come for the food court.
Late one night after working out, dude and I met up here to get some quick grub and also to get some trinkets and food items from the store. There was some very unique items that you definitely will not find anywhere else, but the prices are 2 – 3 times more than what other grocery store charges.
I did get a small sashimi plate of blue fin tuna for $ 12, better than restaurants but still expensive. The quality of the fish was so so, it was fresh, just a low grade cut. Food court is the best part, and all the little vendors had some cool stuff to offer.

I don’t usually go here for groceries. Mainly for the food court to get beef tongue but I will be coming here more often now that I’ve found out they sell boiled octopus and great Japanese beer/​sake!

Love places like this where they have a food court selling a variety of Asian food. I always feel like I’m in heaven!
Lunches are all decently priced but a lot of places are cash only.
Parking is always a pain and you have to prey for seats. But you can generally find tables despite how packed this place always is.

What is there not to love about Mitsuwa! Mitsuwa is nestled in a small Japanese mall that has a food court (Santouka ramen, Gyutan, Miyabi-​Tei, Matcha love etc.), bakery, pastry shop and a cosmetic store.
Mitsuwa has everything Japanese that YOU’LL need & more. In the food-​to-​go section, you have the sushi, bento boxes, appetizers and small snacks. In the drink section, you have more than enough choices. You got the meat section with fresh clean packed meat (hello shabu shabu meat). And of course all the goodies such as noodles, candy, snacks from your childhood favourites, sauces, condiments, desserts etc. The items/​products here are a little more than the average asian market, but what you get is quality ingredients & a clean (and sanitary) environment.
We need one in Austinnn!
Note: Bento boxes are discounted during dinner time!