new year - new jersey.

today, i finally ventured out to new jersey, after my first attempt made in mid-december failed miserably and i only ended up inhaling exhaust fumes for about half an hour instead of crossing the hudson river. but we won't talk about that.

so - since i moved to ny, i've noticed the lack of a japantown/little tokyo out here. sure, there are a few stores and restaurants scattered about the city, but three stores on the same street hardly makes for something we would dub any kind of mini mecca of japanese goodies.

although it's not japantown, my brother, recently transplanted from LA, has been raving (quite madly) about the mitsuwa in new jersey. (fyi - mitsuwa is basically a japanese supermarket, akin to marukai and the deceased yaohan, which also houses a few fast food joints within their building.) apparently, new jersey is where the japanese ran off to and if that's where their ramen and croquettes are at - that's where my brother's going to go. after making several trips by himself and with his gf, he insisted that i too must go.

and i did.

my verdict: OHMYGOD. mitsuwa, new jersey - you are my sunshine.

major points to you mitsuwa because:

1) santouka ramen. i actually didn't have any today, but i still remember the deliciousness of your shio-tonkatsu broth and chasu, with the slightly al dente ramen noodles, which could all be ordered as a small bowl (yes! i can actually finish it all!), from los angeles. the fact that there's one here automatically shoots mitsuwa up in the top ten of my favorite places to go.

2) a place that sold only imagawayaki. typically i've gotten these warm red-bean filled bits of heaven at obon festivals, but lo and behold, they had them here! plus, they also had "creamyaki", which was filled with custard instead of the paste.

3) bento boxes and ready-made sushi galore. seeing all those familiar black-bottom plastic containers cradling niku don and spicy tuna rolls almost made me tear up a bit. i had to pick up some sushi to go, as well as some marinated baby octopi (MmMmMmmm tentacles!)

although not as extensive of a grocery selection as gardena's marukai (always the winner in my heart), the nj mitsuwa put a rather good offering of products that i haven't seen altogether at one place since i left california.

all in all, mitsuwa - you rock.