You can thank Netflix for this amazing find. While home doing nothing I decided to watch back to back episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. One of the episodes took place in New Jersey and Anthony visited the Mitsuwa Marketplace. I nearly lept out of my seat when I saw this.
I confess that I married a Japan-aholic. My husband, Wesley, loves everything about Japan. There is something about this culture that he is mesmerized by...the quiet dignity of the people, the anime and manga, the technology, the language. You name it, he loves it. When I told him about this Marketplace he didn't hesitate for a second in going there for lunch and some grocery shopping.
The Restaurant:
As soon as you walk into this shopping center, it's like you've been transported to another country. There are specialty food shops that sell a variety of Japanese food and sweets on one side and on the other side there's a grocery store that sells mostly Japanese products. We arrived at 1:30pm on a busy Saturday. We looked around a bit but I already knew I wanted to try some "authentic" ramen so we made our way to the Santouka stand.
The Food:
I suppose this would be considered fast food. You line up and give your order. The cashier gives you a ticket with a number on it, which they call out when your food is ready. You then make your way through this mall-like food court to find an empty table.
Wesley ordered the Miso Ramen with a negi rice bowl and a boiled egg on the side. He was hesitant about eating the egg but once I grabbed a half and threw it in my bowl, he did the same and enjoyed it.
I ordered the Soy Sauce Ramen bowl. Let me just say, the Japanese people don't joke when it comes to their noodles. This ramen was unbelievable. The broth had a creamy, yet light taste to it. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the pork was out of this world good. I couldn't stop commenting about it every time I'd take a bite of the tender pieces. This tastes a million times richer than the ramen bowls you buy in supermarkets.
Wes and I agreed that my ramen tasted a little better than his although both were very good. The bowls are pretty big so it fills you up by the time you're done. Not so full that we couldn't get some dessert though.
There are around six different stands that sell sweets so you have plenty to choose from. We stopped at one that sold Mochi sweets. We ordered the red bean paste filled mochi, a white bean mochi, and a mochi in sesame seed sauce. The red bean isn't so bad once you get passed the fact that you're eating beans that are sweet. The white bean was a little too chewy for my taste. As much as I really tried to keep an open mind, I couldn't stand the sesame seed sauce and mochi together. Wesley disliked all three of them. They are definitely an aquired taste.
After our delicious lunch and interesting dessert, we walked through the grocery section to pick up some goodies for home. It was a little difficult to find certain things because these were all Japanese brands that we were unfamiliar with. We really had to read the labels to see what we were buying but I liked the variety they had here.
We found the things we wanted and also bought some extra snacks like mochi ice cream and pot stickers and creamy soft drinks.
The Price & Final Thoughts:
The ramen shop came out to $20.30. The sweets were $6.00. This leaves lunch at a total of $26.30.
I found the ramen to be a little pricey although it was very filling. The shopping center also had above average prices. I would go back to try some more of the lunch stands because everything looks so good but I most likely wouldn't use the grocery section again unless I'm looking for a specific Japanese product.
To find out more about Mitsuwa Marketplace visit them at: www.mitsuwa.com
