In Korea, grocery shopping is split into traditional markets, neighborhood supermarkets, big-box marts, and department store food halls… but in Japan it is broken down even further. There are supermarkets that go all in on the upscale side, there are discount supermarkets, and there are ones focused mainly on groceries. Detailed rankings float around on social media, but what I clearly notice is that each supermarket carries completely different products. Even beyond private-label goods. So if you want something, you have to go to the store that sells it, and there is no way to get everything in one place. I am not sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I ended up spending a lot of time in supermarkets.
Bio Atsumi
It is not terribly far from the station, but it sits in a rather quiet spot. You would not guess it from the outside, but this place sells seriously high-end ingredients. In Korean terms, department store food hall level? Except it is not in a department store…
Fruit like this
Just glancing around, they have everything that makes you go, they even sell this? Passion fruit at 754 yen… sure, that is cheap in Southeast Asia, but the fact that they carry it at all is something. Either way, it is impressive that you can get such a variety of ingredients here. And in Hamamatsu, not even Tokyo.
Mangoes and so on…
The color and sheen are no joke… You will never see fruit of this level at a place like AEON.
Seafood
Lots of good ingredients here…
Sausages
They are pricey, but these are sausages with proper brands behind them. Put it this way: at AEON, Schau Essen is the most premium option, but at this supermarket that level simply does not exist…
Canned goods
Just looking at them, there seems to be so much fun stuff that I would love to try them one by one… but no time? That sort of situation…
I was surprised to see this: they sell Mestemacher.
This is a healthy rye bread. It is not expensive either, and I never expected to see it sold at an ordinary supermarket. In Korea it is hard to buy even online.
Peanut butter and jams
These too are all premium products I have never seen or heard of. If they are made as properly as the labels claim, the prices are not even that high.
Breads
They have gathered only the decent bread brands.
Breads
The level here does not seem like supermarket level…
Sausages and hams
These also looked delicious across the board, at the level of, say, ones that came from Kagoshima. I left just thinking I really have to buy some next time…
Snacks to go with drinks
There is pate too, and lots of things that look great with a drink.
Strawberry jam
Strawberry jam with the berries still intact, 1620 yen. Naturally, a good strawberry jam made with that much care is not going to be cheap. But jam of this level is not easy to find even at a department store, and here it is… It is a fun place, so I will have to keep dropping by whenever I can.
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