Japanese grocery stores in the UK and Ireland

"They have a cooperation with Daiso, a 100yen store chain" (Maki)

I've just looked through the Daiso website
http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/products/
That's really interesting!

Just to add that there are still changes going on at the Japan Centre. I went on the weekend to the new grocery and kitchen/dining goods department and they had a big sale on where all the Daiso stuff was being sold for 1GBP.
They had also just opened a new sushi/sashimi/fish counter at the front of the shop, but this wasn't part of Yoshino.
I can't tackle stairs at the moment so I don't know what happened to the space the grocery section used to share with Yoshino (it's underneath where the Toku restaurant is, in the basement). But this is to advise that the Japan Centre expansion is still being fine tuned and it's all in a state of flux.
Still, it's now become another Japanese store with wheelchair access in London. Good news for those of us who are mobility impaired.
(Sorry I couldn't ask the staff any questions - it was way too busy - the Daiso goods were flying out!)

!ramble alert!
Cute two tier bento boxes are currently on sale for 2.50GBP.
http://www.japancentre.com/?cmd=cat&cid=520
(They seemed nice and sturdy)
They currently have a promotion on Yamato sauces which don't feature in their website, the sudachi ponzu is really, really good, much better than others I've tried - and no MSG!
http://www.yamato-soysauce-miso.com/product_ponzu.html
Apparantly a 3* Michelin restaurant in France uses this range. The He-She-Ho is also pretty amazing and at 3.45GBP not so different in price to the ¥525 it retails for in Japan
http://www.yamato-soysauce-miso.co.jp/okaimono/s_hishiho.html

I use http://www.mountfuji.co.uk/ who will ship to me here in Spain, but I tend to have it shipped within the UK and then pick it up on my next trip.

I don't know if they have a physical shop at all, but here is their address:

UK Office
Mount Fuji International
Nr Shrewsbury
SY4 1AS
Tel: (01743) 741169
Fax: (01743) 741650

Japan Office
Mount Fuji International
Shizuoka
Japan

The basement has changed a lot recently (I'm finally able to manage the stairs)

Yoshino is still there
http://www.yoshino.net/delica/location.html

But the rest of the basement has been transformed into a tea and sake centre.
The range of teas is much more extensive than on the website, also tea utensils are stocked (from 1.50GBp upwards). There's a small but enticing range of fresh wagashi. And lots of sake, shochu and other liquors to choose from.

Indeed, downstairs where the old supermarket was is now a large selection of sake,shochu and tea. With a huge selection of organic green tea along with one organic sake also being sold. (There is more organic sake available on the market, yet Japan Centre need more encouragement to purchase it). Alas, more people need to learn more about sake and shochu so they can appreciate it is a great drink that combines well with both western and japanese foods.

Yoshino has recently changed it's layout as well with another counter selling sushi (they need their own independent store I think) just to sell the sushi. Still got a large selection of great sushi at reasonable prices.

Last update on the Japan Centre.

A recently opened section is dedicated to Japanese Bakery items. These sell out quickly and pickings are slim in the evening.
You can now try classic delicacies such as curry 'donuts' and melon pan here.

I noticed good sized suribachis for just 4GBP yesterday. Perhaps the only item this store doesn't have that I'd like them to stock is a pickling press.
(I still think the Rice Wine Shop has better prices for many things - for instance the rice flours for mitarashi dango are less than half the price at the RWS)

I read there that Unohana in Golder's Green had closed for good, but a new Japanese food shop was re-opened there, and it's called Hello Kitchen.

It's been a while since i've lived in Ireland, so I am not sure of the shop situation...but why put Ireland in with the UK? Leave it with the rest of Europe - there's no need to group us together! I'll come back and leave a more useful comment next time I'm home :)

oriental city is getting shut down early june- signs are saying this in the centre now, and while the superarket is still reliably open 'toko home' the brilliant little japanese home shop has only been opening on wednesdays- apparently the lady who runs it is in ill health, and her grandson has been opening the store when he's not at work (wednesday atm), and there are no plans to relocated toko home

Hi there, I don’t think there are any specialist Japanese-only grocery stores in Dublin Ireland, but the bigger “Asian” city-centre supermarkets which I would recommend as having some Japanese ingredients are: On the south-side: Asia Market, 18 Drury St., Dublin 2 (opening Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-19:00). Also, just around the corner from Asia Market on 25 South Great Georges St, is a small Oriental Emporium while over on the north-side of the city, there is another bigger Oriental Emporium at 30 Abbey Upper Street. Furthermore, that part of Parnell Street between O’Connell Street and Gardiner Street (also on the north side, Dublin 1) has many smaller Chinese supermarkets which might be worth checking out if you are in that part of town but I don’t think they stock specifically Japanese products.

Anyway the Asia Market and the Abbey Street Emporium are the two I would frequent the most. They are great and have a large selection of frozen foods, canned goods, dried goods, kitchenware, fruit, vegetables etc!

Incidentally - if you are looking for Japanese food in Dublin other than the usual Yamamori/Aya/Yo Sushi/Wagamama joints, I hear that these two less well-known and out of the way Japanese eateries are good though I haven’t tried them yet: Akasaka Japanese Restaurant, 1 Castleknock Village Centre, Castleknock, Dublin 15 (northwest suburb, Tel: 00353 1 810 3564) and Michie Sushi, 11 Chelmsford Lane, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 (south of city centre, Tel: 00353 7 497 6438) which caters and does take-out sushi (no sit-in restaurant) is http://www.michiesushi.com/ (Tues-Sun 12:00 – 22:00)

-p

Was just about to post the same as Alan above! Happy Kitchen seems to have replaced Unohana.

They've done a little bit of remodelling (the till is now at the front) but otherwise it seems pretty similar. The range of takeaway sushi and bento didn't seem as extensive as before (no dumplings and they appear to have got rid of the microwave), but the maki I bought was pretty decent and sensibly priced - £1.70 for tuna hosomaki, I think £2.50 for salmon, avocado and cucumber uramaki.

Didn't have much time to have a proper look around, I noticed they still sold "sushi-grade" salmon, seemed to have a decent selection of miso and tofu, and sold dashi granules in a jar (seemingly impossible to find in London although Center Point Food Store seems to have it now too - I hate the sachets because I never need a whole one). Next time I'm nearby I will have a proper look around and report back with more info.

These are the contact details for Unohana, the address I assume will remain the same, not sure about the phone number.

10 North End Road
Golders Green
London
NW11 7PH
Tel. 020-8201-8833

Hi,

Just wanted to alert you to Okinami - it's in my hometown of Brighton, and the shop has been round a while. They just opened a restaurant on New Road (opposite the Royal Pavilion) and now have an online shop too.

http://www.okinami.com/shophome.htm

Free delivery with orders over £50 !

I found this store called Miura Japanese foods, and it sells Japanese food, and it's in Kingston-upon-Thames, thats quite near the Outskirts of London.

I haven't gone yet, but I'll go tomorrow and comment on it when I can :) address is

KT2 7AF Coombe Road Kingston-upon-Thames, they don't have a website, so thats all I can say for now :)

I wonder what this does?

Hope I helped
Dan

This is the best "asian" supermarket I've come across in Sheffield - many Korean and quite a few Japanese things. You can ask these guys to order items you need.

497 Glossop Rd
Sheffield,
S10 2QE
0114 263 8080

<a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=fresh+asia&sll=53.800... map location

Okay so not a food supplier and I dont know if they have been mentioned before but Nickys nursery online sell 3 different types of shiso seeds and daikon radish seeds and loads of other things I have never even heard of! It might be of interest to people who want really fresh ingrediants, like home grown fresh!! They are based in kent and they ship worlwide for a very modest price.

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/altsal1.htm

Not so much a Japanese supermarket as such, but Minami Kitchoan sell Japanese sweets (a traditional Japanese sweet shop/store as such).

* Address:
44 Piccadilly, London, W1J
* Phone: +44 20 7437 3135
* Fax: +44 20 7437 3191
* Web: http://www.kitchoan.com/
* Nearest Station: Piccadilly Circus
* Neighbourhood: Soho/West End


This Chinese supermarket is pretty good for when you want to get ingredients for lots of cuisines (including Japanese!) all at the same time:

http://www.waiyeehong.com/

They also have a store in Bristol:
Wai Yee Hong
Eastgate Oriental City,
Eastgate Road,
Eastville,
Bristol, BS5 6XX
Tel: 0845 873 3388
Fax: 0845 872 2288

there is also atari-ya...havent actually been in a store, but i keep seeing it on the bus when i'm heading up to north finchley from east finchley...they also have a branch in temple fortune...

http://www.atariya.co.uk/

I would just like to say that Oriental City is definitely closed now and I'm not sure where shops have located too. I'm incredibly sad that it's been closed especially as I went there very often.

Also with Wing Yip [in London] you might need to know other names for products and some are very expensive.

Oriental City are CLOSED and this listing needs to be updated.

Also, Hoo Hing are primarily a Chinese shop and their selection of Japanese ingredients is actually quite poor other than ramen. However, if you want 'generic' ingredients like rice or some sauces, it will suffice. You're better off with places like Japan Centre. I've never been to Wing Yip, so I couldn't tell you how it compares with the stock of Japanese goods.

A Hidden gem that is used primarily by the Japanese community here in London is TK Trading just off the A40 in west London. It has a wide selecton of foods, small amount of fresh food and a lot of packaged and frozen. Staff are helpful and polite.
: TK Trading
Unit7 The Chase Centre, Chase Road,Park Royal, London NW10 6QD
the left side entrance is for Retail (up the stairs)
Also in West London is Atariya at Station Parade in West Acton - I hear that their Sashimi is extremely good!

Athough Chinese supermarkets, they will sell Japanese goods too. They are two Supermarkets in Liverpool.

One is W.H. Lung
W H LUNG BUILDING
GREAT HOWARD STREET
LIVERPOOL
L5 9TZ

Another is Chung Wah (I haven't been here but it looks pretty large)
8A Hardy Street,
Liverpool,
Merseyside
L1 5EF
0151 709 2637

IMPORTERS, RETAILERS & WHOLESALERS OF JAPANESE FOOD & DRINK.
Europe’s leading supplier of Japanese Food & Drink.
1968 - opened 1st Japanese restaurant in UK
1968-74 opened chain of restaurants/retail outlet
1974 established as an Importer & Wholesaler of Japanese Food – 1st in the UK

Portfolio contains over 2,500 products, major supplier to all Japanese restaurants & retail shops.

OWN BRAND NAME 'YUTAKA' which can be found in Tesco & other Japanese retail shops

located at Millmarsh lane, Enfield EN3 7QJ

Tazaki Foods Ltd/Online Shop
www.tazakifoods.com

This online shop has the widest range of Japanese sake and shochu probably in Europe! Basic food ingredients are also available there. Delivery within the UK.

Unfortunately the Croydon Wing Yip has got worse (from a Japanese food viewpoint) over the 3 years I've been going. It used to stock a bit more than the bare essentials but last visit, just before new year, all I managed to find was rice :o(

Anything in the North West?????

I'm down in Cambridge, and has gone over to the Seoul plaza over there. The shop is very small, and though it stocks some japanese food, a lot of brands I depend on is missing...They do stock fresh tofu though, and the staff speaks korean.

Across the road and further down is Cho Mee which has a small shelf section for basic Japanese food, and contain similar range of things to Seoul Plaza, Cambridge. They have though a HUGE selection of instant noodle from both chinese, japanese and korean brands, and at quite a decent price.

By the way, Rice Wine Shop really does inspire a decent amount of customer-loyalty, once you've tried buying from them. I don't know much japanese aside from being able to read hiragana and simple kanji, but I've been able to navigate the page fine, and they do reply queries in translator-generated english which somewhat suffices anyway. They're cheaper than Japan centre, and though they don't stock as much things as japan centre does, I personally prefer the selection available at the Rice Wine Shop, possibly because they're more targeted at an exclusively japanese customer group and my preferences is more or less built up from shopping at the japanese food section in Isetan, Takashimaya and such back before I came to UK.

The Japan centre are a night mare. I gave up trying to contact them, by phone, to ask a question about something, i needed to talk to them about. I, tried for 5 days about 8 times a day for three weeks! letting their phone ring, during the times they said they were open!for at least ten minutes a time!!!! I, tried all the three numbers they gave that applied to what i wanted to discuss. They, obviously didn't need the custom!! They, are fine just so long as you go into the shop in person to purchase. I, only use them when i go up to london in person. I, wouldn't recommend the Japan centre to anyone these days for mail order or online they take forever!!!

So, i got on on the internet and, found a great shop, called the japanese kitchen ltd. they have a website, great food, accessories, and fantastic service. Ordering is real easy, by phone, mail, or online. Give, them a try first before you waste your life trying to contact the very inefficient japan centre in the U.K

Cheesed off customer!

We love the Just Hungry site - full of fascinating information. However, we were surprised not to see our store listed in your UK directory, so here we go-

Japanese Kitchen is a UK based online retailer of Japanese foods, ingredients, cookware and gifts.
We ship throughout UK and Europe.

Visit our shopping site at
http://www.japanesefoodshop.co.uk

There are 3 Oriental superstores across Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes that have a large range of Japanese and Oriental products. They also sell wholesale too.

They also have a blog where you can find their branches: http://centraloriental.wordpress.com/branches/

I always shop with them, and prefer them to other Oriental shops as they tend to have a much wider range of products.

-Daisy

Brighton is a great place for getting Japanese ingredients! There are many stores but I have only been in the first 2 so I can only guarantee that you will find Japanese stuff in them.

Yum Yum Oriental Market
22-23 Sydney Street
Brighton

I found Konbu and Bonito flakes here!! I can never find them! Although they only sold bonito in big packets for £7.50...

Infinity Foods - TBH I can't find an address for this, it may be called inspire, anyway it's somewhere in the North Laines and has a place green frontage. It's a health food store. Bit pricey I must say, generally has the Clearspring brand Japanese stuff, but has some good/obscure things like Kuzu that you may not be able to find in Oriental stores, and it's all in English.

Fortune Supermarket
Preston Street
Brighton - this one sells more Chinese things but apparently they have a good oriental fresh produce section.

Unithai Oriental Market
10 Church Rd
Hove BN3 2FL

Again this is more Thai and Indonesian but according to internet commenters they have a good selection of Japanese food, as well as a lot of fresh produce, including (possibly) asian eggplants?

The Japanese vegetable farm mentioned in the previous comment bring their produce to Lewes Farmer's Market, held on the first Saturday of every month on Cliffe High Street in Lewes, so check that out for fresh shiso, sansho, daikon, soramame, nasa and many other herbs, beans and veg. Sadly they aren't selling their nagaimo this year but all in good time me dears!

Preston Road is full of Chinese, Thai and Oriental food shops in general so get yerself down there.

I use Tazaki Foods as they have a range of food available and I also shop online with them from time to time which is very well priced.

So far, I'm not seeing any Scottish locations on the list.

I've not yet visited it, but at some point, I'm heading to SeeWoo in Glasgow, it's an Asian supermarket with a Japanese section. Hopefully, it'll stock some bento gear!

http://www.seewoo.com/x/glasgow.html

Hi I see on your website you were going looking into japanese stores in Ireland. I was just wondering have you a list of japanese stores or chinese stores in Ireland.

Regards

Patrick Buckley

Where can I buy natto in uk online(preferably organic)?
Thank you.

Hi

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but Fresh Asia on Glossop Road, Sheffield has closed down.

Regards

Try www.Sushisushi.co.uk they have a big online store and they also have www.sushitrade.co.uk for restaurants and caterers.

I love Japanese foods, but I need help with a grocery list so I can make common foods that they eat in Japan. I love rice, soy sauces, noodles, ginger sauces ect. Also, I am a vegetarian, I do not eat any types of meat.

Any Japanese recipies or how to make sauces would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thank you for the post. I've been looking for a good Japanese store Birmingham. I'll try to check it out later. Hope you can post more Japanese store located in my area. Good job mate!
Power flushing

Can't see any references to Samsi in Manchester, there's a shop in the basement of their main restaurant on Witworth Road near the gay village, and a small Japanese deli on Wimslow road sells a few basics...
http://www.samsi.co.uk/samsi-manchester.htm

On the 8th Day on Oxford Road also stocks some japanese ingredients, although it's generally Clearspring stuff rather than imports.
http://www.samsi.co.uk/samsi-manchester.htm

If you're in Scotland, try Mathews Foods: http://www.matthewsfoods.co.uk/eng_about_us.htm
They sell a lot of Chinese, Thai and some Japanese food, and some cheap but not bad quality Japanese cooking knives.

Does anybody know where I can get genmai (brown rice) miso online? I bought some from 8th day Manchester back when I was living round there, can't remember the brand but it was in a packet and it wasn't Clearspring! I can't find any online supermarkets selling it, just the super-expensive Clearspring one at JapanCentre. If there's any miso with a similar rich, sweet flavour I'd be willing to try it but it has to be gluten free.

I acquired quite a few items for the 101 cooking course from SushiSushi.

They're a mail order web based company and the website is at
www.sushisushi.co.uk

There's more info on their about page.

So far impressed with delivery and customer service. They also sell via Amazon UK.

This one I have NOT used, but have bookmarked for further investigation.

http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk

Seems to have a cash and carry place in Essex, plus the online store for the rest of the country.

The Asian Cookshop CASH & CARRY, 28 Fairfield rd, Braintree, Essex, CM7 3HF

Tesco now have a huge range of Japanese foods (huge for tesco, at least) with at least 40 real Japanese food items, including some hard to find ones. Even Japanese mayonnaise!: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=jap...

Real Foods have a small range of Japanese foods, you can also save money on some of the items by buying bulk. :)

http://www.realfoods.co.uk/shop/grocery/world-foods/japanese-foods