Get a taste of the exotic at Mitsuwa

Greer Wylder

Step through the doors at Mitsuwa Marketplace, and it feels like you

have been instantly transported to Tokyo. Both a bustling food

emporium and a Japanese department store, Mitsuwa Marketplace in

Costa Mesa is perfect for a change of cultural scenery and to find

great Asian foods.

At Mitsuwa, exotic is the norm. English labels are foreign.

Shoppers can find snack bags of dried baby sardines, dried squid and

pickled-flavored seaweed, and endless choices in plastic -- wrapped

chopped eel, salted pickled plums, spicy roe, pickled fish juice and

pounded rice cakes with sweet red bean fillings.

In the market, you can buy milk and diapers like in any other

grocery store, except Japanese products reign.

The produce department carries both common fruits and vegetables

and specialty produce -- boiled bamboo shoots, enoki and honshimeji

mushrooms, kabu (turnip) and satoimo (Japanese taro root). The meat

section offers certified Angus beef and Kobe beef on request, and the

fish ranges from sushi-grade to frozen.

Japanese sweets (wa-gashi) include steamed cakes, pancakes with

anko (sweet red beans) filling, mochi (rice cakes) and taiyaki (carp

shaped cake). There’s a large pickled vegetable and fish section,

noodles, teas, kitchenwares, medicine and more.

Mitsuwa’s food court feeds hungry shoppers all day long. It’s open

from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Since the language barrier can be

difficult, as it is with many Japanese restaurants, Mitsuwa displays

realistic plastic food dishes to make ordering easier and prevent

ordering mistakes.

The food court offers culinary variety, although sushi fans will

miss out, but they can get their fix on the grocery side of the

store.

The food court offers a blend of Asian, Italian and French dishes

at Maestro; spaghetti dishes at Italian Tomato; quick Chinese, dim

sum and pastries at Sky Express; Japanese ramen bowls at Santouka;

Japanese tempura, rice bowls and soba at Miyabi-Tei; and udon noodles

at Sanuki Sando Udon.

Maestro serves an international selection of dishes including

creamy crab croquette Lyonnaisse ($5.90), crab au gratin ($5.20),

shrimp curry ($6.40) and even coke floats ($2.80).

Italian Tomato serves spaghetti, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

The selection includes spicy cod roe spaghetti ($5.20), bacon and

asparagus spaghetti ($5.80), eggplant with meat sauce ($5.50), a

submarine sandwich ($4), beef pastrami sandwich ($3.80) and salads.

The pastries selection includes a tiramisu covered in powdered

green tea ($4 per piece) and a traditional chocolate tiramisu ($4 per

piece).

Sky Express cooks fresh Chinese dishes, dim sum and offers boba

tea drinks and smoothies. Choices include orange peel spicy chicken

($6.25), pan-fried chicken with string beans ($5.95) and pan-fried

chicken with oyster sauce ($6.95). The combination dishes come with

soup and steamed rice.

Each day, fresh dim sum dishes are brought in, including bean curd

wrapped meat ($2.40), magic rice wrapped chicken ($3.40) and shrimp

fun gon ($2.40).

Santouka specializes in ramen (noodle) bowls with pork, rice, egg,

salmon roe or soybeans and ramen broths that include shio (salt),

miso (fermented bean paste) or shoyu (soy sauce).

Once you know which broth base you prefer, ordering is easier.

Even so, most descriptions are in Japanese. Prices range from $5.99

to $10.99.

Miyabi-Tei specializes in tempura, soba (buckwheat noodles), rice

bowls and fish and meat plates.

The selection includes a simmered fried chicken plate ($5.95),

tempura rice bowl ($5.95), eel egg bowl ($6.95) and salt-grilled

mackerel plate ($5.95).

Sanuki Sando Udon offers endless bowls of udon noodles, including

udon with sauce and soft-boiled egg ($4.90), udon with sauce and

seasoned pork and kimchi ($5.10) and udon with sauce and pickled plum

($4.20).

Mitsuwa also offers an odd mix of merchandise and services.

There are auto accessories, a hair salon, cookware, dishware,

gifts, vitamins, Shiseido cosmetics and wireless phones. So, come for

exotic foods or just to take it all in.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

[email protected]; at 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626;

or by fax at (714) 966-4679.