In article , "Tom Hickey" Someone wrote: In wilmett there is a small Japanese grocery called Sea Ranch. It's on Lake street where it meets the highway. There are 3 Japanese shops there, a Fish store where you can buy your fish -- or they'll make you sushi to order, a Japanese grocery and a kick ass Japanese resturant that is the best bang for the buck place on the north shore (it's owned by the Moonies -- It's called Akai Hana or "red Flower", all the "Hana" resturants in Chicago, it's a different color ever time, are moonie owned. More profitable than selling flowers in airports). The Moonies DON"T own the fish market or the grocery. If you're willing to do some SERIOUS driving, the Yaohan is the Japanese Mall and it's out in the Northwest suberbs.... basically take golf west to arlington heights road, turn left, it'll be on your left. It's a MASSIVE mall, a HUGE grocery with ever concievalbe Japanese food need, and some you didn't know you needed, a book store, a video store, a food mall, A toy store, a ceramics/pottery store (really kick ass), and a staitionary goods store... all geared towards the Japanese employees of the Japanese companies which are all located out there by the airport... so that these folks never need to actually leave home or integrate into the american commuity during their tenure in the US. It carries stuff you thought you would have to travel to Japan to find. > I'm interested in making my own sushi. Any good places around the city to > purchase ingredients, tools, etc.? Does anybody roll their own? Sushi, I > mean?
Chicago, IL
Japanese Grocery/Market/etc.
Japlady wrote, in response to places to buy sushi parts: > > If you're willing to do some SERIOUS driving, the Yaohan is the Japanese > Mall and it's out in the Northwest suberbs.... basically take golf west to > arlington heights road, turn left, it'll be on your left. It's a MASSIVE > mall, a HUGE grocery with ever concievalbe Japanese food need, and some > you didn't know you needed, a book store, a video store, a food mall, A > toy store, a ceramics/pottery store (really kick ass), and a staitionary > goods store... all geared towards the Japanese employees of the Japanese > companies which are all located out there by the airport... so that these > folks never need to actually leave home or integrate into the american > commuity during their tenure in the US. It carries stuff you thought you > would have to travel to Japan to find. Yaohan is not that huge... it's about the size of a medium-sized major chain grocery store, plus a few other strip mall sized stores inside the building. The stationery store has closed (too bad... interesting stuff, if expensive) and been replaced by a clothing store. Japlady also forgot the liquor store and travel agent. There's also a "drug-store" area, which seems to have cosmetics and some Japanese OTC drugs and health tonics (no prescriptions, as far as I can tell). There's a First Chicago cash machine, and the stores take plastic. The grocery includes a pretty good pickle department, and much fish, mostly prepped for sashimi or sushi (not sliced, but otherwise ready). There's also a lot of other imported products you haven't had, including some odd fruits and vegatables, Pocky, Pretz, Calpis Water, Pocari Sweat, Boss Coffee (ready to drink cold in cans), and lots more. Squid jerky, too, and about forty kinds of surimi. Food labeling meets the Nutrition Facts rules, but is otherwise poor... be prepared to study label pictures, and to guess cooking directions (or resort to a dictionary). The food court has a sushi area, plus noodles and other cooked food like Japanese curries, and a bakery. The sushi is cheap, but often seems to all be made around lunch time. There is also an ice cream stand, which usually has green tea and red bean, plus more common flavors. The store is open until 8 pm every night... I'm not sure about opening time from memory. From the city by car, the easy route is probably via the Northwest Tollway. Exit Arlington Heights Road northbound... the store is the large building on the right with the blue tile roof... you can't miss it. It's actually located at the northeast corner of Arlington Heights Road and Algonquin Road. Best,