Exploring San Diego's Nijiya Market-a Foodie's Paradise!

I absolutely adore this Japanese grocery store called Nijiya Market located in Kearney Mesa. It is a foodie's paradise, hahaha! Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines.  Obviously, you can find all the ingredients necessary to prepare a Japanese meal, but I love coming here for other reasons too!  I come here for...

• Samples!  On this day they were giving samples of a hot green tea! On another day, they had samples of dumplings and seaweed!

• Cute displays! This was a cartoon video being played near one of their refrigerated sections. I don't know any other grocery store that has this!

• Hello Kitty items! Nijiya not only sells food, but they sell all sorts of cute things! They also sell little toys, which make perfect fillers for a party treat bag!

• Desserts!  They have a whole refrigerated selection of whole cakes and individual dessert items as well. Sometimes they will have special items for sale, especially if it is a Japanese holiday. On this day, there were boxes of cookies for sale and some packages of cute mochi!

• Snacks!  I love the fun packaging that they come in. Their snacks are great for your child's lunch box! When I host a meeting at school, I bring in something new for everyone to try. 

• Hawaiian drinks! They carry a great selection of these yummy fruity drinks!

• Prepared food!  The selection of prepared food is awesome! The entire back wall is filled with ready-to-eat food! We have come here to pick up items for lunch for the week, easy dinners and even long plane rides! The food looks like the person who made it did it with much care! You'll find sandwiches, wraps, sushi, and bento meals! They also have some hot food available too, mostly fried goodness. There is a microwave and utensils near the checkout registers and some tables outside if you want to enjoy your food right away. 

• Bread!  They seem to have frequent deliveries from their Japanese bread supplier that keep their shelves stocked. Bread loaves and pastries all around! If you like brick toast, they sell a whole loaf so that you can slice to your desired thickness at home!

• Seafood! You can find octopus, squid, shrimp, and all kinds of fish here!  On this day, someone was filleting a fish out in the aisle and packaging it for sale right there on the table!

I hope my pictures have done the little market justice! Parking can be tough at peak meal times because the shared lots also is used for several restaurants in the same strip mall.  If you go, be prepared to spend some time going up and down the aisles! I love this place and hope you do too!