Shojikiya

It might be about the size of a ramen shop in Tokyo, but don’t underestimate this little store selling all foods Japanese in The Gardens at Mid Valley.

Shojikiya has almost everything a Japanese expat needs not to feel homesick, not to mention enough snacks to satisfy a Jap junk food junkie. With over 2,000 items, many of them imported, Shojikiya, owned by the same company behind the Rakuzen restaurants around the Klang Valley, is densely packed with rows and rows of everything from numerous varieties of instant ramen to potent Japanese beverages like sake, plum wine and shochu. Interestingly, a grocery store selling items from Japan doesn’t necessarily mean that it only sells Japanese items, if that makes any sense. In Shojikiya, you can find pasta and sauce, salad dressings, and even wine and cheese from Japan. If you’re looking for condiments and ingredients for your next attempt at making an authentic Japanese meal, you can find frozen seafood, tofu, seaweed, wasabi and more. If you’re just looking to do nothing more than throw something in the microwave, there’s also plenty for you here. Fried rice, gyoza, dumplings of all shapes and varieties can be found in the chillers. Even pre-prepared porridge and noodles are available. With such range, it’s not hard to imagine someone assembling an array of items together for a dinner party and taking all the credit.

Nonetheless, if warming food up sounds like too much work, then there’s a lot in Shojikiya that will satisfy your needs. The different varieties of drinks can overwhelm the unfamiliar, with everything from Hokkaido milk drinks by the popular Meiji brand to the ubiquitous Calpis (a drink made with milk and lactic acid). Among the array of snacks, the most popular are the rice crackers and the wasabi-flavoured nuts. Shojikiya also boasts a small selection of sushi and sashimi.

TEXT & PHOTO Brian Yap

Published in Issue #110.