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Jas Mart
Critics' Pick
34 E. 23d St. ,
New York, NY 10010
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Nearby Subway Stops
6 at 23rd St.; N, R at 23rd St.
Payment Methods
American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Profile
This venue is closed.
If JAS Mart’s stock is any indication, food shopping in Japan—even for workaday ingredients and simple snacks—must be intensely fun: Loud colors, mix-and-match typography, and bold graphics on almost every package make buying mayonnaise here better than browsing an art-book store. And while it isn’t gourmet shopping per se (at least not judging by the prices), the selection of often tricky-to-find, unusual, and prepared foods has been assembled with an eye for one-stop convenience. The utilitarian interior counters the riot of goods it offers, from plentiful Japanese staples to an array more unique items: Bean paste desserts in a number of flavors? Check. A year’s worth of dried hijiki? Right here. Ditto for rice crackers, seaweed salads, fish cakes, a mammoth cache of candy, and pickled, brined eggplant that radiates electric neon-blue from within its vacuum package. Rounding out the supermarket offerings are Japanese newspapers and magazines, making this a haven both for snack-curious locals and hungry students in search of salt, crunch, sugar, and more—without having to get an overseas visa.
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Featured In
- A Guide to the Universe of Japanese Candy (10/27/08)
- Snack-man Fever (10/14/02)