Behind a tiny Watsonville storefront stretches a slender bazaar, presumably Yamashita Grocery, as I found no signage on the building.

Amidst the shelf-lined perimeter stocked with hundreds of Asian ingredients otherwise unavailable in the county, sat pallets of rice and snack displays, leaving minimally wide aisles.  Although I was disappointed by a lack of unique produce on this visit, gallons of soy sauce ($12) called to me along with sakes, a myriad of green teas including Genmai cha with toasted rice, and a wide variety of condiments, many of them imported, with the USDA nutrition label added as an afterthought.

I picked up some instant hon-dashi ($3.10), a shortcut for the bonito base of traditional miso soup, an ounce of dried shiitake mushrooms ($1.90), the Indonesian chili paste Sambal Oelek ($2.75), a package of vellum-thin Vietnamese spring roll wrappers ($1.50), and seeds for a spring planting of baby Pak Choi.

Comparing these purchases with similar products at local groceries, I enjoyed a 20% savings. I'm thrilled to find such a nice assortment of Asian products on this side of the hill.

Yamashita Grocery, 114 Union Street (off Riverside), Watsonville, 724-3219. Open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to noon.

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