I like neighborhood topics, and am starting this one for fellow EV residents to share very local picks and pans, especially ones that aren't well known.
The biggest news from the EV this season is the new Japanese grocery store at 3rd Avenue and 11th Street - m2m. It represents the very best of cross-culturalization because it brings so many new and better things to the nabes - you might call it the best new club in the EV for now.
First and foremost is the dazzling, super-fresh assortment of fish of all kinds at prices at least 1/3 lower than the supermarket. Then there is great sushi to go, at about $3-7 a pop and some foods that weren't available at all in the nabes before, like quail eggs and even FROZEN OCTOPUS - the real deal, 7.95 for a big old chunck that would feed two for dinner easily.
Then there are the rows and rows of foods that you can't read the packages, but just buy by the pictures. The case full of Japanese beers that you can just sit at a table and drink in there - great people watching.
Last but not least are the hours - open from early morning through midnight on weekdays and I think 2 or 3 AM on weekends.
Rock on Little Tokyo!
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