Sandos from Grocers- Nijiya, Marukai, Mitsuwa

Todays mmm-yoso!!! post is being written by Cathy.  Kirk is enjoying air conditioned comfort and is too busy to write.

As I was reading Kirk's post about Kumo Japanese Sandos, in early May, I realized that The Mister and I have also been grabbing Japanese supermarket sandwiches for decades but never posting on  this ever present inexpensive quick and tasty meal.  So, here's a small compendium. 

 Nijiya Japanese Market is a favorite stop because of the organic Produce section as well as the prepared foods area. I wrote about some 'grab and go' meals in 2010 and 2013.  We were here a lot during Covid (yes, "Covid" defines a period of time), when they removed the outdoor tables so we had to eat in the car or at home.  A few prepared items, along the back wall, have changed but overall the quality remains.  There is a two sided refrigerated area near where you stand in line for the cash registers.  One section has various sandwich choices.
 This is a "Mix Sandwich" ($5.49) on white or wheat.  Four different fillings- Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Ham with butter and a Lettuce and Tomato with cheese and mayonnaise.  Each piece of sandwich in this mix is 1/3 of a crustless bread sandwich made with three bread slices and two layers of filling.  

The "Fruits Sandwich" varies daily.  This one had melon and pear and orange along with whipped cream in between slices of a quality white bread. 

Picked up some sushi while I was there and we had a nice meal.

 There is a Chicken Cutlet sandwich ($5.99)-breaded deep fried chicken with a house made tonkatsu sauce (A Pork Cutlet sando is $6.99).  On this day the Fruits Sandwich was simply strawberries with whipped cream. 
 Placed between the three Chicken sando sections were three smaller lettuce/tomato/cucumber/mayonnaise sandwiches.  A nice, balanced meal.

Nijiya Market 3860 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 Open daily 9-9 Website (858) 268-3821

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 Marukai has two 'grab and go' island refrigerators as well as closed door freezers and a small hot deli counter.  There is just so much inside this small yet packed market. 

The egg salad sando ($4.99) as well as the katsu pork sando ($4.99) are exceptionally good here.  You can see I also purchased the potato salad and some katsu chicken (which is really tasty from here).  {Yes, we use Christmas plates all year.}

Marukai 8151 Balboa Ave San Diego 92111 Open daily 8a.m.-9 p.m. (858) 384-0248 Website

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 Located between Marukai and Nijiya is Mitsuwa, which has three small restaurants in the 'Food Court" area as you enter the store and a sushi area as well as plenty more 'Grab and Go' choices along the right wall with two open refrigerated sections across the aisle. 

 The Mix Sandwich here ($7.99) consists of four sandwiches, each 1/3 of a whole sandwich. Egg Salad, Tuna Salad, Ham with lettuce and a Japanese Potato salad sando.  Each sandwich is fresh and flavorful and fancy.  Again, katsu chicken was purchased as a 'side'. 
Mitsuwa Marketplace 4240 Kearney Mesa Road San Diego 92111 Mitsuwa website  (858) 569-6699

We have so many great choices in San Diego.

Comments

[Sandy]

Thanks for the roundup. Out of the 3 markets, I like Nijiya the best, but have not gotten the sandos. They seem to sell out early. After Kirk's post about Kumo, I've been making my own egg salad sandos. For my last batch, I used the milk bread from 85c; the slices are a bit large but have the soft texture.

[Dereck]

This is a great summary - thanks Cathy!

I'm hungry for some fruit sandos..

[Lynn]

I rarely eat sandos from markets but now I wanna try one from your post. We did try the sandos from kumo once which were decent but it's not very filling for the price.

[kat]

lovely choices

[Frank]

I've been frequenting these spots a lot in the past year. Mainly Nijiya, but recently revisited Marukai and was impressed with how different it is from a few years back.

I think I still prefer Nijiya, that fruit sandwich always hits the spot.

Have you tried Ichiban Sando in Chula Vista?

[Cathy]

Nijiya is a favorite place to shop for us, also, Sandy. We haven't tried the milk bread from 85C, but I do like the U-Ta-Ne bread from 99Ranch for at home sandwiches (when I don't get the sesame seed bread, which really goes well with a whole, freshly fried fish).

Thanks, Dereck. If someone hasn't tried it, the idea of whipped cream and fruit with bread sounds strange, but it is just such a treat!

You need to try some, Lynn! They're always fresh (inventory is right there in the store) and kind of fancy-like a finger sandwich at a High Tea. The lower pricing was what first made me try one, decades ago.

They were all great tasting, too, Kat (I just realized I didn't really describe the flavors).

Good you know about these places, Frank. There is an upcoming post about tIciban Sando in the works. Marukai in San Diego is going more toward the Tokyo Central model that we visited in West Covina after a Rose Parade Float Road Test https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2023/06/2024-rose-parade-road-test-1-and-breakfast-from-tokyo-central-west-covina.html

[Frank]

Oh I visited the Tokyo Central in Gardena (That building looks great) and honestly wish they would just replace the three buildings with one Tokyo Central Main. Maybe someday.

Lookin forward to your Sando review.