Well, thank God for that! Who wants to go to Safeway, when you can visit our new local food emporium, Oceanview Supermarket? Not me.
Oceanview Supermarket opened on Alemany a few months ago, replacing the ghetto Albertson's (RIP), and apparently pissing off some of the residents of the surrounding condos, but clearly delighting the rest of the population of this part of San Francisco and Daly City. Charles took me on an expedition here, and it was like we had landed on Planet Asia - no country was left unrepresented. Here you can buy Rice from Thailand, Indonesian Peanut Sauce, Chinese herbs, Korean kimchee, Japanese dried seaweed - and not only one variety, a staggering amount.
Here's a clue that you are not in your average American grocery store - check out the "deli":
My inner Filipina was delighted. I mean, there was SO MUCH AMAZING STUFF there - it was overwhelming! I wanted to buy every flavor of Pocky, but thank goodness Charles had some sense and I only got a few boxes (aka whatever I was able to sneak into the cart).
We kept our purchases to a minimum, however I have to say that I bought a really ridiculous amount of frozen dumplings. Some of our purchases included:
Unsweetened Iced Green Tea
Dried Mango Slices
Hot Chili Sauce
Dumpling Sauce
Sesame Oil
Lumpia Wrappers
Sesame Cookies
Dumplings (gyoza, shumai and traditional Chinese ones): Shrimp, Pork, Beef, Vegetable, and one I am now not sure of..?)
Quail Eggs
Strawberry Mochi
They had all kinds of electronic appliances, including every variety possible of rice steamer, hot pot, and for some reason, coffee server.
The meat and fish area was very impressive - with huge tanks of fish looking at you with glassy eyes - catfish, sturgeon, mackerel. At the butcher counter, I saw around 10 entire geo-ducks - definitely the most foul-looking sea creature there is. Then they had a huge frozen fish area with more fish than I have ever seen in my life.
The prepared foods were unequaled, clearly stemming from a time when households had little or no refrigeration. I had to buy this instant Black Sesame Paste after reading the label. It is quite delicious as well, but it is the translation that really makes me happy:
Prices were extremely cheap - and although my carbon footprint just went on a round-the-world tour the minute I stepped inside, I know I will be back again to try some of their dim sum items, produce, and fresh fish.
