Sunrise Mart Japanese Supermarket

This is the exterior shot of Sunrise Mart, a Japanese supermarket in the East Village. East Village used to be a rough neighborhood but over the last decade, it has become a very hip and trendy outpost of all things Japanese.

So where do you usually get your groceries?

Supermarket Mural

I saw this interesting mural on the side of a small supermarket on 16th Street between Park and 3rd Avenue a couple weeks ago. I thought it was interesting and especially appropriate since New York City is considering a proposal to increase the number of licences for fresh fruits and vegetable vendors in the city in an effort to combat the epidemic of obesity among inner city residents.

In addition, a University of Washington study reported in the New York Times found that a 2,000-calorie diet costs $3.52/day if it consisted of only junk food, while a similar caloric diet of fresh vegetables and fruits costs $36.32 a day, which is 10 times as expensive.

So are you eating your vegetables and fresh fruits?

Anchovies at Mediterranean Foods

I was in Astoria last week for an appointment with the ophthalmologist and decided to visit my favorite Greek supermarket on 34th Street between 31st and 30th Avenue called, Mediterranean Foods. It has some of the best feta cheeses, marinated olives and almonds I have ever tasted.

This photo shows an assortment of marinated anchovies and baby octopi/octopuses on the counter in the deli section. I absolutely LOVE anchovies and this supermarket has some of the most exotic versions of them. I love anchovies in my Caesar salad, pasta puttanesca (the mere origin of the word puttanesca is worth reading, if you don't already know) and of course, the Vietnamese fish sauce.

So where do you stand on anchovies?

Ouch! Is that a fruit?

I took this photo a couple months ago at the Patel Brothers, an Indian supermarket in Jackson Heights, Queens. It is a tropical fruit that is quite delicious.

Can you guess what it is?

Update: It is a jackfruit, which is a kin of the mulberry tree. Click on the highlighted word on the left for more information.