Archive for the 'SF Bay Area local' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Ethnic Markets in the SF Bay Area

Local readers have asked where to buy some of the ingredients shown in my lunches. I’ve put together a list of my favorite markets in San Francisco as a resource (complementing my previous Bay Area shopping guide for bento gear). I haven’t listed chain stores (Mollie Stone’s, Whole Foods, Andronico’s, etc.), but instead focused on local stores, especially cheap ones with an ethnic specialty. I will edit this list as things change; please feel free to comment if you know other excellent local markets that we’d benefit from knowing about, especially in the East or South Bay. Links point to the stores’ Yelp.com listings with maps, photos, and commentary from the larger Bay Area community. I am not affiliated with any of these stores, please disclose any commercial affiliations you may have when adding a new store.

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Published by Biggie on May 18th, 2007 tagged SF Bay Area local, shopping | 16 Comments »

SF Bay Area shopping guide & award nomination

Shopping Resources: The bentolunch community on LiveJournal has a geographic shopping guide for other cities around the world (slightly dated) and an online shopping guide. I’m still working on a separate list of low-cost, commonly available containers and lunch-packing equipment, so this is not necessarily an endorsement of any of the stores linked on the bentolunch lists. Just FYI for people seeking out bento equipment.

In addition, I’ve put together an opinionated shopping guide for the San Francisco Bay Area as a resource for local readers looking to buy bento boxes and accessories in person. I am not affiliated with any of these stores, I’m just an avid shopper and know what I like. I will edit this list as things change; please feel free to comment if you know other local stores that we’d benefit from knowing about (please disclose any commercial affiliations you may have with the store). Links point to the stores’ Yelp.com listings with maps, photos, and commentary from the larger Bay Area community. (See also the SF Bay Area guide to ethnic markets.)

Latest News: My LiveJournal site has been nominated for a Blogger’s Choice Award — Best Food Category! If you like Lunch in a Box, could you click over to the entry and vote? Thank you. I’m pretty jazzed considering this all took off just a couple of months ago with the new focus on speedy lunch prep tips added to my existing lunch blog. (Nov. 2007 update: Lunch in a Box tied for 3rd place, the only non-vegan blog in the top four. Thank you!)

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Published by Biggie on April 9th, 2007 tagged SF Bay Area local, admin, equipment, shopping | 83 Comments »

Daiso opens in SF Bay Area!

So last week I drove to the Serramonte Mall in Daly City (South San Francisco), and realized that there was a huge new Daiso store in the building where Good Guys used to be! Daiso is basically a huge 100-yen housewares store in Japan that’s been expanding internationally — a really cool dollar store (but everything’s US$1.50 unless otherwise marked).

My antsy son and I went inside and found much cheap bento goodness: baran (dividers), paper cups, little picks and flags for bento, and cheap bento boxes (including those polka dot boxes). More info here and here – at 15,500 sq. ft., it’s currently the largest Daiso in the US. I loaded up on accessories, although some of the photos below also show eBay purchases and gifts from a friend who just came back from a Japan trip. (EDIT: See also my San Francisco Bay Area shopping guide for bento gear, and the new Bento Store Locator with Google Maps to find a store near you.)

I like that you can write your own messages for the little picks on the right (and use regular labels when these run out). I’ll use these more at the end of the year when my son starts preschool — he’s a little young to appreciate notes now.

(left) Message picks from Daiso (US$1.50). The little flags say things like, “Great job! Congratulations! Do your best! You did it! Thank you!”
(right) customizable message picks: you can either use the pre-printed labels (messages say things like, “Yum! Don’t leave any! Today’s special. etc.” or write your own on the blank labels

The little Anpanman picks in the lower right corner are the best for toddler hands — the big fork makes it easiest to pick up food.

Baran (dividers) for children’s lunches. The four on the left and middle are from Daiso ($1.50 each). Thanks to my friend Yumi for the Anpanman baran!

Microwave- and oven-safe food cups, all from Daiso (US$6 total: 4 kinds, $1.50 each). I especially like the English/Japanese animals and the Japanese jokes.

(upper left) English/Japanese food cups, animal version
(upper right) These all have different jokes on them! This one asks, “What part of your face has a building in it?” “Lips!” (”kuchibiru” means lips, but the “biru” part sounds like building in Japanese)
(middle right) Mini cups with encouraging notes on them, like “You didn’t leave any!” or “Wow, you ate a lot!”
(bottom) Food-themed cups

Microwaveable plastic-coated food cups (US$3 total at Daiso: $1.50 each for the triangles and oblong cups). I’d never seen the large “corner cups” before.

Mini cups for dipping sauce ($1.50 at Daiso, 20 cups total). These are cool — you put your thick dipping sauce in a little cup and cover it with the little plastic film covers. As long as the sauce is viscous (mayo, ketchup, tartar sauce, etc.) and you don’t treat the bento roughly in transit, it stays put. Interesting.

Three-tier bento box ($1.50 at Daiso). It needs a band to keep everything shut, but I like that I can use fewer layers (i.e. for my son) or all three (for myself) as necessary.