My good friend Rhonda fell in love with the Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking cookbook, and wanted to stock up on Japanese ingredients at Tensuke Market in Columbus, OH. A road trip to a Japanese market? How could I say no?
It was a fantastic little market - packed with people for their end of year sale. It was a truly a Japanese market. Most of the Asian markets near me are Chinese or Korean. They try to cover all of Asia, and I can get the ingredients I need, but you can tell where their focus is. This market was unapologetically Japanese. As an example: Tensuke Market has the best Sake selection I've ever seen. I threw myself on the mercy of their Sake expert, and picked up a few bottles, hoping to learn more. (I mean, hey, I have to do research for the blog, right?)
Rhonda and I wandered around, scrutinizing packages to see if they were on her list. I picked up a few things I needed to re-stock my Asian pantry, and some Matcha Green Tea Kit-Kats for the kids. After a lot of shopping, we packed our bags in the car and had to make our toughest decision yet - where to eat lunch. There were three restaurants in Japan Market Place plaza, surrounding the food market. Do we go to Tensuke Express, the noodle bowl shop? Or Akai Hana, the sit-down restaurant? In the end, we couldn't pass up Sushi Ten and the Poké bowls. Stuffed with sushi, trunk full of specialty ingredients, we drove home happy.
Tensuke Market
1167 Old Henderson Rd.
Columbus, OH 43220
Web: TensukeMarket.com
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Emily says
Mike, I totally fan-girl screamed when I saw this post! My hubs and I used to live almost across the street from Tensuke (we call it Seafood Japan, because I think that's what the restaurant was called back in the late '90's). If we're anywhere close, and it's around lunchtime, we always stop at Tensuke for their amazing sushi-to-go, and their cute cookies. I'm glad you got to see it and enjoy it, and next time I'm there, I'll have to pick up a bottle of sake and toast you.