la.foodblogging

I was under the impression that the Marukai Forum in Gardena was revamping its food court. Not so. A brand new Marukai marketplace, Marukai Pacific Market, celebrated its grand opening this weekend. The newest destination from the eponymic SoCal Japanese wholesale importer is crammed into a busy strip-mall and split down the middle. It has a small grocery store on one side and a food court on the other. I’d say it’s located about two miles East of the original Marukai Forum.

I encountered the standard pros and cons. The new location may help handle the overflow from the main Marukai which would be nice. It’s got an interesting selection of food stalls, such as, a yakitori grill, a dim sum stand, hot taiyaki cakes made fresh with a variety of fillings, a ginormous pickle kiosk, a Hawaiian food vendor, two sushi stands, and Beard Papa Sweets Cafe. You aren’t required to have a Marukai membership to take advantage of the weekly specials, such as this week’s 69c per pound of edamame or 75c per 16-piece box of green tea bags.

There are a few lousy factors. The parking situation is murder. There is no where to sit in the food court. The two picnic tables outside are hotly contested and filthy. Once you order your food, stand around, and pick it up, then you have to wait in a grocery store line to buy it while it gets soggy and cold. This is not a tempura friendly situation. Also, some lady in the courtyard gagged and then threw up two inches from my shoes. Her tablemate wiped her chin and they all went back to their meals. I wasn’t sure if it was a ringing endorsement of irresistible food or another example of society in shuddersome decline.

I go to Marukai Forum a few times a year, but for the reasons cited above, I don’t think I’ll go back to Pacific Market. However, if I worked in that area, and owned a lightweight and portable picnic table, I might head over for lunch. The take-away options are pretty good:

Sushi Boy - Nice looking inari and sushi packs
Bentoss - Bento lunches with everything from salmon, to tempura and terriyaki options
Back Home in Lahaina - Heart attack on a plate a.k.a., loco moco
Yakitori, Shin-Sen-Gumi - Skewers grilled over coals
Sea Empress Seafood - I didn’t see any mapoo tofu, despite that it’s advertised on the sale sheet, but this spot had mini cha xiu bao, shui mai, and sesame balls stuffed with red bean paste, among other dim sum
Kanekyu - Big pickle party
Beard Papa - A small, efficient outpost, same standard quality

There are additional stalls, but they seem to be temporary, with a few being seasonal. I imagine that a complete awareness of tasty family run restaurants in that ten mile radius of Gardena would put a regular food court denizen to shame.

Marukai Pacific Market
1620 W. Redondo Beach Blvd.
Gardena, CA 90247
310-464-8888