Fatty Mart - Los Angeles

I love Little Fatty, but I just can't get out to LA on a random night anymore. but now there's Fatty Mart, a cute little curated store full of all the things that make being Asian a joy. 

They don’t have decaf, but they have all your standard coffees. Props on the biodegradable cups. Get one or don't - the Taiwanese Breakfast Roll is the reason you're here. Crispy scallion pancake encases eggs, cheap cheese, and a fabulous Chinese sausage with spicy mayo. The pickled mustard greens make it classically Chinese and evokes cold winter mornings when you wake up to porridge and pickles. 

The Breakfast Burrito is fun as well with the addition of tater tots for crunch. Their beef birria is solid, especially with pepper, onion, and salsa, but it's just not as special as the other.

If I am to be honest, I don’t need to leave the South Bay to get most of the groceries, but they do offer some unusual flavors in candy and chips. They even carry stuff from La Espanola Meats (South Bay pride!). 

It's too early for the lunch options, but you can grab some of their better offerings from the fridge for later.

Be still my heart, they sell their Hainan Chicken here. So far it's the only Hainan chicken I'd ever go out of my way to order. The skin is fatty and yellow, and the meat is full of real flavor, unlike literally every other blanched-bland iteration of this inexplicably popular white stuff. The rice is the same yellow color, packed with fatty savor.

Dan Dan Noodles also reheat surprisingly well, and these squiggly noodles are the best. Savory with a kick of Sichuan spice, this dish is awesome in the afternoon. 

Great little store, much fun to be had whether you're popping by for a pickup or staying for a quick and casual meal. Until I can get to the restaurant, this little mart will do.

Shingleton Store - Shingletown, CA

A little rest-stop gas station with some basic groceries. A small selection of fresh veggies and fruit, a small counter of ready-to-eat hot food. 

Dinner is whatever’s sitting in the warmer, our selections taste as you’d imagine. A Tamale is filled with rubbery chicken in verde sauce, masa made chewy by a day’s desiccation. Corn dog looked too gross to eat so we didn’t. Chicken strips were dry, but the toddler ate three. 

Picked up some macaroni salad for a side; undercooked elbows drenched in mayo. 

Sweet people, service with a smile, convenient if you need something basic but I can’t recommend anything they prepare. If you insist on stopping here, show up earlier in the day. 

Gelson's - Manhattan Beach

Mardi Gras is for the partiers, and I've long since left that behind. 

But the Crawfish Boil is for everyone, and Gelson's will give to two for a measly $25. Just pour on the seafood broth and spread the garlic butter around. Pop it into your preheated oven and in 15 minutes, you get a bona fide boil. 

The crawfish are okay - a bit salty but not bad. The shrimp are juicy and just perfect, and there’s nothing to peel. They do well with the veggies too: the corn sits in the sauce, and it’s a mix of sweet and savory. Slices of sausage add their savor, soaking into potato, carrots, and long green beans. 

This is the first time I’ve been to a Gelson’s food counter, and I’ll be coming back to try the others.

Bay Cities Italian Deli UPDATE - Santa Monica

 

I wrote them off for five years because I didn't like a sandwich. Yes, I was an idiot.

Never judge a deli by just one sandwich, even if it’s their signature. Sorry, Godmother, you’re just not as magical as I wanted to believe, even on the second try. The meats are soft and salty, the mortadella almost creamy, and there is significant credit to be given for overall balance, but their other stuff is so much better. 

The Spaniard, for example, is a much stronger sandwich. The jamon is sliced so thin, and the accenting chunks of spicy chorizo are just...everything. The gruyere is melty, and the roasted tomatoes are next-level gooey and sweet. This is coming from a person who hates tomatoes.

“Pot roast should NOT be a sandwich!” 

“It’s too much.”

"I don't know about this..."

Shove it because I love it. Shredded chunks of soupy beef, braised to fall-apart tender, it’s loud and proud, a messy, soupy American dip. It's Sunday dinner in a sandwich, Phillippe's be damned.

Sandwiches are satisfying, but don’t stop there. Their deli counter is the best I've seen. 

Lukewarm Buffalo Wings don’t sound like they’d be great, but the sauce has a mouth-watering mix of spicy yet sweet and sharp - buy a bucket and make it a large.

The Mac n’ Cheese is the best stuff they sell, and the best I've had; big floppy elbows with the best bread crumbs, literally, ever.

The best stuff you can buy, just bring some cold hard cash. Great for Italian groceries, and check out all the cheese. Try all the sandwiches, too, and don’t leave without mac n’ cheese.

La Espanola Meats UPDATE - Torrance

This used to be my favorite weekday lunch. I would drive over on my days off when the rest of the world was at work and order a warm sandwich with slices of jamon. I'd shop around, fill a basket, check out when my sandwich was made, and go home to eat or munch on the way to the next place. Errands never tasted so good, as long I remembered to brush off the crumbs.

No more cured meats due to pregnancy, then no more anything due to covid. But despair not, they have delivery. A flat fee for each price range; the more you spend, the higher the fee. 

Dona Juana will do, but I went down the importado rabbit hole and now I am hooked. The Spanish jamon will cost you double, but the Redondo Iglesias is worth the cost. The texture is less moist, and the salinity reaches deep into the meat to draw out the natural flavors of the pork. 

Iberico Chorizo by Palacios. Every box I order has at least four. Beautifully dried, concentrated fat without the grease. Dona Juana's Chorizo Soria and Chorizo Pamplona are more moist if you prefer. 

The cheese. So much cheese. Manchego at every age, the older the nuttier, similar to most humans and pets. I always get a P'tit Basque as well. The sheep's milk has a silky-smooth finish, and this cheese ends with a pleasant, lingering pungence. 

Garnish with Marcona Almonds and Quince Paste. Their most basic paste is only $4.99, with the texture of a fruit jelly dessert and flavor like a fig married to a very sweet lemon. 

Cans of Serpis olives can be stuffed with all sorts of stuff, but I still like the blue cheese best.

When I feel safe, I'll be picking up some preorder-only paella on a Saturday, but until then it's delivery or Doordash for me. Doordash is sandwiches only so I prefer the delivery even with the fee. Plus they always throw in a few free gifts if you order on an empty stomach, with fun freebies like rose (wine) potato chips and just-add-milk packets of flan, as if their food weren't gift enough. 

Marukai Market – Torrance

What could possibly be cooler than grocery store sushi? Pretty much anything. What could possibly be cooler than edible grocery store sushi? Pretty much anything except inedible grocery store sushi.

But no worries, my adorable assortment of Nigiri was actually pretty good. Sure the ebi and tomago are cooked, which is kind of cheating, but even the totally raw salmon, tuna, and red snapper pieces were clearly cut better than the crap at Sushi Boy, and the very time-sensitive squid didn’t have much of the left-out-too-long aftertaste that tastes like New York City’s Chinatown smells. Even the crab mixed with the much-despised mayo wasn’t half as bad as my hatred for mayo.

Prefer to filet your own fish? The grocery store section sells fresh sushi-grade fish instead of steak, and you don’t have to look far for a slab of frozen eel and a small tray of shrimp, cut and cleaned for the sole purpose of sitting atop a ball of sushi rice, which you can get in aisle two. Typical for all Asian markets, there’s an entire aisle dedicated to sauce, and half of it is soy. There’s light, there’s regular, and there’s even dark and darker. Maybe you’ll can find some decent wasabi paste in the mix too. And don’t forget to scoop up a couple packs of frozen edamame. Picky about brands? No worries, I’m sure you’ll find one amongst the ten they sell.

I wouldn’t go to Marukai just for the sushi, but I wouldn’t hesitate to pick some up on my way out either. If you’re a go gourmet or go home kind of girl, I recommend you stay away from Asian supermarkets altogether, but if you’re a go-for-it and get-it-to-go kind of girl, this is a great way to run stock your fridge and fill your belly all in one place. 

Edible Eataly – NYC

A dangerous place. The shelves of organic produce whisper suggestively, the fresh mozzarella beckons silently, and the scent of fresh prosciutto seduces even the tightest budget.

After extensive deliberation, I deduced the safest approach:

First, eat a light snack before venturing through Eataly. When you’re not starving, like I was, maybe every-freaking-thing you see won’t look so damn irresistible…

Promenade through the automatic sliding doors (because it’s not so far from Chelsea....) and make a beeline for the modern high-top counters near the center of the store. You can sit at a counter quickly or wander between the food stations they encircle. Who doesn’t want to watch fresh mozzarella made before your eyes while you chow down on the never-get-old classic prosciutto di parma or the sweeter prosciutto St. Danielle.

So I compromised. Instead of buying one of everything in the entire market, I ordered a combo of both prosciuttos. Didn’t love the accompanying bread – a little too hard and dense for what I prefer, but unquestionably, (and unlimited!) fresh whole grain goodness all the same. My only regret is my gastric spatial limitations. I was dying to try some mozzarella and maybe a few bites of one of the enticing veggie sandwiches, but my arteries were already saturated by the generous portion of prosciutto…and it would have been awkward to ask other strangers for a taste of their food…don’t think I didn’t consider it…(Eataly, if you’re reading this, please make a sample platter of everything!)

After you eat, conclude your day-brightening visit by navigating through the market slowly. Slowly enough to drink in the sight of each brightly-colored aisle but quickly enough to resist the temptation to buy one of everything. And try not to come back too often because the rent you pay for the gorgeous 2-bedroom that you share with 6 people doesn’t have much room for Eataly.