Tomato Japanese Grocery — Attraction in Smyrna

So one day on a whim, I went for a drive with my fiancee, originally headed to a camera store in Smyrna. Upon finding said camera store underwhelming (to put it mildly), my fiancee suggested maybe visiting random Asian grocery stores. Tomato Japanese Grocery Store was the first one we stopped in, already about 5:15 or 5:30 in the afternoon when we got there. Upon walking in, I found the place well-lit, pleasantly arranged, and inviting. Over the course of the next 30-45 minutes, my fiancee and I toured the store, seeing a bunch of awesome things that simply aren't available where we live, 110 miles away. I really wished I had some way of keeping frozen things frozen for such a long drive...if I had, I would gladly have purchased quite a bit more than I did (I believe I spent about $60 on mostly various snacks and curries). At checkout, I spoke a bit about how I thought the place was fantastic, and that I wish there was one closer to me than 110 miles. The cashier seemed astonished we'd driven so far to visit, and thanked us profusely for stopping in. In Japan, there's a saying, 「お客様は神様です。」(pronounced/transliterated "okyakusama wa kamisama desu"), meaning "The customer is God," and basically meaning to give your customers the absolute best service possible. This place definitely lives up to that. I will gladly return at some point, perhaps a bit earlier in the day, and perhaps with a cooler full of ice....

This is a nice, although small, Japanese grocery store. They have food items as well as dishes, magazines, books, and music. I wish the grocery selection was a bit larger but they do carry standard food and snacks like pocky, frozen dango, melon pan, mochi, and ramen. They also have a small selection of sake. They carry all of the basics you need, I just wished they had a larger variety of food and snack items, or at least rotated products out seasonally. Also, I have never been able to find assistance from anyone working there. I will ask them if they carry a product and they look incredibly puzzled. I repeat myself in perfectly understandable and grammatically sound Japanese and they continue to look puzzled and don't actually say...anything. I ended up finding the item on the shelf so either they have no idea what items they carry (highly unlikely as I see them stocking the shelves every time I go there) or they are trying to avoid talking to anyone. Tomato is also attached to a small restaurant that is very good if you want a quiet place to eat some sushi, just know what you want to buy before...

LOVED THIS PLACE. Was able to get everything I needed to make sushi well. They have real wasabi they keep in the freezer!! I have never found that before!! Never thought I'd ever have the chance without traveling to Japan, so A++++ on convienence!!! While we did not buy our salmon there, I noticed all of their sashimi grade fish(of which they had at least five, maybe even 6 or 7 varieties) was all reasonably priced - like, around market rate for good fish not officially labelled sashimi grade(which technically doesn't exist according to the FDA but fish markets will almost always up the price significantly for it)(I'm looking at you DeKalb farmers market 🙃). I will definitely be returning in the future!

As an aside, for anyone craving a Scottish staple, the melon drink that comes in a green bottle tastes incredibly similar to Irn-Bru! A lovely surprise for a...