Strawberry Park Shopping Center — Attraction in San Jose

This may seem weird to post here, but I CAME FOR THE RAMEN. Let me explain, I told my housemate, who's visiting from Tokyo, that I was really into ramen, but Americans charge, like (in my Cali accent), ~ $19 bucks for ramen made with any effort.

Being from Tokyo, she found my lack of knowledge about the Asian American resources at my disposal astonishing. She knew I really like to eat for ~ $12, so she sent me to the food counter, inside of Mitsuwa, inside of the Strawberry Park Shopping Center. That's why, I'm here for the ramen!

I thought about leaving this review for the market itself, but after much consideration, I decided the entire shopping center was a resource that needed a review and the ramen was just part of the experience.

There's also the Manga store, which was great, and I always found myself wondering what a real one was like. I found out. It's a small shelf marked as English while everyone else enjoys the whole store. 😁 If anything, it's authentic.

I could get into many more reasons why locals should find the time to visit, but the quality of a $12 bowl of ramen is worth it on its own merit.

I've eaten at so many ramen restaurants in trendy areas, and they all had their honor handed to them by a $12 bowl from a food court in a grocery center. It's sooooo good.

It made the Best $12...

Great Japanese shops. Mitsuwa, Daiso Japan, Clover Bakery, and Tomisushi are the long time mainstays, with Curry Life quickly becoming a must for hungry shoppers. Kahoot Ramen sadly recently closed, and was replaced by another ramen shop (Ramen One). Fugetsu will be opening soon, delayed due to the pandemic. However, their kitchen is in operation, and they've allied with Curry Life which is providing the pick-up location for their dishes. Round it off with Teaspoon for refreshments, and perhaps Redi Room bar for cocktails, and you've got it all sorted. Well, once the pandemic stops causing...

Love this shopping center. Mitsuwa, their Anchor Tenant is of course one of the best Asian/Japanese themed grocery stores in the bay area and given how busy it is, it only proves that point. Parking is a little challenging at times, but worth the challenge. With so many great smaller stores and/or restaurants here, you won't be disappointed. This is a well maintained, clean, class B shopping center with a full compliment of mostly smaller storefronts and eateries including Paris Baguette, Daiso, Currylife, Teaspoon, Kahoo Ramen, Tomi Sushi, Redi Room, Clover...