Maruta Shoten — Attraction in Seattle

We have been shopping there every Saturday for fresh sushi and bento box. There are other Japanese deli specialties like the pickled seaweed that we love. The sushi is as good as you will find made fresh daily. There's plenty of parking the prices are roughly half of what you would pay at a premium grocery like metropolitan or whole foods. I wish they would open in West Seattle! It's out of the way but worth the trip.

Update 7/1/2023 We bought sushi another treats for a picnic at Redondo Beach Park. The rice bowls with pork and egg, katsudon, we're such a good value that we bought extras for our weekday lunches. We bought bags of individually wrapped Japanese crackers snacks. Both of us will take to our offices. We spent $75 and we're so pleased with the value for money. What a great Seattle institution, Maruta Shoten!

AUGUST 16, 2023, I will go today for Soba noodles and Soba sauce. We've been enjoying this buckwheat ramen with its soy-like sauce, served chilled during the hot summer evenings. It's an off-the-beaten-path healthy carb dish to replace rice or potatoes. I'm hoping that the deli will have the katsudon that my wife loves. It will be a treat for her dinner.

9/29/23 If you go late Saturday, expect the deli to be nearly sold out of fresh sushi. Popular!

12/8/23 Popped in for sushi and katsu don for dinner. The latter was packaged fresh and warm as I watched. $30+ for that and three trays of fresh, FRESH sushi. It's a good price compared with our other more mainstream options.

Arigato gozaimas...

Update on review (8/5/24) - The tall white girl that services behind hot deli to go is stingy in her portions. This is the second time now my portions have been less than satisfying or par compared to other hot food to go. Today, she was not clear/specify that having all noodles is extra. All she said to me was that the fried rice and 1/2 of any rice & 1/2 noodles costs extra. Anyway, I gave back my order due to her error. The replacement was not any better based on low portion size.

I've been displeased lately on too many visits and I will definitely no longer buy from the hot deli during regular hours and especially when she's serving. Hot deli is now part of the 50% off discount when checking out at 4:30 pm.

Sometimes it's not that busy, but if you want more selections, get there BETWEEN 4:10 - 4:20 PM. Parking is minimal.

50% off all sushi and can now be purchased by 4:30 PM instead of 5:00. Sunday, the store is closed.

Service is pretty much stand alone, meaning you're in charge of your own service. It's basically, you select, pay, then leave. You'll probably get a thank you here and there, but don't expect the workers to go above their duty to serve you. The sushi is often good: still fresh after a couple days, even when they're purchased at the 50% off deal. Everyday at 5 PM, all sushis are 50% off & a few items are 20% off...

I remember when I first discovered Maruta Shoten. It was pre pandemic. I would always drive passed and was always curious to know what this place was. I decided to walk in one day and to my surprise it was one of those gems I only told a select few people about. It was great then and is still great even now.

What is it? It's a local Japanese market that carries a variety of Japanese goods and groceries. Some you may find at other local groceries and some you may find at Asian specific markets. As well as food for take out.

What I mainly go here for? I come for the ready made/packaged food and take out as well as their hot bar. More specificly if you're into sushi like sashimi, nigiri, and rolls. If you're into bentos and dons( rice bowls with accoutrements)

The quality of the food is satisfyingly good in relation to the time it takes to get your food, pay and leave to be on your merry way. My go to items to get here are the packages nigiri to go as well as the packaged aburi salmon sushi to go.

I do recommend coming around noon or slightly earlier. Try to make it before the rush to increase your chances of a better selection. It's risky but they do have a happy hour near close in where they discount the remaining items. You just might be disappointed at...