Dainobu — Local services in New York

Dainobu is a small-to-medium sized Japanese grocery that is filled with Japanese grocery items, snacks, and pre-prepared meals and smaller bites. the shop is well-organized, neat, and brightly lit, the prep-prepared eats are in the front and packaged grocery items are arranged via aisles in the back. there are a good number of staff if you can’t find something.

i have only bought candy, snacks, and some of the pre-prepared foods. i’ve been pretty happy with all purchases here. the snack and candy selection is good. recently, grabbed a spicy tuna onigiri which was the portable comfort eat I needed after a long cardio session. the tuna and rice tasted fresh and was seasoned well. before that, i grabbed a Japanese boxed meal to heat up at home after a long day of errand-running on the west side. the quality of the curry beef over rice was quite good and tasty even thought it is essentially a microwaved (or stovetop) meal. the curry was flavorful, the beef was thin and tender, and the rice soaked up all those flavors nicely. the price $8.99 + tax is a total value for an easy weekend lunch or dinner when you’re too tired (or in my case too lazy) to cook. there are a variety of these boxed meals from sushi and sashimi to more savory meals that need...

I would like to first say I adore Dainobu. I frequented their 47th street store when I was working near Grand Central. I found this location just recently after I joined the YMCA nearby. I have been to this location a few times ever since. The store itself is nice - it's not big but it is nicely curated with good selections of Japanese items. The staffs, however, are not exactly friendly. It makes me feel unwelcomed; like they want me to leave because I am somehow disturbing their work place. No one ever smile. Not that they have to but it provides better experience for the customers. Regardless, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back a few times, and yesterday, the young girl at the cashier was down right rude! So, the one star (I can't put no star) is for the poor attitude of the cashier. I mean, why put someone in the front with such poor attitude. If she doesn't like to deal with customers, just sent her to the back to stock or clean or something. Why let her ruin the image/experience of a perfectly good store? Dainobu really needs better trained staffs. Cashiers @ Katagiri, Sunrise, & Midoriya...

I came here to find some staple Japanese cooking ingredients I haven't been able to find anywhere closer to my neighborhood. I found konyakku, tofu, miso, natto, dashi powder, and even the honey butter chips and Calpico I hoped for. When I couldn't find Konyakku the cashier helped me find it because it was tucked away in a box in the corner. Not only did I find everything, but I was able to compare dozens of varieties, brands, and prices. It may be a small store with only 3 aisles but they have all the sauces and other cooking ingredients you would need to make any Japanese food, as well as accessories like cooking utensils, bento boxes, tea and matcha, lots of snacks, drinks, readymade bentos and sushi, some Asian fish and vegetables, cuts of sashimi fish, and even a few Asian cosmetics. I think there were some Heroine Make mascara and Shiseido face washes, a few hair and teeth products as well. I didn't spot any sheet masks. The packages are mostly just in Japanese but the price tags are only English, so you can find items that way or ask any of the polite and helpful staff to point you toward the...