Suzuya Japanese Market

Wow pretty cool Japanese grocery store located in the same complex as the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre and the Senior home. The grocery store has some unique imported Japanese cooking ingredients along with made on the day bento boxes/ready to eat food and instant food in the freezer.

The store is small but it is quite popular. Staff are friendly.

Suzuya is a Japanese market located right next to the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby. Although the store is small, it's got plenty to offer. You can find all manner of Japanese products such as Furikake, Kewpie Mayonnaise (including the egg free version), Morinaga brand pancake mix, frozen gyoza dumplings and ready made foods such as as sushi, onigiri and bento boxes in the refrigerated section. This place is an absolute gem!

They make quite a few different flavors of Onigiri and at $2.49 each, they're quite reasonably priced as I've seen restaurants selling them for $5 or $6+ . I bought a bunch of different Onigiri to bring home and try with my family. Onigiri isn't something I've had much of in the past, but I think I'm starting to become a fan of Onigiri after eating the ones from Suzuya.

Admittedly, the onigiri had a lot of rice and not that much filling. I've read that about Onigiri even from restaurants though, so I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that these were from a supermarket as opposed to being from a restaurant. What I like though is how compact the Onigiri is. It's very portable...like a sandwich. Being made with seaweed and rice, it's like a sushi sandwich. I find that the fillings stay in better and have less chance of falling out vs the fillings that one might put between two pieces of bread. My favourite Onigiri was the Kombu Onigiri. I'd never even heard of Kombu before but after eating the one from Suzuya I suddenly find that I'm a fan of Kombu now. Google tells me that it's from the kelp family and is a type of seaweed that's used for adding "umami" to dishes. Amongst the many goods that Suzuya sells, dried Kombu is one of them, which is great as their Kombu Onigiri has inspired me to try making my own Kombu Onigiri at home sometime!

Service: Good
Parking: Free parking on the street
Location: 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby

My partner & I were doing some research of Japanese Grocery Stores around Vancouver, and this one came up!

Located at the Nikkei Community Centre and right next to a Senior Home, this quaint little grocery store reminds me of the ones you see in Japanese small towns, they carry most items you will need on a daily basis in a Japanese Household. Since, I am sure they mainly cater to the senior residents, the prices here are not particularly high as compared to much bigger outlets!

Underground parking available for patrons.

Decent selection of Japanese products but prices are overall higher compared to other supermarkets.

Neat little Japanese ethnic grocery store attached to the Nikkei Community Centre.

Parking is available in the community centre parking lot, as well as on the street.

The store is quite tiny, but it specializes in Japanese products that would normally not be sold here. The lack of western products and the cramped feel almost makes one feel like one is in Asia. Special mention goes to the Kit Kat (or Kito Kato as they call it) section - many of the flavours sold here are pretty much impossible to find elsewhere in this town.

Pricing is mostly competitive with the likes of T&T. It's hit or miss.

I love this store. We love this store. It's always nice to see that there are still real Japanese stores that offer simple Japanese goods with Japanese manners and small market style. Every now and then we find our way here just to feel a connection. The big Asian markets you don't get that. Here we do. We like to support the local communities.
What do they sell? Japanese goods. Packaged foods, imported and local. All Japanese.
Organic Natto, veggies, meats, rice and ramen. Japanese candies and snacks and breads. If you haven't been. Check them out.

Another little Japanese gem and this time located in Burnaby.

Suzuya is right beside the Japanese Cultural Nikkei Centre and Hi Genki Restaurant. A little market full of snacks, sauces, udon, ramen, natto and some staple Asian vegetables. This place isn't as big as Fujiya, but it has a charm I love. Not to mention, The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" came on and that just won me over.

Decent size corner store offering mostly Japanese stuff.

Great for chips, instant noodles and candy. Of course, Pocky.

Usual pit stop after eating at Hi Genki just a stone throw away.

Great place with lots of little goodies from Japan. The prices are reasonable given that everything is imported.. only two ailes and mind is cramped but very nostalgic if you've ever been to Japan..

Suzuya is inbetween the Japanese Cultural Center and the Nekei senior care home This basically is a mini grocery store with one aisle stocked with the Japanese essentials. They sell drinks, instant food, snacks, drink mixes, tea, salad dressings, enoki, small amounts of vegetables, bread etc. Most of their prices are fair, some are more or less than other bigger groceries store so you need to know your market prices. The store looks like its from the 90's but I guess grocery stores don't need to look trendy anyways. Street parking available.