I made my way to Marukai Gardena from the Torrance Farmer’s Market. When I got there just at opening time, it was already quite warm, seems like it was going to be a "hot one".
Almost as big as an airplane hangar, Marukai Gardena is located right on Artesia Blvd. I remember the first time I entered this place; it had almost everything I needed. I had indeed reached the Ex-Pat food "Mecca". Redondo and Purity Portuguese Sausage, S & S Saimin, frozen Zippy’s Chili, Diamond Bakery Soda & Creme crackers, and Aloha Shoyu, to name a few, can all be found here. One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter is that for a place so large, it’s really somewhat cramped.
It can really get crowded in here, so we always plan to get in and out ASAP. The "wall of snacks" here is daunting.
There’s just so much here, I won’t go into it in too much depth. Just enough to say, it was a quick stop today, no maguro, no ogo for me. Just some snacks and alot of nice memories. Marukai is a membership market, but a daily membership ($1.00) is available – it’s cheaper than Disneyland, and almost as fun! So I shopped quickly loaded up my bounty, and headed back to my hotel room for a quick rest and to check out.
Marukai
1740 West Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
Summer: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Winter: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
*** Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey has closed
I than decided to hit Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey for a quick bite before hitting the road.
The definition of "hole in the wall", with only 6 tables, Harry’s has a small menu featuring hot table combinations (beef stew, fried chicken, etc.), cooked items (chop steak), and Saimin and Won Ton Mein. Call it a case of saimin insanity, today I decided to order what’s probably the most expensive item on the menu – a large size "Super" Saimin ($9.00).
There was a ton of Char Siu
, several slices of kamabuko, what probably amounts to half a head of napa cabbage, carrots, and won tons. The best thing about the dish were the noodles, perfectly cooked, saimin (not ramen) noodles. The crunchy texture triggered many a memory of bowls of saimin and teriyaki beef sticks. The broth on the other hand was nothing to write home about, weak and almost flavorless, shoyu was a necessity. The other item I was thankful for was the watery "chinese mustard", just like back home. A swirl with the chopsticks to get a bit of mustard on it, place into the spoon, grab noodles and place in the spoon, consume – delici-yoso! I finished just about everything, enough to get a comment of "you did pretty good".
So great noodles, not the best broth, great service, and everything under $9.00 (actually most items are under $6.50). Not as good as I remember from my last trip here, but still worth the culinary trip down "memory lane". Enough so that I was willing to eat this even though the weather outside was clearly "heatwave" in nature.
Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey
1721 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247