Shirokiya’s Food Court

Whenever we’re at Ala Moana Center, we usually check out Shirokiya department store's food court.

Without question, it’s the busiest area there, offering everything from fresh vegetables flown in from Japan to kitchen implements, a wide variety of tsukemono (pickled vegetables), deep-fried tempura, bread products, castellan cakes and other pastries, even local products.

They sell sushi, sweet potatoes, musubi (rice balls), chicken prepared in a variety of ways, noodles, mocha ice cream, Korean foods (e.g. kim chee, bentos), Chinese bentos, cookies and desserts.

Prepackaged snacks from Japan stack the shelves to the left of the escalator, along with Japanese serving dishes, sake sets and sweets.

Here’s a sampling:

Kim Chee

Packaged Vegetables

Vegetable and Shrimp Tempura

Picked Vegetables

Japanese/Chinese Bentos

Tea Pots

Imported Sake

Now … all I need is a bowl of steaming hot rice, some hot green tea, and a pair of chopsticks (all of which you can find at Shirokiya, by the way).

And no, they’re not paying me to post this. I just like going there.