Cherry Mart

I go here all the time to pick up Pocky or a bag of High Chews. It’s small, more like a Asian convenience store than a grocery store. The candy selection is great, worth stopping in to check out at least once.

This is actually my first Unilocal review because I felt it was necessary to go out of my way to talk about the awful customer service I’ve experienced.
I go to Cherry Mart for one reason and one reason only: their shirataki noodles. I found out they carried them a few weeks ago and I’ve come back once a week ever since. The second most recent time I was in there, I noticed I almost bought them all off the shelf so I made it a point to ask the lady behind the counter if they always carry the noodles, to which she replied yes.
Sure enough, I go back there earlier today (one week later) and there wasn’t one single package of the type I needed. I asked the same lady if she had any in back and she said they only have what’s on the shelves. I asked if she expected to get a shipment in, to which she reluctantly replied «I don’t know» and then just refused to help me get a sense of when the noodles will be back in stock, after she had just told me the previous week they always carry them.
So even though I live right around the corner from this place and I love supporting the local small businesses, I ordered what I needed off of Amazon and will not be going back there again.

A star for being conveniently located/​being the only Asian grocery store in Back Bay. However, the selection is slim and questionable with a large amount of expired products. In fact, they even have a counter of expired products they try to sell off! But none of this makes a dent compared to the unbelievably bad customer service. Curt, rude and even condescending, the women behind the counter (especially the younger one) make you never want to go back. Fine if you need last minute ingredients, but go to super 88 or hmart (when it opens) if you can.

I just recently moved here to Boston & the first thing I needed to look for was a Japanese grocery store. Sure, the surrounding Chinese grocery stores may have cheaper products & larger varieties … but I’m Japanese … and I wanted my Japanese stuff. As being located in Newbury Street, it’s a very convenient location. The selection is quite small, but the store does have basic essentials. The items are very pricey … but with increase in taxes & prices of imported items, I guess I really can’t complain much. I was happily surprised to find Japanese DVDs. Too bad the lady at the counter didn’t speak Japanese.

I honestly have no idea how a store with rude staff and up to a 400% markup on several items stays in business. As another reviewer posted; this place must be a front for some Asian mafia!

Tiny Asian market on the basement level. Selection of snacks and condiments is a little better than C Mart, but pricier as well. One of the more well-​kept Asian stores.

Love this quaint shop. I haven’t been there in years because I am usually to busy working & live far away on The Cape… so Idk how the little store is these days. When I was able to travel to Boston, I liked this small Japanese Mart. The staff always were friendly… once I asked if they had more Fujiya Milkys cause the shelf was empty & they retrieved a few bags for me from the back room. I always was able to find most of the cooking sauces, U.F.O.s, Takuan, Kasugai Gummy treats, Onigiri, Lotte KO-​UME, Fujiya Milkys & Mochi Daifuku. Very happy they have their own site now & will take online orders:)

I joined Unilocal just so I could post this comment.
I honestly have never encountered a salesperson who was more rude and unhelpful. I walked in and it appeared that no one was even in the store so I paced around the store saying, «Hello?» until I realized that there was a young woman behind the register. I asked twice for what I was looking for and each time she just directed me to the refrigerators saying that the noodles were in the fridge. I finally walked out because she made no effort to get up from her stool!!! Terrible!!!

A month’s worth of gummy candy for 10 bucks! Yay!!! Also the guy behind the counter was super friendly. I’ll totally be back!

Although this place is small, it’s very clean and has mostly everything for someone with Asian food craving.
The owner is now a Korean, but the stock is similar;
they have more Korean variety of ramen and sauce now,
which I actually like.
I prefer this place over Lotte Mart in Cambridge; no need to check for expiry date. (some items slightly more expensive than Lotte though; may be as much as a dollar difference.)

4 stars for being tucked away conveniently on busy Newbury Street! I love that I work near by so whenever I’m out of Ichiban miso ramen, I can stop by on my lunch breaks to get some. And on those days when I want to make some curry for dinner, need to get a new salad dressing or bottle of soy sauce, or simply crave a Japanese treat, I can walk over after work to pick them up in a jiffy! It’s a small selection so don’t expect to find everything you need but it’s got the essentials, even Green Tea Mochi, onigiri, and packs of frozen yakisoba.
Notes: Bring cash because credit cards are a $ 10 minimum. They give you a stamp card that gets a stamp for every $ 10 purchase.

I am not going to pretend to be any kind of expert on Japanese food or anything like that. I am the wrong kind of Caucasian nerd for that. However, my girlfriend is part Japanese, which is how I originally ended up here.
This is a very small store, but they have some pretty great stuff. Granted, I haven’t tried a lot of what is here, because half of it is unidentifiable to an uninformed gaijin like me, so I don’t even know where to start. Still, I know if there is some specific Japanese food I am looking for, I can find it here.
Last year, I decided to surprise my girlfriend by making sushi for dinner. I have never cooked any Japanese food before, but decided to go kind of crazy and try to make several things all at once I’d never even seen anyone make before. I’m a tad grandiose. Anyway, I wanted to make maki rolls, miso soup and inari. The problem is, I had no idea where to buy the ingredients. I finally went to three stores and bought most of what I needed, but couldn’t find the pouches for the inari anywhere. In fact, most people I talked to at those stores didn’t even know what I was talking about.
Then I remembered Cherry Mart.
Oh, Cherry Mart. Why didn’t I start there from the beginning? I could have bought every single thing I needed for the meal. Well, I would have still had to buy the fillings for the sushi, but everything else was here waiting for me. And when I asked where I could find inari-​agi, not only did the cashier know what I was talking about, she brought me straight to them, and even gave me some tips about how she likes to eat them.
So while I don’t know enough to say this place has everything Japanese, it has everything I need, at pretty good prices. This is a great little store.

I’ve been going to cherry mart since 2003 and have been consistently happy with the product and service there. When I first starting going there their selection was a bit limited but now they offer great inexpensive sushi. It’s great on the run or quietly trying to eat in the back of class. I love their red bean mochi.
I used to get a peach drink here but they either stopped carrying it or it was discontinued. I tried asking for ‘peach drink in the big bottle’ but that resulted in questionable looks since there was a peach drink in the case and not having the name of it is hard to go off of. Oh peach drink how I miss you but I’m glad that I got to savor you while I did so thanks Cherry Mart.
Only downer is that they have a $ 10 minimum for debit/​CC

Kotobukiya having gone, this automatically kicks this place up on the top of the food chain of Boston’s Japanese grocery store.
Hence it became the only one (especially in MBTA vicinity), I now find everything here is precious.
I can’t stress enough. Tofu is the best deal in town.
Also, I can’t stress enough, if you expect this place to be a grocery store, you’ll be disappointed. But I regard this place like Japanese Tedschi. In fact, this place DOES reminds me a lot of Japanese convenient store.
You might feel everything else is overpriced. But hey… they are all imported. After tax and tariff, it is fair that a bottle of «afternoon tea» is priced nearly $ 5.
Don’t hate the player, hate the tariff.

Stop #11
By now it’s dark and we’re walking back to the University area. Something catches our eyes and Cindy goes off to look at costume jewlery and I check out Cherry Mart («CM»). It’s not a particularly big store but CM has all the essentials: drinks, ramen, sauces, rice, snacks, and DVDs. The prices seem to have a higher mark-​up (e.g. $ 4.99 for ramen instead of $ 3.99). It’s not much of a tourist destination nor is it much of a one-​stop Japanese store. But if you’re short on supplies, it’s good to know there’s an emergency provider.
Note: In February of 2009, Cindy and I embarked on a 48-​hour eating tour around the greater Boston area. I called it the Boston Masticare — a bad pun off the Italian transitive verb «to chew.»
[Original Visit: February 14, 6:26 PM]

I only ever really come for the onigiri. I’ve looked for somewhere else that has them in the area, but I haven’t had much luck. The onigiri here is decent, and they do run out if you don’t come early.
Also, they don’t take credit cards if you’re under $ 10.

This place is tiny and expensive, but the only place to get Japanese food in the area, and its full of fun-​fun-​fun Japanese snacks and bentos and some groceries and ^_^

years ago i used to spend a lot more time in boston, and went here all the time. they have all sorts of crazy japanese candy that tastes better than any american crap. if you are a hello kitty or sanrio fan they always have interesting branded candies and bento boxes and such. cool stuff.
did this place shrink over the years? i remember being amazed at all the cool stuff filling shelves all over and now it feels like an empty closet, but still had some neat imported food.

Whenever I am sad, I head over to Cherry Mart.
Cherry Mart is small, incredibly expensive, and a small selection… so why go there when I’m sad? Because they have onigiri (rice balls!). $ 1.50-$ 1.75 depending on the type, onigiri is a comfort food for me. Not to mention, they are much more filling than you may think. I usually get my rice ball, eat it and then go to Best Buy or Gamestop to distract myself with technology, toys, and videogames.
Other than the riceballs, for actual asian foods, go to Reliable in Sommerville or Super88. Much cheaper and larger variety. Plus it’s probably fresher over there. Grocery shopping at Cherry Mart is for last-​second «oops I totally forgot this vital ingredient, they don’t have it at Shaw’s, and I live down the street» type of situation.
Note, it’s kind of hidden — from the street you can only see a sidewalk-​level window. You have to go down the staircase toward So Good Jewelry and you’ll see the door for Cherry Mart at the end of the staircase.

THIS PLACE HAS GOT TO BE A FRONT FOR SOMETHING.
How can they make enough to afford a newbury street location when all they sell is 20 boxes of Pocky a day?