Dank

This is the only Japanese grocery store in town after the other big one closed last week. I went to check it out and found a store much smaller than I expected. It’s only 2 short aisles of food, but they manage to pack in a decent selection of sauces, rice, candy, and snacks. And other stuff I didn’t recognize, because I don’t know what 90% of the stuff is supposed to be. :)
I did find enough ingredients so I could make a seaweed salad at home, and I wish I had known about the rice balls thing, cuz I was wondering what those seaweed triangles were. I was looking for sushi in their prepared foods section but they didn’t have any, only those triangles and prepared dishes with chicken and veggies. Oh, and ‘donuts’.
It wasn’t until I got my stuff home that I discovered some of it was beyond its expiration date, like a package of dried seaweed sheets that expired 7 months ago. It’s not a big deal, since it’s just dried seaweed, but I would be sure to check the dates on stuff before you buy.
The other half of the store has Japanese books and comic books, cleaning supplies, and kitchen tools like 195 euro rice cookers and pink metal oil holders.
I’m spoiled by having access to Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights, Illinois for so many years. That Japanese mega store makes this place look paltry in comparison, but at least this is not 4000 miles away, so it will do for now. :)

I love this little Japanese convenience store. Unlike other Asian shops, mostly Chinese in Amsterdam, this one is specifically Japanese and predominantly cary Japanese (food) items. They have a few dishes and bowls but I don’t go there for that. They have things such as Japanese-​specific produce like daikon, Japanese ice cream like green tea ice cream, variations of tea, chips, pancakes, seasoning, you name it! It’s all Japanese and it’s all a bit expensive. It’s nice that it is available, though.
However, not everything is (too) expensive. What makes me frequent this little shop is not their ridiculously priced Kare Raisu (Japanese style curry rice) mix by S&B, but it’s their ONIGIRI!!! Wachucallmedog?!
Onigiri, similar to the nigiri sushi, means rice ball. the «O» stands for BIG. Check out the pictures to see the triangular rice «ball». It’s essentially delicious Japanese white rice, just like sushi rice, with some kind of a filling in the center and the whole thing is wrapped in crispy roasted seaweed. The packaging is so that the seaweed wrap doesn’t touch the rice and become soggy before you open it. Genius. I love it! As far as I know Dank is the only place where they sell onigiri and I come here on my way to work/​school to buy a few «balls». Great and healthy alternative to sandwiches. Quite filling too!
Some of the fillings include: grilled salmon, seaweed salad (kelp), shrimp tempura, tuna and mayo and a few more. Most cost € 1.50 but the one with kelp costs € 1. I like the ones I just mentioned the most.
It’s definitely worth going out your way to buy a few of these for lunch or as a healthy snack so just do it and don’t argue with me! You already read this review so far so get going!