Heisei Mart

3.5 stars
This Japanese grocery store is filled with produce that you can’t find anywhere else in other supermarkets, let alone in Chinese supermakets! I’ve tried all four kinds of onigiri (tuna, salmon, seaweed and plum) and all were lacking in filling :/​Bento was okay — some ingredients weren’t that fresh but I really appreciate the fact that you are given fresh rice!

A note to everyone reviewing Heisei Mart: The section only includes the grocery area of the whole J-​Town complex. The seafood section is part of J-​Town by the Sea, the bakery section is part of Bakery Nakamura, and the food court section is part of Shiso Tree Café.
Heisei Mart was actually smaller than I thought in terms of the size. However, despite the small size, the place is packed with unique Japanese groceries which you won’t get in other stores. Nothing like authentic ingredients to make okonomiyaki, takoyaki, real seaweed… mmm. There’s also a large supply of udon, soba, ramen, instant ramen… anything that screams Japanese, it’s probably there.
Cashiers are attentive and do speak fluent English. I mean, you kinda have to considering very few GTA residents speak Japanese in any form of capacity.

It’s true, you can buy a lot of Japanese groceries at T&T or even Loblaws, but there are so many authentic items you can only get at a Japanese grocery store and Heisei in J-​Town is one of the few in the GTA and definitely the biggest and being Japanese, it’s a regular trip to Markham for groceries for me.
From Japanese pickles, noodles, curry, tea, crackers and other snacks to gobo (burdock root) and Tofu, to Bonito flakes and miso, to Kewpie mayo and prepared bento box meals, everything is authentic Japanese and most of it imported from Japan with prices to match.
While at Heisei, explore the rest of J-​Town and go next door to Bakery Nakamura, or on the other side for lunch at Café Green Tea, or any of the other authentic Japanese stores and restaurants.

They have instant yakisoba noodles here for $ 2.98. At T&T, the same brand at regular price is $ 3.99. The instant yakisoba noodles are really cute. You pour the hot water in, and when the noodles are ready, there’s a strainer built into the box so you can pour the hot liquid back out before adding the sauces.

This supermarket is a bit out of the ordinary. It is a continous stream of stores and shops connected with one another.
One side you have the food court/​take out area. The food is great and fairly priced.
Next to that is the supermarket where you can get your everyday goods. Nothing too special about this place except you can find more ramen choices then the usual supermarket.
Next to that is a bakery where they bake fresh goods on a daily basis. Highly recommended.
To the left of the bakery is a butcher shop with meat that you wouldn’t usually find at a normal shop (ie. marrow etc) and the prices are very fair.
Finally you have a quick serve sushi restaurant on the far left of the plaza. This place servers great sushi and allows you space to sit and eat. It’s about time you get to find your usual rolls without having it owned by a korean or chinese family.
Keep in mind that coming to this area is a bit of an issue. It’s located in a plaza where you must go from steeles to get to. You can’t go straight from the ING building and there’s lot s of traffic during business hours. The parking lot is pretty full during the day.
Either way it’s recommended to visit. Definitely a different scenary compared to the usual chinese plaza’s (ie. metro square and pmall).

A self service food court. Cheap and easy. Make sure you help cleanup the dishes from table when done.

Heisie Mart is that Japanese grocery store inside J-​Town.
If you want to cook a real authentic Japanese meal at home, you can get all the condiments, ingredients and even vegetables you need.
different brand of Miso soup powder, dried wakame seaweed, ponzu marinate, Japanese candies, coffees… all the dry goods you can imagine.
Price wise is relatively high as most of them are imported directly from Japan in limited quantities,