I want one in my town! What is Kyoto's Super Local?

Recently, there are more and more unique supermarkets such as business supermarkets, supermarkets from overseas like Costco, and supermarkets specializing in frozen foods.

Therefore, we would like to introduce a supermarket that originated in Kyoto and is only available in Kyoto!

Kyoto's food connoisseurs frequent this supermarket.

The supermarket is located in the Shimogamo area of Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City. It is located about an 8-minute walk from Kitayama Station on the municipal subway Karasuma Line, about an 11-minute walk from Matsukazaki Station, and about a 15-minute walk from Shimogamo Shrine, a World Heritage site.

The name of the store is "Friend Foods Shimogamo Store. It is not a very distinctive name.

The exterior does not suggest anything special.

So what is so great about it?

The website states, "We aim to be a showroom that demonstrates the values and stories of honmamono ingredients.

They want to have truly delicious, safe and secure products from all over Japan, so they visit farmers and manufacturers and only carry products that they themselves are truly satisfied with. Rather than focusing on what customers need, they focus on communicating appealing products to customers and creating needs.

Now, let me tell you what exactly is great about it from my perspective as a fan!

Great point 1) You can meet delicious foods from all over the country.

The first is that it provides a place to encounter delicious foods from all over the country. For example, the confectionery section is crammed with famous confections from all over the country.

Here are two items I bought the other day. Niigata Zuika's "Usufuage Shrimp Flavor" is available only in a limited number of places in Kyoto City and is my daughter's favorite, so we always get it when we go there.

The other is "Tsuru-no-ko Amao Ichigo-Miruku", a seasonal version of Fukuoka's famous confectionery "Tsuru-no-ko", which I found for the first time and bought immediately! The sweet and sour Amaou strawberry bean paste is wrapped in soft dough with mildly sweet condensed milk, and it tastes just like eating strawberries with condensed milk, which is very satisfying!

Also, the biggest hit at this sales floor was Hakata Burabura, also from Fukuoka.

It was surprisingly delicious. I have had high-level wagashi sweets in Kyoto, which is famous for its wagashi, but this was as good as any of them. The soft gyuhi, which is like freshly pounded rice cake, and the smooth texture of the red bean paste are superb, and the difference from other gyuhi and red bean paste is clear because it is so simple! I was so addicted to it that I ordered it several times.

This is the "Thank You Friend Foods!" This is an experience that I would like to share with you.

Incidentally, "When it comes to Friend Foods, this is the one! is this "fully ripened red pepper".

They use sansho (Japanese pepper) nuts that are ripened on the tree until they turn bright red. I am very curious about it, so I plan to get some the next time I visit the restaurant.

Great point 2) Lots of original products!

Second, there is a wide range of original products.

I had bought dried Turkish figs before and they were thick, soft, large, everything was perfect.

This "basmati rice" is also delicious. When I used it in paella, I enjoyed its exquisite texture and flavor.

Foods from overseas may make you wonder if they are safe. However, if the food has the "Friend Foods" mark on it, such concerns will be put to rest.

Great point 3) You can buy prepared foods from that "Nishikikoji Inoue".

Inoue Tsukudani was a long-established store that operated on Nishiki-koji for 135 years until 2028, when it sadly closed its doors.

However! The following year, to my surprise, it was revived in Friend Foods!

I was there around 7:00 p.m. that day, so there were fewer items on the shelves, but during the day, you can find a wide variety of Kyoto-style obanzai, such as ebi-mame (shrimp beans) and nishin (Japanese herring roe).

The author purchased chirimen sansho (Japanese pepper).

The small crapes are soft and easy to eat, with just the right balance of sweetness and sansho (Japanese pepper)...! My rice went too fast (lol)!

In addition, Friend Foods also sells a variety of foods and sweets in limited quantities and for limited periods of time for events, and information is posted daily on its Instagram and Facebook pages.

It is a fun supermarket to visit in between sightseeing tours such as Shimogamo Shrine.

"I'm so glad I got to try it!" and you may even find a level of deliciousness that impresses you.