Woodbury Ralph's - going down fast?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
My wife went there yseterday and said she will never go back. She said it was more expensive than any Ralphs in this area. Good-bye!
 
<em>My wife went there yseterday and said she will never go back. She said it was more expensive than any Ralphs in this area. Good-bye!</em>



Maybe in terms of produce as most of the offering is organic. Other than produce, the prices are no different from the other two Ralph's stores (Culver location and Alton location).
 
Fresia in Irvine/Tustin is expensive compared to Zion in Hawaiian Gardens or Hannam in Rowland Heights. But they don't have a lot of competition here. Same with Ranch 99.





Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa is kinda pricy (products in supermarket), but has a good food court, plus the guy selling yakiimo in the front on weeeknds . You could get a large curry dinner plate there for $5-$6. For groceries I prefer Marukai Pacific Market (ex-New Meiji/Pacific market) on W. Redondo Beach blvd in Gardena, membership is not required. Do not get ramen from their food court, though the grill (shinsengumi yakitori) is okay.





If anyone is a tofu fanatic, there's a guy who runs a little shop on Western in Gardena that's open something like 6am-noon daily. He makes fresh tofu every day and has these little flags out by his front door. From intersection of Artesia & Western, go north on Western and look to your right.





If you're shopping at Fresia in Irvine/Tustin, check their hot foods section after 7pm for 50% off sticker items. Their selection of fruits is decent, and the bakery's quality is acceptable. Though I prefer the bakery at Zion market in Hawaiian Gardens off Carson/Lincoln blvd. There's also an interesting new Korean bakery franchise called Paris Baguette at the Beach Galleria @ corner of Beach & Malvern/La Mirada Blvd in Buena Park. The car wash across the street from there has good frozen yogurt and is open late. Tastes much better than Kiwiberry.

 
Dang you momopi, you gave away the 50% off secret. . .





The quality of fresh food at Ranch 99 is pretty bad. I avoid going there for produce and fruits. However, you can't beat their fish/seafood department and the variety of asian items. I like going to Freshia for meats though (Koreans take more pride in their meats than the Chinese.)





Speaking of bakery, both Chinese bakers near the Ranch 99s (Culver and Jeffery) are pretty good. Their cakes are expensive but much lighter and less sweet than the one you get at an American bakery
 
Fresia's hot food counter serves the same stuff every day... even at 50% discount there's only so much fried chicken drumsticks you can eat. I don't recommend the bulgogi, they're kinda tough.





Generally speaking Korean markets are better for stuff like Galbi/Kalbi and sliced pork bellies... if you're looking to save $, go to Zion market in Hawaiian Gardens, check the meat section where they put the beef, and look in the left corner for the heavily discounted stuff. Koreans have certain expectations with what sliced beef short ribs should look like, and the "substandard" chops with less meat on the bone gets marked down heavily. If you look carefully, sometimes you can find good quality ones with decent amount of meat on the bone for a little over $1/pound.





I've eaten at many Korean BBQ places, but dislike their flat grills that gets too oily. I prefer the roundish "wire net" type grills found at some Japanese Yakiniku restaurants. The meat cooked on those aren't as greasy. If you haven't been to Tamaen in Lomita, I recommend visiting and checking them out -- they're better than Gyu-kaku. I like their harami, karubi, and sliced beef tongue (lightly grilled with a dash of salt and lemon juice):


http://www.tamaen.com/





For steak, I think most of us here would agree that Costco offers good quality at good price. Ralphs in comparison is over-priced. Sometimes I wonder if non-premium markets like Ralphs and Albertsons business in Irvine takes a hit because we have couple of Costcos here?
 
<p>The rule of thumb at a Korean BBQ: Cook the marinated meat after you have finished eating the non-marinated meat. The marination will stick to your grill and burn, leaving charred residue on your meat.</p>
 
<p>Ok, so my coworker and I went to Ralphs to pick up some ice cream & fruit bars for the office one afternoon following lunch... It's been so hot lately, thought it would be a nice treat!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>When we got to the register, he commented to me that "maybe we could expense it" and the cashier made a comment, thinking we said "IT'S EXPENSIVE" and said "That's because this is <em><strong>Fresh Faire</strong></em>" Basically that because it's Fresh Faire we should EXPECT to pay more.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>GITOC</p>
 
Went to the Zion Market tonight. It is the market that took over the Vons space at the Northwood Center. I was pleasantly surprised. Both the produce and refrigerated meat sections appeared to have good fresh product at very competitive prices. It's also the only place outside of Whole Foods where I could find duck. They also had goat (never cooked it, but have heard it's quite good). Mitsuwa still wins the fresh fish contest hands down.





Oh, and no yuzu - either fresh or juice. I was a bit put out by that.





Momo - the bakery section at Zion is sublet to Paris Baguette.
 
they have ducks at Bristol Farms. I don't know how to cook duck, so never tried it. But I am sure it can't be bad coming from BF.
 
goat? hmm...I hope I won't smell my neighbours cooking goat! reminds me of the funny conversations in regards to "goat" in the movie "40 year old virgin".
 
eva, how to you cook the duck? i love the chinese roast duck at Sam Woo and other Chinese delis, but have never tried cooking duck at home.
 
Well, um, I've never cooked duck. I have always wanted to, but haven't yet.





The good news is that it's rather fatty (but, IIRC, a "good" fat), so unless you pulverize it, it shouldn't get dry.


<a href="http://cookthink.com/blog/?p=700">


Here</a> is one way for duck breast.


<a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/5108">


Here</a> is a roast duck recipe, and a <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/48561">roast duck a la Orange</a>. Oh, and <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108731">one more duck recipe.


</a>


Ok, now I'm all inspired. I'll try to make duck in the next couple of weeks and let you know how it goes.






 
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