195853 Sat Jul 06 01:11:42 -0700 2002 3 18 Manhattan 0 1045519 I just triedthe spaghetti at the new JAS Mart Japanese market on St. Mark's Place. They have a special with meat sauce right now for 2.50. I thought there would be more groceries but I guess it's more of a bakery with prepared foods and a video store in back. The baked goods didn't look to appealing to me and an ume onigiri wasn't the KO of puckering smokey flavor I'm used to. The ume paste was very pale, perhaps not the freshest? There is also a takeout counter with tomato based spaghetti options and another side with curries. The curries were mostly white rice and sauce divided fifty fifty on a large plate with very little meat included. I opted for the pasta side of the menu and got a spicy cod roe over spaghetti. The noodles were done perfectly but the cod roe were tiny and lacked much flavor. I wasn't aware it was a cream based sauce which I never order and found it to be a bit heavy. Still for five bucks it's a filling plate for sure and the tomato based entrees like a spaghetti and prawn plate looked more appealing to me. Enjoy, Frank Sat Jul 06 01:11:42 -0700 2002 0 iron frank 1 1045529 I just discovered this place yesterday but I don't know how long it's been open. The food looked pretty uninteresting to me, I guess because it's that kind of faux-western food that I don't care for. My friend (a Japanese chowhound) got a hokkaido curry with crab topping and said that it wasn't very impressive and was served cold. They have a bunch of pastries, coffee, hot dishes, plus a cooler with sandwiches (one of which was a tangerine sandwich!), sushi, snacks, rice balls and cool drinks. I got a couple of rice balls which were good but generic. I got a lovely bottled drink, Kirin jasmine milk tea! YUM!!!!! The grocery store is downstairs and has the standard fare. It is about the same size as Sunrise and the selection is not quite as good. The whole place is worth a visit but it's not extraordinary, especially compared to Sunrise. Sat Jul 06 12:06:08 -0700 2002 1045519 0 Kenzi 2 1045574 i found that the supermarket portion of JAS Mart is for the most part inferior to sunrise mart, but depending on the item, i found it a tad bit cheaper at JAS. as for the food, it's nothing fancy---it's japanized western fast food, which is not meant to be for the gourmand. however, it hits the spot if you are looking for that quirky japanese westernized food. the cod roe spaghetti i tried as well, but you can find a much better one at Ya Bowl in midtown. Mon Jul 08 11:11:55 -0700 2002 1045529 0 sasscat1 3 1045838 In my experience, Sunrise Mart is not very aggresive about throwing away expired items. Check the dates carefully on what you buy. The uptown JAS Mart (Broadway around 110) is much better managed than Sunrise Mart and puts about to expire items on sale, and doesn't seem to sell expired items. I'm pretty sure they moved the JAS uptown management team to handle the new store. JAS Mart is operated by Mitswa, the giant NJ operation. Two other options are Katgari on I think 59th and Sam Bok around 34th. Katgari is the only place I've seen in New York that sells rice from Japan, at something like $5 a pound. Katgari is the expense account place for older expats. I think their customers engage in more home cooking than either Sunrise or JAS. Sam Bok is the old fashioned expat place, with an older (and perhaps cheaper) feel. Again, I think their customers do more home cooking. Another new Japanese place is, and I'm forgetting the name, a foodcourt bakery place on I think 43rd between Madison and 5th. It's next to Bookoff, the Japanese used bookstore. The sandwhiches and baked stuff is good, haven't tried anyhting else. Wed Jul 10 18:01:24 -0700 2002 1045574 0 Todd