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Originally Posted by jimmycooper
Interesting. Assuming that one already has the olive oil, all the other items would probably be nearly twice as much at like a Whole Foods here in NYC. I thought Tokyo was more expensive.
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Not at all. You can go the Whole Foods route but there are many market alternatives. For olive oil I have a choice of Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Turkish. All for about 5$ USD per litre.
We mostly eat Japanese food though. It also helps the in-laws are part time organic farmers and I get a ton of rice and seasonal vegetables via that pipeline. We do a lot of shopping at a restaurant supplier's market. Food from all over the world and not that expensive.
Super markets here are tiered and networked like in US to some extent but unless you live in the dead center of Tokyo my experience has been much cheaper than US. I'm also married to Japanese so we don't mess around with the bullshit.
All that said, I can show you some mind-blowing deli floors in the basements of major shopping centers. Makes Whole Foods look like Vons or a crappy A&P.
Its cheaper for me to get a super nice Japanese set lunch or ramen set than it is to go American fast food here. McDonalds is a little famous for decent coffee and being a cheap hotel when you miss the last train. Thats about it.