T & T Supermarket

Very good supermarket. Out of your stereo type of Chinese supermarket. No strange smell, tidy and clean shopping environment. Friendly cashier like Yoko, pack your grocery like her own: organize and carefully. Unfortunately, she doesn’t do the packing for you any more.
You wanna a different grocery shopping experience? You should definitely try this one.

This isn’t my go to location, however, been here twice this year since I have some friends that live in Richmond. I came to get some stuff since I was there anyway. I always find that T&T has very cheap red bean inspired pastries, cakes and some cheap gluten free generic flours that I like to use. On the flip side I feel that their Asian candy selection not as epic as Metrotown and or Richmond. Parking is way better here than the Richmond and as there is transit but not as friendly as the other locations.

It has more japanese items but a mid-​sized grocery store that has the same items as the other t&t markets. We were able to find our maple and salmon products, but it’s just a little more expensive than the main t&t stores.

I have tried giving this place a chance six times. I normally go to one of the regular TandT’s located in Vancouver.
The first time at Osaka I was impressed. The store was so clean and everything is so well displayed.\ and the food is packed really nice. The store was not crowded and it felt really nice shopping here.
After shopping here for a while I have come to the realization that all the cleanliness comes at a very terrible price in terms of quality and price.
If you are a regular shopper at any TNT then you know that they always have a high turnover rate for their food. Fish, meat, fruits, vegetables are sold really fast. This is not the case at Osaka.
Here is what I noticed at Osaka:
Fruits: Normally never ripe. (fruits are expected to ripen in the store as they wait to be purchased) that is why bananas at Osaka are greener and Oranges are more sour. They use a special lamp and gas to artificially ripen their fruits so it looks edible. The fruit selection is very limited and targeted to the upscale West Vancouver clientele that they seem to want to cater to. If you want truly exotic Chinese fruits you will only find a few at Osaka.
Vegetables: Very nicely displayed but also very few Chinese vegetables compared the regular TNT. The local vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes etc are OK and seem the same as Superstore quality which is not to bad. Vegetable prices are slightly inflated and again they seem to sit on the shelve for a long time.
Meats: Every thing is pre-​cut and packaged out of view in the back. Every is is super well vacuum packed and over priced as well. They also don’t use a consistent weight display. Some items are price/​kg and other are price/​lbs and then there is the silly price per/​100gm. This is a common technique used by well versed managers to confuse the consumer and is often used in very business savvy stores. The meats tend to last longer on the shelves because of their really good vacuum packing, but old meat is still old meat. When you get home and open it up it tends to not taste as good and it often spoils pretty fast as soon as it is removed from it nice inert gas packaging.
Where are the huge bags of cheap meat that you normally find in TNT? If you are buying meat to use as crab bait or for your dogs raw diet I would go to TNT or Crystal mall in Metrotown. Dogs need really fresh raw meat and crab bait should be really cheap.
Fish: Pretty good selection of frozen fish (on par with a regular TNT). Not to much frost bitten fish (it probably ends up in the dim sum). Osaka mainly sells the really clean looking fish that are not offensive to non-​Asians which is a plus point if you are offended by the sight of live Bullheads (shudder) but a bad thing if you want to buy a few pounds of fresh squid which I never see at Osaka.
In the regular TNT you get to see and choose the fish that you are getting as they are all laid out on ice and the packers will messily chop up a snapper head into whatever size your fry-​pan happens to be. It is more messy but fish rarely stays available at closing time which means fresh fish the next day, every day. In Osaka I have seen the same fish on sale for up to 4 days. If you press the eyeball or skin of the Osaka fish after you buy it it will often not spring back into place (which is how you can tell it freshness). If you are buying live fish, then Osaka is probably fine. If you are buying live clams or mussels, then put them in the sorting basket and wait around 15 minutes without touching or moving the basket even thought the staff will push you to quickly package and weight you clams. The clams will open up very slightly after 10 minutes and the water will drain back out. You will pay around 20 to 30 percent less which will help offset the inflated Osaka prices and bring it down to regular TNT price/​pound.
Canned and bottled foods: If you look at the expiry date on a lot of the canned/​bottled foods you will notice that a lot of these items have been sitting on the shelf for ages. I normally don’t even look at expiry dates on bottled goods, but I dropped my freshly purchased TNT bought oyster sauce on my kitchen floor and I noticed that that it had three years left on its «best before» label. My replacement from Osaka had less than 18 months left before it expired.
My fears were confirmed once I started looking at the expiry dates on other items. Because there just is not enough traffic at this location everything is old. I was saddened by this realization because this is such a nice clean looking TNT clone.
I only purchased prepared food from the dimsum/​combo meal area three times. The first two times I was disappointed, but I figured maybe i waited to long to eat it. Chinese food does not stay gummy unless it is eaten right away so I blamed myself. The third time I chose my meal from the combo area and ate it right away (after paying). I was puzzled because it looked so fresh –why did it not taste as good as regular

Excellent selection and helpful staff, you’ll likely find just about any Japanese product you’re missing from Japan. I love the additional East Asian food selections and the seasonal displays as well.
My only complaint is that if you are buying more than one bag of groceries there are no full sized carts and no easy way to carry heavy items back to your parking spot.

I believe I have gotten ill (a few months now) from the food they leave in their warning shelves ie. congee, cooked chicken and duck, chinese fast food. etc. The warming area is next to BBQ duck/​pork where you can get take away. The food sits under the warmer from 9:30 or 11 AM (MORNING!!!) until they close and most people get takeout after work so its been sitting out for a whole day and not hot enough. Bacteria is the least of their problems!

DH & I were here on Saturday at 5 pm.
There was a sign that said: Saturdays 2 – 6 pm All lanes open.
However, there were only 4 lanes open.
We bought ½ roasted chicken + a small bowl of rice noodles to share.
The chicken was tender, in it’s own natural juices; not salty or any spices added to it.
The noodles were not too greasy.

the name ‘Osaka’ is misleading, as it’s about as ‘japanese’ as Taiwan.
By which I mean that ethnically the store is chinese, owned in fact by T&T (though another ‘Osaka’ is soon to open up on Cambie and Marine) but with a variety of other asian cultures represented.
The service is better than the T&T markets– especially better than metrotown, there is greater attention to presentation, and I love the hot food selection and conveniently located seats.

Upscale and large Asian supermarket that makes Ranch 99 look like a 7 eleven. Live Alaskan King Crab… my first time seeing that. A few cooked food places that look interesting. Probably the nicest Asian market I’ve been to.

Great to have an Asian supermarket on the North Shore, but with that comes the culture of lots of throw-​out styrofoam, unrecyclable-​grade plastics especially in the take-​out food department. It would be so great if they set an example for other Asian food stores to move towards more recyclable packaging.
Osaka has one of the best seafood departments on the North Shore.

Fabulous place for Asian food!
People here are very helpful and they wrap your meat and seafood nicely. Good selections of vegetables, meat and seafood. I highly recommended this place I everybody who loves Asian you to their diet :)!

If you ever been to a T&T, then this place would be relatively familiar. They serve basically anything you might think of that’s Chinese related. Their prices are, unfortunately, slightly more higher then many stores because everything at West Vancouver are usually more expensive.
The only thing here that shocked me would probably be that they actually were selling Kangaroo meat. At first, I immediately got confused on why a CHINESE supermarket would be selling this, but then I immediately got interested on wanting to buy it but I never really gotten the chance because it’s kinda pricey.
Lastly, they also sell fresh seafood, a sushi stand, and also sell freshly cooked hot meals for you to take and enjoy. Also they do offer hot meals at a cheaper price when it gets closer to closing time.
If you are in the neighborhood and want to try out some Asian cuisine, consider going here to buy something but don’t expect a huge bargain though.

Newest jewel of their empire, opened within past 2 years.
biggest differences you’ll notice compared to the others is just not as frantic as the Richmond Yaohan one, & less Asian.
Parking’s a bit better in that there’s more space to manœuvre but you do have to drive up a few ramps here, esp. with the latest construction going on this past week. someone pls tell me what they are building, if anyone knows, i’m nosey.
Same typical layout, seafood in the back, good selection, and no budding in line here.
Hot meals on the far left of store.
Another nice thing is the smoother flooring here, almost fashionable.
Other than passing thru here to North Van or west van, it’s quite far from DT.

A Chinese supermarket in Park Royal, who would have thunk it? Then when I saw the advertisement at the T&T location near my hood (1^st and Renfrew) I was like, ok, that would be a cool idea, where they going to put this? Well it is on the South side of the mall (this odd two sectioned Park Royal, who designed this thing???) and it takes up the old Winners space. Coming here I already had comparisons (as I shop at all the other T&T locations within the city) and I was pleasantly surprised from my shopping experience.
The place is really brightly lit, I’ll let a few years tack on, and see if the lighting will start to have that nasty yellow tinge, but for now, this place is very bright, and the isles of food are wide and well placed. Like going down a wide street, no need to play ‘chicken’ with your shopping cart in the isle and get your mean streak going on who the baddest person in the supermarket is, there is plenty of room for everyone.
The one standout of this store, compared to the others, is that they have a pretty big ‘organic’ section, yes, you read it, now go check it out. So for the health concious of mind, who prefer some of their goods to be organic, they have stuff here, and not a small section either. I also found many other products, or brands, that I wouldn’t see at my own T&T, and the prices here (if we are talking about store sales) are real good. The hunter shall be rewarded with value priced groceries. Gone are the days (if you are living here) of crossing the Lions Gate to get to Chinatown cause you wanted to cook an authentic Chinese meal, yet your supermarkets don’t carry the right ingredients for your dish, now you can come here.
It is more of an upscale T&T, clean, the staff very friendly, everything is orderly, and never too packed, even on a weekend afternoon, when they were handing out samples (like all their stores on the weekend’s) the place was not a zoo! Parking is not too difficult either, just come through the Futureshop side. If you weren’t so much out of the way, I would come to you more than my own T&T!

This is the best Asian Supermarket in all of the Lower mainland.
Clean
Brightly lit
Employees are helpful
Pricing similar to T&T
No pushy old Chinese ladies
Good selection of Asian groceries
What more can I ask for in a T&T that has gone upscale?
Location is on the upper level.

Love walking through it, however I feel like most things look good but dont taste that well.
Tried different sushi from here, and in all honesty I would advise you to save your money and go somewhere else. They look fress, but taste far from it, and this is on multiple attempts!
Other than that, Its another high end store, that is alot of fun to walk through!

I thought Osaka in Yaohan Centre in Richmond was pretty awesome but after venturing into this Osaka… my mind was blown! Osaka in West Vancouver is like Richmond’s Osaka, but on STEROIDS!
Feeling like a kid in a candy store, I marvelled at the long, pristine aisles of neatly organized, brightly lit, and enormous selection/​variety of all types of asian necessities.
A long round carousel of cold, ready-​to-​eat asian goods from vietnamese shrimp rolls, sushi, preserved foods, and more. A whole wall full of live seafood ranging from a variety of fish to calms to crabs to abalone to even giant lobster (they are bigger than a shoe box!). They even have a bulk section where you can buy dried fruits, nuts, asian snacks and more. Aisle after aisle of instant noodles, asian sauces, appliances, hygienic items, drinks, frozen foods, fresh produce, baked goods, snacks and desserts, and much much more.
If only I had more time because there would be so much more I could write… that’s what Osaka offers, MORE! It’s also too bad that it’s so far away from me, but if I happen to be near, it’s be a definite stop for me.

I’m so in heart with Osaka Supermarket!
I didn’t know it was coming, so when I saw the new signs all around Park Royal, I was happily surprised. My first visit revealed awesome fresh asian produce, a mind-​blowing meat department, bubble tea tapioca pearls (which I’ve never been able to find elsewhere in the city) and an amazing selection of frozen dumplings & steamed buns.
Its location isn’t really convenient to my shopping habits, but I will definitely be adding a trip there to my regular rotation of extra trips for specialty items.
P. S. Don’t pass up the BBQ Duck. It’s finger-​licking good!

Finally a full on asian supermarket is in north shore. Excellent choices of veggies, meat, seafood, spices, bakery and frozen prepared food also fresh deli food ready to go. Good prices.
Rice selection could be better.

I didn’t realize how deprived I’d been for Asian groceries living on the North Shore until I walked into Osaka. That chili oil I’d been fruitlessly searching for at Save-​On Foods and Whole Foods? It’s in the aisle with all the soy sauce at Osaka! Yay! Aside from the amazing selection of Southeast Asian and Japanese snacks, the Asian produce, and the giant selection of fresh seafood, there is a great selection prepared food at the deli. I wish had four stomachs like a cow, because then I could have managed to try everything that caught my eye. The sushi and seaweed salad were super fresh and the vegetable pao were delicious (6 buns for less than $ 7). Next time I stop by I’ll have to try the express meal combo: 2 items plus rice and soup for $ 5.99. Thank you, T&T for bringing Asian groceries and goodies to the North Shore!