Seiyu Sangenjaya — Supermarket in Sangenjaya, Tokyo

Seiyu Sangenjaya is a branch of the Seiyu chain on Taishido in Sangenjaya, a few minutes from Sangenjaya station and next to a MUJI. The building runs from a basement food floor up through several floors of household goods and clothing, so you can pick up dinner and a pair of socks without leaving the building.

The basement is where the food lives, and the selection there is broad: vegetables, meat, fish and the staples for everyday cooking, with items you will not find in every supermarket. Up on the first floor sit drinks, snacks and the prepared foods, and that is where the katsudon pork cutlet rice bowl waits at around 400 yen, a portion that fills you with seasoning that lands right. The egg sandwich is about 185 yen under the Trial partnership, and the first-floor bakery turns out bread mostly in the low 100 yen range.

Higher up, the second floor carries private-label goods and daily necessities, and the fifth floor holds a 100-yen shop, which makes the building useful for more than groceries. Self-checkout registers exist but there are not many of them for a store this size, so lines can build at busy moments.

Prices on staples and bento came down after Trial took over, and the bento boxes sit in the 500 yen range. Meat and produce still cost what they cost, so it pays to know what to buy here and what to buy elsewhere.

The basement registers close earlier than the food floor itself. Come for the cheap hot food and the round-the-clock hours.