TNH

Went here for the first time 2 days ago and was also highly amused by the service (particularly since I was in a hurry...) - but was converted when my search for rice wine vinegar was hampered by my lack of Japanese skills (can't imagine why I thought the bottles would be labelled in English. Embarrassed by my assumption), and a collective effort was made to understand what I was looking for and then find it! Admittedly the search took some time and was conducted over 3 floors, but I got the vinegar - and all this slightly after closing time, I realised when I left (sorry, ladies!). Anyway, I got all the things I needed, saw lots of things I'll buy in future, and was grateful for the help.

I really really like: the fact they have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of western mushrooms. I'd give Yuki's 4 stars for this alone.

I really really dislike: the service. Far far far too much of a good thing. I just bitched about the aloof service at Veggy's - well, this place is the extreme opposite. Yuki's apparently wishes to minimise customer effort to the point of farce. Let me describe the Yuki's shopping experience: when you walk into the shop, you will immediately attract a 'lost puppy' attendant with a basket who will trail you about the place (this is assuming the place isn't busy, as then there are more customers than puppies - hooray!). When you select something from the fridge or shelf, the puppy will grab it out of your hands and put it in the basket. You aren't allowed to carry a basket. You're supposed to keep shopping and passing what you want to buy to your puppy, who trails you around...yes, like a lost puppy...with a basket. When you're done shopping and finished passing stuff to your puppy to put in the basket and you get to the counter, your puppy will put the goods on the counter, these are checked, you pay what you owe to the owner, your puppy bags your stuff and then another girl walks to the counter, collects the bag(s), walks back to the door (which is about a metre and a half away from the counter) and hands your bag(s) to you as you are walking out the door. Yep, that's how it is.

Now, this is all deeply awkward from a western perspective. Dear Yuki's manager - your heart is in the right place, but please, please, please tell your staff to leave me alone to shop in peace. Their constant presence makes me spend less - not more - time (and thus money) in your shop, because you make browsing so uncomfortable with your staff member hovering behind me all the time. As a result, I don't browse in your shop. I grab what I need (usually button mushrooms or peas) and then get the hell out.

After a few times of politely trying to rid myself of my lost puppy attendant without success, I have now adopted a blunt 'please go away, I can carry the basket of goods I intend to buy myself' attitude. This works, but the staff (who know me by now) are all downcrested that I won't let them be servile to me. Shoo! Shoo! The line between service and servile really isn't that fine, guys.

What I like, quite a lot, actually: I've found that you can rely on Yuki's to stock what you want when others have run out. Mushrooms, as I said above. But also things like fresh chicken (not frozen and then unfrozen), some vegetable for a recipe which you can't find elsewhere; down to fresh tuna steaks which I haven't tried out yet but I'm definitely going to rectify that shortly...Yuki's is a reliable provider of goods. And their prices aren't bad, either. Not as good as market prices. But amongst the cheapest out of the expat-oriented stores, if not the cheapest.

When I started writing this review, I was going to give Yuki's three stars, because their service policies irritate me to the core and that's the thing that really sticks out for me - but now that I think about it, they deserve four stars, because they're reliable, their range of fresh produce is impressive, their prices are fair, and their ham-fisted attempts to provide ultra high levels of service are well-intentioned, despite being comical in an irritating kind of way. Or irritating in a comical kind of way. Either way, a good little store that deserves your business.

The fresh fruits and vegetables here, from around the world, seem quite nice, but what I got really excited about at Yuki's is their selection of japanese products. Basic items that haven't seemed that easy to come by here in Hanoi: 5 or 6 types of miso paste, bonito flakes, a range of seaweed laver, mirin, soba, seasame sprinkles (6 sorts at least), a fine array of sake and other japanese alcohols... many sauces, wasabi paste, mochi, tofu, the list goes on!

The very kind owner said she will soon be openning a third floor.

You'll also find some nice bakery items, western items, frozen & fresh seafood.

I cannot agree with Vegas enough. I went here recently on the suggestion of a friend who shops there a lot. She said to me to 'not get too upset' by the service. She didn't elaborate with any more than a chuckle, and I assumed it to be just like most Viet places with no service at all.

What I got was so over the top it was enough to make me puke. Yuki, I am not an invalid. I may have white skin, but I can carry a basket and open a fridge door by myself. I don't need a pimply Vietnamese teenage girl to do it for me. These girls follow you around like a shadow, with no sense of personal space (one literally bumped into me coming down the stairs because she was so close), seemingly there to 'help', but when you turn and ask a question, they stare at you blankly because, naturally, they don't speak a word of English. Then I thought perhaps they believed that I was going to steal the teriyaki marinade... maybe Yuki thinks we are all thieves, and she needs to watch us so we don't take anything we are not supposed to? If that is the case, I could understand one 'watcher' on each floor, but following me around like a lost puppy is just ridiculous and, for this westerner at least, incredibly insulting.

Yes, I got lots of nice fruits and veges and some excellent western canned stuff, which would give the place a solid 5 stars. Yes, the prices were ok. Not great, but ok considering, so 4 stars. What will probably stop me returning to this place without a whip and what causes me to give it only 2 stars is those pathetic shop 'assistants'. I would like to come here instead of the market precisely because I am NOT treated differently, but at the moment, Yuki it seems just doesn't understand she is turning people like me away by treating us like children.

this place is great. super selection of fresh fruits, veges, meats & fish.

loads of japanese products and they are opening a korean section. normally i've got to haul over to unimart, bs mart or k-mart to buy specialist stuff, but the traffic there and back can be brutal sometimes. it's awesome to have an alternative on the north side of town.

i'll be shopping here regularly from now on.