How, I ask you, could anyone resist this bottle of orange-yogurt goodness?  Clearly Todd and I could not. You can see our grubby fingerprints all over it.Every time I shop at Pacific Mercantile in Sakura Square at 20th and Lawrence, I find something new to eat or drink. King Soopers can’t hold a candle to it, though the Pacific Ocean Market in Broomfield comes close. But it doesn’t have Hawaiian goods like “Maxi Taro Chips” (made from the root in the center of the picture; daikon is on the left, and nagaimo, which I’ve never heard of, is on the right). “Maxi Taro” is not exactly an appetizing name to women, but I thought the supposedly “hot and spicy” chips were all right. Just don’t expect the same crisp texture you’d get from a potato chip. You can also get POG juice there (passionfruit, orange, and guava).

If you need lots of rice, these Asian markets are the places to go. This picture reminds me of the massive bags of flour I helped transport to the Navajo Reservation back in the day.

I first visited Pacific Mercantile, which is on the edge of downtown Denver, during the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was a hot day, so I got this sugary tea in a bottle and a pack of what turned out to be edamame rice crackers. I was dazzled by all the edamame on the package, but once I opened it I realized that I had bought crackers, not beans. They were definitely better than the taro chips, though.

Pacific Mercantile has a long case in the back filled with various fish products, including masago (fish roe), squid, and a large burgundy chunk of maguro that I was too chicken to photograph because the butcher was standing right there looking at me as if to say, “Do you want something, or not?” And, oddly enough, a fish head labeled “Arigato.” Can someone interpret that one for me?

Pacific Mercantile has a housewares section half as big as the rest of the store. If you can’t find anything else there you like, you can always take this home as a consolation prize.Looks like it’s baring its teeth, doesn’t it?