You might recognize the name, COSMO, if you have been around my blog. I wrote a post about a Japanese grocery store which I use in Jakarta called COSMO. They used to be located near me, but they recently moved and their new location is on Jalan Bulungan, a little further away from me and at first I was sad to know that they were moving. Then I recently visited their new store and I was so happy for them! It is beautiful!!
Now COSMO is on a much busier and lively street where they can have a better traffic of customers. I always think that location is very important, so it is wonderful for them to be there. I love the modern interior design, white clean floor and high ceiling that makes the store looks cleaner, brighter and even much bigger. To me shopping for grocery is not only the content and quality of food, but also the atmosphere and easiness to shop. It made me happy to be at COSMO and shop. The bakery section looks lovely and the soft light makes the bread selections look yummy! The sozai section (sozai means side dishes in Japanese) has dishes that would help add more variation to your table and right next to it is a food stand where you can buy some Japanese dishes like udon and ramen. There are tables and chairs by the sozai and food stand for their customers to enjoy the meal. I saw many Indonesians hang out and eat which made me happy. I think it’s wonderful to see that COSMO is also playing a role as a liaison between Indonesian and Japanese culture.
Now that I have lived in Jakarta for 6 months, I kind of know the stores where many expats shop. I find the produce at COSMO the best in quality in terms of freshness. I like the way they package, too. Their produce section may not be as big as some big grocery stores you find in Jakarta, but you can find very fresh and tasty produce packaged very nicely. Try their tomatoes. You’ll see what I mean. I also find the fish and meat at Japanese grocery stores fresher than other stores. I like the way they handle the products as they are very careful.
The highlight of the trip was to see these “onigiri” (rice ball) molds. I own a couple of onigiri molds that I bought in Japan, but the ones sold at COSMO are much cuter!!! One of my readers left me a comment in my first article on COSMO and asked about the place she could buy an onigiri mold. The COSMO’s store owner saw the comment and commented as a response to the question that they didn’t have any at the store at the time. However, a couple of weeks later, he commented again to announce that his store started selling some!! I am happy to show you what they have at the store. The prices are very reasonable, too! If you are interested in buying one and live in Jakarta, hurry to COSMO!
I wrote about onigiri and indoor picnic with my girls as one of my earlier posts last March. Here‘s the post. You can see the recipe for “dashimaki tamago”, a Japanese egg omelet as well. It makes me nostalgic to see the post not only because it was back when we still lived in our apartment in Arlington, Virginia and it feels like ages ago, but also it was the early stage of my blog and I still remember vividly how I felt about writing, arranging photos, and posting on my blog. Time really flies…
Store Information
COSMO’s New Location
Jalan Bulungan No. 16
Jakarta, Indonesia
Tel: 021-7207112 or 081380006789
Directions
Most drivers should know where Grand Mahakam Hotel on Jl. Mahakam is. Coming from the hotel, you drive towards Blok M and turn left onto Jalan Bulungan. Drive for a couple of hundred meters and you’ll see COSMO’s sign board on the left like in the photo above. The store will be on the left.
Nice Japanese grocery stores like this one feel like oasis when I’m overseas…
Yes I also remember when you said you started blogging – in such a humble way!! Look how drawn I am to your blog now!!
Exactly! Hehe. I’m very grateful that you have always visited my blog since the beginning and your comments always make me happy.
wow, it has been already 6 months? time does fly. from your pictures it looks like it’s a very chic, elegant store to shop in.
Thanks, Elisa! I like shopping at a place that makes me feel relaxed to shop.
How cute are those rice molds!!! Do you seriously use them for the girls lunchboxes?
Btw I love this Japanese sesame salad dressing (do you know what they are called?) and I can’t find them at grand lucky and other stores. Maybe I should visit cosmo sometime! I am on my LAST bottle! (eeep!)
That is REALLY cool that they started selling those molds!!
Looks well-stocked, Japanese items/ food products are hard to find here. The only shop that is popular is DAISO, selling accessories to pots and pans, all for under AED10 (USD3). The moment I walked in, I didn’t want to exit, LOL.
You must be super duper happy to know this store exist 😉
Oh, I love Daiso! If you go to Daiso in Japan, since it’s a 100 yen store, most of the items you see are 100 yen ($1). I love it, too and I can spend hours in the store.
wow, I am surprised they let you take pictures of the interior of the store, and the workers kinda give you a smile eh? impressive
I asked them if I could take some photos of the store and they were very welcoming. It doesn’t always happen in Jakarta.
These are very cool. love the bunny one.
Dear Kaho San,
I don’t know how could miss this posting about COSMO, because I usually get notification from your blog anytime you post a new subject. BTW thank you very much… Really, really appreciate this!
I came upon your blog by way of a Google search for Japanese grocery stores in Jakarta. What a pleasant and beautifully designed surprise! I’m visiting Jakarta for a couple of weeks and haven’t had time to visit Cosmo yet, but am looking forward to it thanks to your very positive reviews and nice photos.
If you do end up living in the DC area again, there are a few nice Japanese grocery stores, though not as complete and pretty as Cosmo looks to be. They are: Hana on U and 17th Streets NW; Hinata in Bethesda (just off Old Georgetown Road); and Maruichi in Rockville (Rockville Pike).
Franz, thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving me a comment! We will move back to the DC metropolitan area at some point in the future for sure, so I will come back to your comment so that I can visit the stores. I hope you’ll enjoy visiting Jakarta!!
hi Kaho,
thank you for sharing this. I just moved to jakarta last year and I always wonder whether jakarta has a good japanese grocery shop. Will visit it this weekend. 🙂 I hope they sell the japanese griller. I don’t know what is the name though.. konro or something like that..
Love your blog by the way. Will drop by often.
Fifi, thanks!! Japanese griller…. Cosmo might have one, but I can’t remember seeing one or not. Maybe not… You might also want to check Daiso (no guarantee that they have it) above Papaya in Blok M. Thanks for dropping by!!
Hi Fifi,
I am from Cosmo. We are very sorry that we don’t have japanese griller at the moment. But we would be very happy if you could come to our store this weekend.
Rgds, Tjahjono
Thank you for the information…..I am looking for umeboshi plums for health reasons…..any other suggestions other than COSMO?
Kind regards,
Eve
You can also find Umeboshi at Kamome in Mahakam and Papaya in Blok M.
Hi, its great to hear Cosmo had moved to a new place. I was so happy that an instance of reading this blog, I went there. To my disappointment only around 5 percent of the product are from Japan and the rest are mix of Indonesian and Korean. I would rather buy from Hero if it is Indonesian product, as the price was excalated alot. Another good maybe more Japanese stock would be Green Papaya… At least there are onigiri or other Japanese food to pick…
Hi Kaho, nice to find your blog when i tried searching for japanese ingredients. I’m still trying to find japanese scallops in Jakarta, but i tried looking it at Food Hall, Ranch & Hero but none of them imports the japanese scallop…any idea where i can get this from?
Did you try Cosmo? I want to say they might have some. Try Papaya. They might have some, too. Grand Lucky near Pacific Place (it’s a fancy shopping mall) is a big grocery store and they might have some, too.
Hi Kaho, thanks for the reply..perhaps, i will try the above mentioned stores as u mentioned…hope everything is well with you & family..cheers….
I am looking for pre made gari (Ginger ) served with sushi. if you have one in the store and what it cost. I shall be thankful for the information. Thanks
Sidh, thanks for the comment! I am not the store owner, so I don’t know the price. I have the phone number listed in the body of the article. Please call them and check the price! Thanks!
Hi, Kaho san.
Long time no see the cosmo, since i did the shopping the cosmo in wijaya.
Now, i am very interesting with the beer, do you have the japanese beer like ASAHI, i love to come . Thank U.
We are very sorry, we do not have Asahi Beer, nowadays it is difficult to import alcoholic beverages. Only a couple of company has the permission to do that, and mostly they only import alcoholic beverages from europe or US (jono- Cosmo).
Thank you for teeling the new Cosmo location. Miss it. Do they have japanese candy too? I’ve been trying to find bourbon fettucine gummy candy. Japan candies are the best.. Any idea where can I get it in Jakarta? Thank
Lisa, thanks for your comment! Unfortunately, I don’t know if you can find bourbon fettucine gummy candy in Jakarta. Has anyone said she/he bought it in Indonesia? If not, I suspect that the products are not imported as the regulations make it difficult for many products from Japan to be imported into the country. I’m sorry I’m not helpful…
Hai there, yeah I guess they don’t sell it here. Thanks anyway.. Too bad, the candy really so good. Looking forward to read some more news from you. Thanks again
Thank you!
Dear Kaho, do you know other japanese grocery shop in Jakarta? I’m looking takoyaki pan and other ingredient to make my own takoyaki, I love takoyaki so much So I want to learn how to make it. thank you
Other than Cosmo and Papaya I don’t know. I wonder if someone sells the takoyaki pan online in Indonesia, so I typed in “takoyaki pan Indonesia” in Google search and some came up although I don’t know if they are stores in Indonesia. I’d try that. I’m sorry I don’t have any other good answers. Good luck with your search!
Hi Kaho,
Thanks for sharing this! Read bout it from your post and accidentally stumbled upon it yesterday. It was indeed quite fabulous and the sashimi was really fresh!
(P.s: I’ve just written a post about Cosmo too and included your blog as a reference, hope you don’t mind)
I just arrived at Jakarta 2 weeks ago and found your blog really useful; Too bad that you already left! Anyway hope you continue to have fun with your family in India 🙂
Thank you, Cass! I am very glad to hear that you liked COSMO! Thank you for finding my blog and saying that you find it useful! I am glad! Thank you also for using my blog as a reference! You are welcome to do that any time! I hope you will enjoy your life in Jakarta!!