Over the last few months, I've suggested that restaurants might want to step up their game in light of the shrinking economy and competition coming from new sources. I was still thinking food sources. Since then, it's become apparent that the rising costs of necessities like rent and utilities have become a more pressing source of competition. I recently dug up my electricity bill from last May, when it was $37, vs. today, at about $120, with no appreciable increase in usage save for cooking twice a week versus once a month before.

Everyone expected Whole Foods Market to compete with established grocers, but on a couple of recent visits, it didn't seem like there were a whole lotta cooks in the place. Instead, people are treating it like a food court, clinging to the perimeters, whether for salads or for food cooked up hot and ready to eat, yet another source of dining options and a distraction from the traditional restaurant.

I went in with visions of the first Whole Foods I ever saw, in Portland, Ore., which seemed to me to be like a museum of food, with every morsel placed so perfectly in displays, and everything looking so luscious I really, really didn't want to leave, and felt sad that I couldn't take it home with me.

  This vision stuck with me and I thought how wondrous and easy it would be to flit about, picking up this and that and enjoy this perfection at home in front of the tube with our Twitter pals, with no fuss, no waiting on waiters, no extra expenses and no real-world aggravations.

I made the mistake of going on a Saturday, rush day for shoppers, when the aisles were teeming with people, displays were in disarray and it was difficult to maneuver around all the lookee-loos, many so dazzled dizzied by the experience they could no longer function. Like the woman ahead of me in line, who, after taking a lifetime to pay, started fingering my selections off the counter, and asking the cashier, “;Is this mine?”;

I had some doubt as to whether the food would actually be worth the trouble, but, it actually was and there is a lot to choose from, to suit every diet plan.

Most impressive was the fresh fish that easily outdoes at least 80 percent of restaurants. Marinated fillets of swordfish, salmon, opah and ahi sell for market prices of about $13.99 to $21.99 per pound, and while that may seem pricey, single fillets tend to weigh about half a pound, making an opah steak with soy-ginger sauce $6.30, and a fillet of sesame-crusted salmon $7.69, no more than the cost of a typical plate lunch. I trust you know how to cook rice.

It would have been easy enough to cook the fish at home myself, but Whole Foods will grill or fry the fish for you on the spot—a 15-minute wait while you check out the rest of the store—and I wanted to see the result. It was amazing. The fish was cooked to perfect doneness and didn't suffer in the drive to Liliha, plus time wasted browsing and exiting the store. The flavors didn't overpower, even thought the darkness and thickness of the soy-ginger sauce had made me think it would be soy- and salt-heavy. Many restaurants would do better if they used this fish rather than their own recipes. The fish was also noticeably fresh, without a trace of refrigerator flavor that I often find with supermarket fillets.

Oh, so good!

  NEXT, I HAD to try that family staple, the whole chicken. At $10.99, it's about $4 more than other supermarket chickens, without looking much different, so again I had to wonder if it's $4 better than the other birds. Other people didn't flinch at the price. One woman came by bus to pick one up. So many people ahead of me were ordering the chickens that the display was full when I made my first rounds. By the time I finished checking the sandwich, sushi and other ethnic specialties like tempura and bulgogi, pizza (sold at about $9.99 a pound, so a 4-by-3 inch slice of cheese and mushroom pizza is about $2.30), and dessert counters, plus multiple salad bars, there were only about four under the heaters. Luckily, I got one, which turned out to be smoky with tender white meat and a touch of Cajun spices over the skin. So, yes, I would say it's $4 better than the rest as well.

Smoked meats are offered as well, with a different $8.99 plate special daily, such as smoked beef Monday and Thursday, pork Tuesdays and Saturdays, sausages Friday, and chicken Wednesdays and Sundays. It's $9.99 for a combo plate with rice and a choice of one side (macaroni salad, baked beans or potato salad—they have a lot to learn about macaroni salad). The schedule may be off, though, because on a return visit Tuesday night—weekdays are much calmer—fatty beef brisket was on the menu.

The salad bar is extensive, available at $8.99 per pound. I piled on mesclun; beets; sunflower seeds; mozzarella; dried cranberries; shredded carrot; broccoli (can you cut those jumbo florets into more bite-size pieces, please?); Hamakua Alii oyster, shimeji and hon shimeji mushrooms at slightly over a pound, so the salad—enough for two—came to $9.44. You might like other greens, and will find tomatoes, multi-color bell pepper selections, onions, cucumbers, raisins and other nut-and-cheese options.

To finish, many of the desserts are provided by Ba-Le, and Whole Foods comes up with its own beautiful fruit tarts. A 9-inch tart laden with strawberries, kiwi and blueberries is $27.99; a 4-inch apple-and-custard tart is $4.99 and can easily be shared by two. You could put together an elegant meal for two for about $25. Wine is extra but you can pick it up here as well.

I also picked up a few extras like fresh-cut coconut ($5) and a carton of pomegranate seeds ($6.99) just because of the audacity of it. We could cut the fruit open ourselves, but opening a coconut is difficult and for more seed than fruit, pomegranate is hardly worth the effort. If someone else is willing to do the labor, why not take them up on it? I could really get spoiled this way.