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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Michael If there has ever been a comparable hysteria about a new store in San Francisco as there was back in 2000 about the then-new Ikea in nearby Emeryville (Rundbrief 08/2000), then it was the hype around the branch of the Korean food giant "H Mart," which opened its doors in 2024 in the Ingleside neighborhood on Alemany Boulevard.
There are already several excellent supermarkets for Asian groceries in our city, which is not exactly lacking in international gourmets, but the chain "H Mart" is like the Berlin-based department store KDW, only for Koreans, and it often holds childhood memories, as described in the book Crying In H Mart", which I have read and found to be okay, but I do not want to praise it highly in front of the audience on this popular forum.
Now, H Mart is Korean, and accordingly, the store carries about 47 different types of kimchi (spicy Korean fermented cabbage) and other delicacies like bulgogi (thinly sliced beef in a spicy sauce) or chicken feet marinated in barbecue sauce.
But the range also includes fresh Japanese udon noodles or canned coconut milk or spicy curry pastes, which I like to use for my now-legendary red Thai curry. It also has a fish counter, or Japanese mushrooms, or other hard-to-find ingredients like lemongrass or Thai basil. Simply everything you need to cook Asian dishes at home, perfect!
The selection of sushi also makes most stores that offer supermarket sushi look like 2nd class. Whether it's monkfish liver, unagi (cooked eel in teriyaki sauce), or uni (sea urchin), everything is very well made. I visit the store about once a month and have now become quite familiar with the aisles of more exotic ingredients. The store is spotless and offers extremely fresh goods at normal prices. Slightly more expensive than other Asian grocery stores, but also more on the ball, definitely worth the extra cost.
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