DH and I braved the madness this weekend to attend the grand opening of H Mart in San Diego. According to H Mart’s website it was to be the “Greatest Grand Opening of all time!” I found the exaggerated claim to be quite amusing
For those who aren’t familiar, H Mart is a popular Korean grocery chain. I’ve visited some of the locations in LA and love going there. Like our Zion Market, H Mart offers incredibly cheap prices on produce (often even cheaper deals than Zion), but offers a lot more too. It sells everything from your basic household needs, to prepared foods, to live seafood, high quality meats and fresh produce.
When we arrived, parking was almost impossible to find despite the very large shopping complex it is located in. Once inside, while there were a lot of people, it was still fun to see the new shiny store. And there were so many free samples and sale specials.
Here’s a sample of the prepared food section.
They also have a food court
Fresh produce. Spinach was on sale, 5 bunches for $.99, just to give you an example of some of the ridiculous great sales they have going on.
There’s also a large selection of pickled vegetables
The live seafood section was quite popular. They were selling lobster $5.99/lb. They actually had tons of lobster stocked up so we were in and out of this section within minutes and had some nice live lobster to cook for dinner.
We also watched people battling with the blue crabs ($2.99/lb and you choose your own).
The meat selection is quite large too.
Of course they also have a large selection of marinated meats for korean bbq.
Paris Baguette, a bakery chain that sells Korean and French desserts was open for business too. I love going to the Paris Baguette in the Bay Area, so I’m happy to see a small version here. Most of the bakery is made up of the large kitchen which you can see into. The actual selection of items was sort of on the small side, but we still got a few goodies.
The new H Mart is bigger than the H Mart I frequent in Irvine and also bigger than the current Zion location (though perhaps that will change when Zion moves to its new space? We finally saw a sign go up at the former Sears spot for Zion). I’m excited for the new H Mart and plan on shopping their often. It will also give me an excuse to stop by Yogurt Swirl for some Snow Ice after.
H Mart
9440 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 577-0060
New Zion opening today. shhh
I am so excited Mira Mesa got an H Mart, as I live within walking distance. Haven’t been yet. Still waiting for the crowds to die down. Great pictures, though. The seafood section looks amazingness.
I am excited too. I’m waiting for the crowds to die down before visiting again but I hope to shop there often.
I wish they open a H Mart in the Bay Area
Ah, but there’s some other great Korean markets in the Bay area right?
I live around the corner from H Mart and I couldn’t find a single parking spot. I probably should have just walked! Hoping it dies down a little more and I can finally get in there to check it out. Good recon, Kirbie! 🙂
We got super lucky. The mailman was there when we arrived and he was blocking two parking spaces. So we just waited for him to finish and snagged a good space. But yeah it was crazy since the parking lot is so big. I think now that they aren’t doing the free gift with purchase and stuff it should be easier to visit.
I heard from my friend that this past weekend, he had the easiest time ever finding parking at Zion 😛 nice review! I’m looking forward to checking out Paris Baguette 🙂
Haha! I can imagine that, with everyone over at H Mart.
How do the prices compare with Ranch 99? Thanks for battling the crowds for a recon so I didn’t have to!
The sales on vegetables and fruit are much cheaper than Ranch 99 in general. Usually they’ll have similar sales but things will be cheaper at H Mart. And I think the quality is general better too. They have their flyers online so you can see the sales each week.
Can’t wait to check this out, especially Paris Baguette. We went to the Super H-Mart in Niles (near Chicago). It’s huuuuuuuuge! The one in Irvine isn’t as large, but it’s a regular H-Mart. I like their selection of meats and snacks.
Yeah the one in Irvine isn’t very big, but it’s a regular one. And I believe this is a regular one too. So not as big as the super, but pretty big for a regular. I really enjoyed Paris Baguette. I bought a few cakes and macarons. Everyone seemed to be buying donuts, I’ll have to try it next time. I do wish it was a bit bigger, but oh well.
Another brave soul to shop at H Mart on their opening weekend! I’m looking forward to shopping there, and I live close enough to avoid mid-day crowds. I’m curious on how spacious this store is; I hate using carts at Lucky Seafood because the aisles are pretty narrow.
Hmm, I didn’t have a cart, only a basket, so I didn’t really notice how big the aisles are. I think they were kind of on the narrow side from what I recall. But the store space is pretty big with lots and lots of aisles.
I had an internship in South Korea (I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area) over the summer, and the offerings look quite similar to those in Korean grocery stores. I recognize the Paris Baguette; they’re ubiquitous there. I didn’t realize it was in the Bay Area, though!
Yes, there’s a pretty big one in Santa Clara, next to a large Korean food court. This one was so small in comparison and was missing some of my favorites, but small is better than nothing!