H Mart has only been open a few weeks, but I’ve already been there several times. (You can read my grand opening post here.) On the one hand, I’m saving tons of money on my grocery bills. I love the ridiculously cheap produce (spinach bunches 10 for $.99, red leaf lettuce heads $.25 each, broccoli $.20/lb!). But then I stop by Paris Baguette and end up buying and spending much more than I care to reveal on their French pastries and baked goods.
I’ve been wanting to visit the food court, so we finally stopped in the other night. I haven’t been really impressed with the food court inside Zion, so I was hoping H Mart’s would be better.
It’s a pretty small area. On the plus side, there’s complimentary kimchee for customers dining there.
The noodle bowl prices seemed pretty reasonable, cheaper than most restaurants.I thought the tofu stew prices were a little high, since they cost the same as the large bowls of noodles
Noodles with Black Soybean Sauce
My search continues to find a good version of the blackbean soybean sauce jajiang. I really enjoyed the flavor of the sauce here but the consistency was off. It had too much cornstarch, resulting in lot of gelatinous chunks which I did not find appetizing. The noodles were nice and thick and a good texture to accompany the sauce.
Soybean Paste Stew
For some reason these took forever. I was halfway done with mine before DH’s was ready and I noticed similar situations with other tables around us. I found the fermented soybean flavor to be too light. There also wasn’t a lot of ingredients inside. A few chunks of the firm tofu (I prefer when they use the soft or silky tofu), and some chunks of potato, cabbage. It also felt like something was missing eating the tofu stew without the complimentary banchan dishes.
Overall, I prefer this food court over the options at Zion. It’s a little small in selection, but most prices are around $6.99, letting you get a quick bite to eat without spending too much. I’ll probably stick to the noodle soups and skip on the tofu stews. In a few months they will be opening the grill section too which will offer a few grilled meat plates.
H Mart Food Court
9440 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
I’ve seen the black bean sauce noodles but I’ve never tried them. Is it slightly sweet? Or completely savory?
There’s a Korean version and a Chinese one. The Chinese one is more sweet. The Korean one is more savory. I really like the Korean one, not a fan of the Chinese one. It usually also has some dried shrimp and stuff that goes in the sauce too.