Rebecca W.
Yelp
I come here on occasion. I have been coming to this H-Mart ever since it opened more than a decade ago and it has really changed a lot, for the worse. In general the store is dirty and unkempt with a stale odor through the store. Right when you enter there is a floral section to your right and a cosmetics stand (Sulwhasoo/Mamonde I think?) to your left. There used to be a little shop with toys and cute pop culture stuff where the flowers now are. The cosmetics counter is usually overpriced and you can find the exact same stuff on Jolse for less, inclusive of shipping. Then past that is the produce section in the center and the food court on the right. There used to be more options at the food court but over the years the kiosks have consolidated. I rarely ever see people eating there. The produce selection is usually sub-par. Sometimes they have a good deal on a certain product but in general the selection has marks on the produce, or is wilted, or is on the verge of expiry. Too many times we have been burned by buying something that looked okay but that was rotten two days later. Giant bags of rice are kept as a barrier wall between the produce and the food court. The tofu is kept at the back wall of the produce section.
Then on the other side of the produce facing the back wall of the store is the meat and seafood, as well as the kimchi. We never buy our meat from H-Mart and very rarely buy any of the seafood. They have some uncommon ingredients that can be hard to find such as frozen tripe, chicken feet, offal, and on very rare occasion frozen frog. The seafood section reeks and can be smelled in a general perimeter around it. It used to be much worse, so they have remediated the issue somewhat. They have a live lobster tank and a live tilapia tank. Sometimes they have live blue crabs but they are pretty sad looking. The only seafood our family buys here is generally shrimp and some mussels such as scallops and clams. That is it. We have had unpleasant experiences in the past with some of their fish so we do not risk it anymore.
The frozen section has an assortment of random frozen foods. Many are not labeled in English. They also have a refrigerated section with pre-made noodles and other groceries, and many beverages. They have a small dairy section in the back (since most East Asian cultures do not consume much dairy) and a small Indian section that shares its space with things like frozen breads and pizzas. They have a large shelf-stable assortment on the left side of the store, where you can find things like spices, dried goods, coffee, tea, condiments, instant noodles, etc. Their selection of instant ramen is actually fantastic, and they have most varieties of Samyang and Nong Shim. Despite H-Mart being a Korean store they do carry products from other East Asian countries, mostly Vietnamese, although if you look hard enough you can find some Japanese and to a lesser degree Chinese products.
Then in the back corners they have a small home goods section. There used to be a little kiosk where they would make fresh rice puff cakes, sadly these are long gone. The home goods are in general very expensive. They have a little "pharmacy" section which is to my knowledge all homeopathic/"traditional" medicine. Long ago there used to be a purse store and an electronics store but they too have been removed over the years... At the very front near the cash registers there is a Tous Les Jours stand selling a small variety of goods. None are baked on premises and are all brought from elsewhere. Long ago this section of the store sold candy and boba. There also used to be a home goods store upstairs but this section of the store is now shut down and inaccessible and appears to serve as storage and offices.
H-Mart is hit-or-miss and you need to know what is safe or not safe to buy from here. For some Asian essentials it is a good option but I don't think other groups would find what they need here.
