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Word of mouth in the korean community, there's a new korean grocery called HanAhReum Supermarket (http://www.hmart.com/) coming to Niles! It will be located at the former Omni, which I believe is on Oakton Street next to the Home Depot. I've been to Pennslyvania locations and the quality/selection is quite impressive compared to Chicago Food. On weekends, they make fresh kimchee on the spot and display a wide assortment of panchan. Opening date is around June, I'll keep you updated if I have more information.


http://static.flickr.com/6/85454650_fe64941d6c.jpg?v=0

Isn't that like military intelligence, or restaurant homemade?

This should be a big place because the former Omni location is pretty huge building. I live a couple blocks away and am curious on a preliminary scheduled opening date for this new place?

This is pretty fantastic news! I've been to locations near D.C. If you've ever been to one you know how our current markets pale in comparison to Han Ah Reum. With such a large Korean community here, I;ve wondered why it's taken so long for them to open one of these up around here.

Not sure if or when this place is coming to Niles, but I found an article from MAY 4, 2005 about this company moving to the former Omni/Dominicks location:

http://www.journal-topics.com/ni/05/ni050504.2.html

I pressed my nose up to the window the other day [my gym shares a parking lot with the store]. There's nothing visible going on from the street, but there's a construction permit posted in the window dated mid-December 2005.

Something good may be happening....

Giovanna

Their local consultant says the opening is planned for late June.

Well it looks like HMART is going to have there grand opening next week on Friday August 25th, 2006. Here is 2 pictures of the large Korean Grocer at the niles location. At Civic Center Plaza in Niles, located near the intersection of Waukegan Road and Oakton Street.


http://www.hmart.com/ourstore/ourstore_main.asp?loc=N/I

HI,

Thanks for the alert, I was wondering about that recently.

Regards,

I think there's an Onion article to be written about this from Mitsuwa's perspective.

Speaking of which, I'm dying to see the fish section in this place. Thanks very much for the update.

Well I hope this place is good because it packed the civic center parking lot all day! I now know what it feels like to go to Asia! That to me is a good sign when you see ethnic people at an ethnic place. I think I'll wait for another day to try it though!

My mom went yesterday. Not sure how much of the following may have been exaggerated...

She said 15,000 people were there. And that the checkout lines were up to an hour long.

I went there today.. and the place is about 3x the size of Mitsuwa Market. At least for the Grand Opening they had about 30+ sample stations. You can eat your way through the store.. literally!

I bought some thai Basil and sriracha hot sauce. They have a very broad selection of Asian groceries from various cultures like Chinese, Thai, and Korean.

If your not into this kind of ethnic food its still a good experience to visit such a shop to see the food from a different cultural perspective.

/polster

I drove by the Super H Mart around noon today. Any thoughts of stopping in were quickly diminished by the line of cars waiting to enter the parking lot. Check-out lines of an hour seemed within the realm of possibility.

I was there yesterday for the opening night. I'd guess 15,000 people might be low! I turned the corner from the back parking lot to see a spectacular laser show in the sky. I spoke to the laser operators (a bit of a hobby of mine) who reported they had been contracted for the show and drove from California. A stage was set up at the covered main entrance and a sound system was pumping sensous middle eastern tunes. 3 costumed belly dancers were working the crowd. Sensing my weak pickup lines were not going to work on them, I heading inside.

Almost the entire store was shoulder to shoulder. The produce section was first: Everything looked very, very good. If they can retain this quality and reasonable pricing beyond these first few weeks, I'm sold. Though it may perhaps not be the best way to judge flavor, I was impressed with large size of some of the items. For example, I've never seen such huge jalapenos or artichokes. There were many items I was completely unfamiliar with, too, which is fun.

There's a kimchee deli counter featuring maybe 20 different pickled items. They were apparently generous with samples of most but I didn't approach as the crowd was thick and unyielding to my usual throng-manipulation techniques.

The seafood section is just around the first bend. Wow. I've never seen such an impressive variety. The fresh fish on ice beds seemed endless. There are live tanks for 8-10 varieties. Shrimp and squid galore. They were sampling..something(s). Again, I refrained from pushing through the crowd. The open bins of live crabs were keeping several kids entertained.

I probably missed it but I didn't notice a meat counter. There were many packaged cuts of sliced meats: pork belly, short ribs, rib eye.

The aisles were difficult to navigate and impossible to linger in. Line for checkout registers were very deep and I don't doubt hour long waits on bit. I'll give it a few weeks to fall into the swing of things before I make my return trip.

The layout of the store allows for a food court along the produce section. About 5 food shops were available, though most were closed, closing, of displayhing 'sold out' signs when I was there. There is a smallish bakery shop and a decent housewares store. I will probably return for some reasonably priced cookware.

If the idea of a humongous Asian grocery store is remotely interesting to you, I cannot recommend Super HMart highly enough. I look forward to experimenting with some new ingredients and even entirely new classes of food. This place is going to be right up LTHforum's alley.

I was there yesterday, can't remember when I got there, but I left around 3:30. I found parking right away, just a few spots from the exit door, near the stage. Check out line was about the same as any Jewel or Whole Foods on a Saturday afternoon - 2-5 carts deep.

I agree the seafood section was impressive - not that I eat much fish, but it made me wish I knew how to choose and prepare it! A lot of them were marked "Wild Caught" and it seemed most were whole fish, not filleted. There was also a section filled with live Maryland blue crabs, prompting one little girl to shriek and jump back as (I think) one snapped at her.

The produce looked really good - with the exception of the sookjoo and kong (mung bean and soybean sprouts). These were pre-bagged and didn't look all too happy. I prefer the way that they are offered at Chicago Food Corporation - in a big colander, with tongs for you to bag your own.

I noted one of the stalls in the food court had their menu only in Korean - didn't get close enough to see if they had an English menu at the cashier. But just from a cursory glance, they offer kimchi jjigae and dwoenjang jjigae. I'm eager to try the mandu (dumpling) stall - it reminds me of one that was in the Lotte department store food court in Seoul. I loved that place (gone now after a remodel). But alas - I had filled up my stomach with tamales from Tamales los mejores de Guerrero (had to take advantage of the car and hit this spot on the way). Next time, though...

I would shop here as my primary grocery store if I had use of a car regularly.

-gtgirl

This morning, trix and I as well as 30,000 sale-crazed Koreans saturated every inch of the new 4 million sq.ft. superstore (mild exaggeration), HMart in Niles. I haven’t seen such unadulterated Korean enthusiasm since Korea’s World Cup win against the Czech Republic. Tears were shed for every goal scored by the Korean team by the young Korean girls but, I swear, I thought I saw some tears this morning by the clientele over their joy, both from pride and the amazing grand opening sale prices going on at HMart. For example, you can get 2 large cartons of strawberries for $1.
This store is phenomenal. The produce section alone is about half the size of Mitsuwa. Everything looked pristine as well with lots of hard to find items.


They have a relatively small food court of about 5-6 kiosks.



My favorite part of the store, though, is its panchan counter. Check out the size of those massive pots!



The fish section carries a huge array of pristine-looking fish with some varieties I’ve never even heard of. Even the numerous pre-packaged refrigerator items (monkfish, cod, and mackerel heads, for example) looked fresh as hell.

There's no doubt that the Chicago area Koreans are pumped up about the arrival of this store.

They should be.

I'll bet the owners of Hana Super, up the street, aren't so pumped. From your pictures, this place makes Hana Super look like a corner bodega.

Evil Ronnie and I were there today also (sorry we missed you Trix and PM) but since it was akin to Filene's during the bridal sale, we probably wouldn't have seen you anyway. We parked at Home Depot, were welcomed by an asian rock band and then proceeded into the store. It's good to go sober..FYI. Of course, a cart or basket was unheard of so the two of us did a balancing act. As has been stated, the fish counter is amazing-we bought fresh squid and shrimp at great prices. The Chef needed some spicy daikon kimchee which he pronounced very hot and very good. He was impressed by the array of things. I want to investigate all the many things available but it won't be until it dies down a bit. The food court did indeed smell delicious but the hordes of people made it impossible to linger at any one place to even read the offerings. When we left, we were offered free gifts if we showed our receipts, which we did. We got a plastic tray, two citron beverages, some unidentified treats and last but not least an assortment of sponges and scouring pads. All in all, Ringling Bros. couldn't have done it better.

LTH,

Still haven't been to H Mart, but one side benefit seem to be Chicago Food Corp is not as busy as usual. Stopped in for a few Korean Popsicles, multiple spaces in the parking lot and the aisles were (almost) manageable.

Note to Jay K, I had not noticed before, but you are right, they seem to have wrapped many of the individual items on the panchan bar in plastic wrap or put them in small containers.

Enjoy,
Gary

Went today, an amazing store, really amazing.

MrsF and I hit Super H Mart today, and I can only say, "Wow!"
Well, I can say a lot more than that... read on!

The produce is fantastic: I saw melons I've only read about (and picked up a dainty Korean melon), bought Thai Basil (labeled Taiwan, heh), and galangal, which has a really interesting fragrance that I can't place -- something wood-resin-y, perhaps, and combines very nicely with lemongrass and garlic to make a great scent. I'm not about to dab it behind my ears, mind you, but it's under consideration. Galangal could become the next 'big flavor' if it broke out. A galangal mayo on a chicken sandwich could be a big hit at BK or McD's.

Other Thai ingredients I picked up included lemongrass, coconut vinegar, coconut cream and coconut milk and fresh thai chiles. We bought a lot of other random stuff including walnut-sesame crunch, malted rice syrup (MrsF is going to try it for bagels tonight), gyoza wrappers, rice, a few interesting-looking ramen-things. We didn't buy any seafood -- maybe next time when we do some menu planning and we don't already have a fridge full of meat.

The food court was open, but they, like Mitsuwa, are more geared around meals than snacks. We had some 'jumbo dumplings' which were somewhere between a mandoo and a steamed bun, very tasty.

The only thing I was hoping to find that I didn't was Keffir Lime Leaves, either fresh or frozen.

On Friday (1 Sept.),I went to check out the brand new Super H Mart in Niles. Stepping inside bordered on an religious experience. My jaw dropped! The produce section alone is almost the size of a Jewel or Dominick's.

The panchan counter has to be seen to be believed. Those pots are HUGE.

I've shopped at Chicago Food Corp. on Kimball Avenue for years, and if I were married to the store, Super H Mart would be the other man in my life:) (Hey! I might inspire a new Korean TV drama!)

If there's a market with a broader selection of fish varieties in the Midwest, I haven't seen it. Yes, most of the fish are whole, but they do have a prep service with a handy menu that hangs above the fish counter. They'll do everything from a simple scaling and gutting to a full service filet. What puzzles me is how they intend to keep all of this inventory fresh and moving at the slow pace that they were moving. After abotu 15 minutes of seeing only one waiting customer (out of 3 dozen) get served, I gave up on the idea of fresh fish for dinner.

Overall, I was enthused by the vast selection at H-Mart. The produce was excellent and priced to move (I am still puzzled why the big chains sell produce at twice-sometimes four times-the pice). The meat selection was vast and priced competitively. The sauce aisle deserves almost as much praise as the seafood counter.

Speaking of the seafood counter, I generally consider myself above making fun of mis-spellings by non-english speakers (I could hardly do better in Korean), but I couldn't pass this up:



Best,
Michael

Squish anyone?

HI,

I did notice some pricing that was wildly expensive: oxtails can be found usually for $3.99 a pound and sometimes less. At Super H Mart, they had frozen oxtail for $4.99 and fresh for $5.99 per pound. Immediately next to the oxtails were whole beef filets for $5.99 per pound. Like everything else, you have to have a sense for how much things should cost.

Several waves of friends, unrelated to LTH, went over the weekend behaving like kids in a candy store.

I had the same experience as Michael in waiting at the fish counter. Not only was it an extraordinarily long wait, which I gave up also, I could not figure out who was just before me or after. I had the feeling I could be waiting beyond my appointed time. I hope they will install a numbering system.

Regards,

I found the same to be true at the Snack food booth if you order the hand made noodles in any form. After ordering and waiting over 45 minutes for my order to be ready, I just gave up.

I was less than enthused about the fresh meat selection. It seemed as if 30-40% of their selection was frozen. If this is how they typically stock meat, it won't be a destination for that reason.

The fish counter was quite impressive. I couldn't ID many of them. I was there early in the morning so they hadn't even put all the fish (or the labels) out yet.

In addition to the sauce aisles, I thought the rice and noodle varieties were quite robust.

The enthusiasm of the patrons was evident even at that hour. At the table with live blue crabs, no fewer than 3 people were tagging and bagging at 8 AM.

I am anxious to try the eateries, but I will be looking at this place as primarily a source for grains, fish and produce.

LTH,

H-Mart was slightly less frenetic Saturday at 9am, but momentum was building, the place really is a trip and a half. Loaded up on Korean frozen dumplings, they seem to be our current food fetish, and green onions, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar etc. for sauce making.

Had a return, halibut I bought the previous week was, ummmmmm, let's just say it may have qualified for the What's That Smell thread. Not a problem at all, customer service returned my money with a smile and I was off on my Korean dumpling and Lincoln Noodle House table sauce clone search. I did, however, have the receipt and fish in question, which I had double freezer bagged and froze.*

Enjoy,
Gary

*The fish was frozen, not the receipt.

HI,

I found a relative calm by visiting for lunch on Thursday. Not the frantic pace witnessed on the weekend.

Regards,