HMart

I've been officially introduced to the wonder of HMart, asian market extravaganza! They've been popping up around Atlanta over the past couple of years. To be honest, I was too intimidated to go in one, mostly out of fear of being the only non-asian shopper and fear of the language barrier.



Happy Faces!


Enter Brian and Aveline. Some of my dearest friends. Always entertaining, always brave and willing to branch out, always and I mean always on the lookout for good food. They are who I turn to for a restaurant recommendation, to hold my hand when I try something new, and for the best travel stories and photos, ever. I mean it.

They'd recently come back from Spain and I wanted to hear about their adventures - so we decided to meet at HMart for lunch.

Wait - what? Did you know there's a food court at the grocery store. It's the best thing - you don't have to shop hungry!

First of all, before we ever made it into the store for our lunch, they were having an anniversary party outside and serving....tacos. So much for my the thought that HMart only caters to the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans (I'm sure I'm leaving out people - please don't take offense). The tacos were absolutely delicious.

And finally to the food court - there were five or six different places to choose from - everything from teriyaki chicken to unpronounceable dishes. We settled on Korean food - something called Bibimbat.

First of all - those who know me know that I can't stand it if my food should be hot and isn't. I've sent plates back to the kitchen because they aren't hot enough. Bibimbat is right up my alley. It's served in a clay bowl that is so hot it literally makes the rice in the bottom crispy and cooks a raw egg. You heard me. That makes me happy.

So imagine, crispy rice in the bottom, a little beef, sauteed vegetables, mushrooms, soybeen sprouts and cucumber with a fried egg on top - break the egg and you have a little sauce. Yummy. Served with several sides - kimchi, some sort of potato salad and soup.

I'm totally going back again.

And I haven't even talked about the shopping part. Fresh produce, lots of meat that was incredibly inexpensive, seafood, and every asian food product known to man - and a very sizeable hispanic section, too.

There are definitely some unidentifiable things here - the packaging isn't always in english. But this one was particularly clear. I know some people who actually enjoy vienna sausage - but this is just going too far! Blech.