Generally, it’s recommended not to go to the food market hungry. Rethink that logic though because of the recent opening of H-Mart, a Korean grocery store chain, in Urbana. I encourage going hungry to the grocery store since they have a fabulous food court. This is not our standard shopping mall food court. Try some of the items prepared Korean-style and then purchase some to cook at home on the grocery side. Because we all need to buy groceries, my friends jumped at the chance to taste the H-Mart food court wonders with me.
There are four food stalls within the store: Paris Baguette, specializing in drinks and baked goods; Jaws Topokki, specializing in fried items; Paik’s Noodle, featuring Korean and Chinese noodle dishes; and Chodang, highlighting standard Korean dishes.
We went to an early lunch because the food court is a busy place.
We were definitely quite interested in the offerings from Chodang, which was where the bulk of our lunches came from.
The group tried items at varying levels of spiciness, as the dishes can be tailored to customers’ desired level. All of the entrees from this stall were served with traditional Korean banchan, small side dishes served with rice.
The beef bulgogi ($23.99) was quite a large portion. It had onions and julienned carrots. The meat was a very good flavor and tender. It was not too sweet as can sometimes occur with bulgogi.
I thoroughly enjoyed the seafood pancake ($15.99). It was light, crispy, and hot. Consisting of a batter with carrots, onions, and squid it had a good flavor a bit like salt water.
The bibimbap ($15.99) had the option to come in the stone bowl or regular bowl. It included the standard sunny side up egg; the beef had good flavor, but the banchan really made this dish.
Another beef dish, the galbi ($25.99), was interesting. The meat was sliced very thinly to eat off of the bone. It had good marinade and a good sear, but the meat was tough. To enhance the umami, the galbi required the banchan. It was slightly expensive for the amount of food received.
The hot stone pork ($17.99) was quit a large portion and included carrot, cabbage, and onion. It was a higher spicy level, but it did have good flavor. The meat was exceptionally tender.
The hot stone chicken ($17.99) included the same vegetables as the pork dish with a change to the meat. The chicken had a great flavor and was also very tender.
Finally, the seafood stew with tofu in a stone bowl ($14.99) included spicy broth and very soft tofu in addition to the seafood mix. My weenie hot mouth stood no chance on this dish. It was quite spicy as we ordered extra spicy, and it was a comedy when I tried it. All the dishes here were very good and came out steaming hot.
The next stall inside the food court that we tried was Paik’s Noodle.
From Paik’s Noodle we tried the jajangmyeon ($10.99), a noodle dish consisting of black bean sauce with stir fried pork. The portion was large; however, it did not contain a lot of meat. It had a bit of cabbage in the sauce also. Overall, the dish had not a lot of complexity of flavor. It was one note of slightly sweet, savory, soy flavor.
In contrast the jjamppong ($13.95), a mussel noodle stew was very tasty. The stew also contained wood ear mushrooms and cabbage in a spicy broth. The high-quality cookery showcased the ingredients.
The sweet and sour pork ($15.95) was not the same as I have seen in other restaurants. The fried method was quite interesting, as we guess it to be a rice flour batter. The sweet and sour sauce on the side was reminiscent of hot and sour soup.
We couldn’t resist ordering the dumplings ($8.49) for 8 pieces. They had a nice fry and a good flavor. We did wish they had included a dipping sauce, but they were good on their own. The dishes here were good, and they have some things recently added to their menu.
JAWS Topokki had an interesting menu.
From the stall, we ordered the friends set ($30.49), which had topokki, Korean sausage, and fried items. The topokki flavor we selected was bacon. Wow, this was present in the dish. It was not too spicy and very bacon-y: delicious. The rice cakes were very nicely cooked with a great chew.
The sausage was quite interesting. It appeared as a blood sausage, and it was quite nice and delicate. The sausage came with cooked heart and tripe. I only tasted the heart, and it was not too tough. Finally, the set included fried items such as fried seaweed rolls filled with japchae noodles, dumplings, shrimp tempura, and sweet potato. The fry on these was nice. The flavor of the potato was quite interesting. We definitely need to try the gimbap here on future visits.
The final food stall is the bakery, Paris Baguette. We didn’t even try close to all of the items!
The almond croissant ($4.69) looked amazing, but it did not live up to the looks. It was very crispy, and the topping fell off. It had a good flavor but was very dry. The coffee bun ($3.99) was interesting. The coffee smell was very potent. It was not filled with any pastry cream. The coffee flavor came from the topping — very interesting. The curry croquette ($4.29) was the favorite of this bunch. It had a really good curry filling. The pastry was light and crispy. 100% would purchase again.
The stuffed croissant ($3.99) was quite nice. The pastry cream had a lemony flavor, and the strawberries added a nice zing. The chocolate croissant ($3.99) was different than what we were expecting. It was light and flakey with chocolate bits throughout. It was quite crispy due to the sugar glaze on top.
The egg tart ($3.99) was out of this world. The custard contained within the phyllo layers was unctuous and creamy. It was smooth, sweet, and crispy all at once.
Finally, the strawberry cake ($3.99) was very good. It was labeled as strawberry cheesecake, but I would classify it as an angel food cake and pound cake fusion. It had a very nice flavor.
The drink situation is interesting in the food court. It is in a grocery store, so there are quite a few interesting beverages available there to be carried over to the seating.
My friends did that and allowed me to taste the double mangoade ($2) that was purchased. This came in a pouch and then customers can also purchase the cup of ice in the freezer section (~$2), modeled after a Korean convenience store. It was good, and at the conclusion of our meal, we went over and purchased a couple of pouches in different flavors to take home.
There are also hot and cold specialty beverages at the bakery. We did opt for the lavender matcha frappe ($6.79). The matcha and lavender melded well together. Unfortunately, it was not blended well enough, so the straw didn’t work properly, and we had to wait until it melted a bit to drink it.
The bakery opens earlier than the rest of the food stalls, but the full balance of the stalls open at 11 a.m. daily. At the conclusion of the meal, diners should clear their table and return the tray to the appropriate food stall.
Did we make a dent in the number of offerings? No! There are so many more things to try. Deliciousness awaits for our next outing to H-Mart!
H-Mart
220 N Broadway Ave
Urbana
8 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily
发表回复