Five things to know about Portland's new H Mart (2024)

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When Portland's lone eastside Zupan's market closed two years ago, it felt like a new tenant would flip the lights back on in short order. Found in a prime location on bustling Southeast Belmont Street, the store was credited with spurring the neighborhood's development when it opened in the mixed-use Belmont Dairy building in 1997. The space seemed like it could be an ideal fit for a Trader Joe's or one of the smaller Whole Foods 365 stores.

July of 2017 brought even better news. H Mart, a Korean supermarket chain that already operated a handful of Oregon locations, announced it would take over the space for its first close-in Portland store.

And then we waited. And waited. Long enough for the relocated Belmont goats to munch through some serious acreage at their new North Portland home.Long enough to forget that H Mart was coming at all.

Then, last week, nearly two years after the initial announcement, and more than a year after its planned opening date, H Mart strung up some colored balloons and quietly opened its doors at 3301 S.E. Belmont St.

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For close-in Portland residents, the biggest benefit of the new H Mart is its location. Until now, the metro area's biggest and brightest Asian supermarkets were found in Beaverton (Uwajimaya, 99 Ranch), on 82nd Avenue (Fubonn, Hong Phat) and even in Tigard, home to its own much larger H Mart. Depending on where you live and what you're after, those still might represent the best -- and cheapest -- options. But after being teased by rumors of a Chinatown Uwajimaya for years, Portlanders are right to celebrate this centrally located option.

No, the selection isn't as vast as the Fred Meyer-sized H Mart on 99W, especially as the Portland store works to restock after its opening week rush -- the beer and wine aisle was sold out of Korean beer when we visited. But if you're in the market for some bubblegum pink, Hello Kitty-branded soy sauce or cloudy, banana-flavored rice wine, this is definitely the place for you.

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Supermarket butchery is something of a lost art these days. Not so at H Mart, where the deli leads to an aisle full of meat, with spicy pre-marinated chicken and pork, nicely marbled segments of "American-style Kobe beef" and a freezer full of thin-sliced pork, beef and lamb rolls ready for the hot pot. Further on, live Dungeness crabs clamber over one another for prime position in seafood tanks filled with fish from the inexpensive (tilapia) to the $70-a-pound (fluke).

When you check out, a screen above each register airs a commercial on a continuous loop. In it, a young woman washes, marinates and oven roasts LA-style galbi with the store's own short rib-specific, pear-sweetened barbecue sauce. It's a gentle reminder that H Mart is the perfect place to buy provisions for an at-home Korean barbecue. (Use a grill for better results.)

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If you visit expecting the variety of restaurants and prepared food at Tigard's H Mart, you might leave disappointed. Portland's store does have a small restaurant near the front, but the options are limited to a trio of healthful bibimbaps (beef $12, tofu $11, veggie $9), each built with julienned carrot and radish, steamed broccoli, spinach and shiitake mushrooms over a choice of white or brown rice.

Wander over to the deli to find a wider selection of prepared foods, including fried chicken wings with sweet chile sauce ($5); the blood sausage known as soondae, typically bland even with its side of pink salt ($5); round dumplings ($4) with a firm wrapper and a too-soft kimchi and pork filling; and stiff yet flaky hotteok ($4), the molasses-filled pancakes popular on the streets of Seoul. None demand to be tried more than once.

Hot food represents an opportunity to draw customers in and introduce Korean cuisine to a wider audience. Here's hoping the selection expands as the store finds its stride.

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