10/20/03 Great grocery stores outside Pusan

(Seoul) go to the Hannam Supermarket in the Volvo Building across from
subway stop #631 (Hangangjin), one stop from the Itaewon... this
supermarket is mostly foreign foods with specialty in Mexican foods...its
where all the foreign embassies shop for food... lots of cheese, deli meats,
tortillas, wine, sauces, meat..
You can buy foods/spices for everything from Chinese to Indian to Italian to
Mexican to USA and Australia..... New Zealand lamb, US turkeys, Italian
cheeses and sauces and salami, mexican jalapenos and tortillas,. This is a
great store, and if you buy some frozen food they can wrap your purchases in
newspaper and it will keep frozen until you get home the same day.

(Taegu) the " Eastern Forest Market"... the owner has a great variety of
American foods.. good stocks of canned foods, as well as a dairy case with
cheese, sour cream, ect, and a frozen case filled with meats, tortillas,
vegetables, Sara Lee cheese cakes, and so on.. you never know what you will
find... If you visit, you can ask for a "special order", and come back and
pick it up.. The owner seems to have some good connections.

Directions, (take the train to DaeguYok station and then a taxi) (by car,
take the BukTaegu exit onto expressway 11 to MyongDongNo bridge, road #38)
You want to go to Daebeck Plaza Department store.. (just tell the taxi,
"Daebeck Plaza, ga chu sae yo" Stand on the front steps of the Plaza.
Turn right and walk to the next intersection with a traffic light (100
meters), cross the street and turn right back towards the center of town.
Walkpast the next traffic light to the next "Y" intersection with a
traffic light (300 meters). On your left, just behind the streetside shops
you can see a set of old apartment buildings.. turn left at this traffic
light and into the apartments.. the grocery store is just around the corner
(behind the main-street shops). You will see cases of Bud beer, nacho chips
and other stuff outside the door of the store.

6/25/03 Megamart: Bermuda Onions... purple and sweet... and other good stuff

Megamart just got in some great stuff.. in the fresh veggie case they have large bermuda-onions in heavy plastic cryo-packs. Shave em thin, shave a half cabbage, mix and add a bottle of Italian dressing and you've got great cole-slaw.

I saw FOUR kinds of Delicatessen Ham in the meat case. They now are carrying real GERMAN SAUERKRAUT (from Germany!). Get your American Macaroni and Cheese dinners (the ramien for American mother's) on the shelf below the spaghetti.

Last, but not least... clean your teeth with the best selling American electric toothbrush, the CREST ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH. Good American engineering, two actions at the tip, one part lateral, the other rotary. You can also buy replacement tips... Under 10,000 won. Buy the tips now, while they are available. Each tip lasts maybe 4 -6 months.

6/20/03 present general availability of Western Foods

As before, each large market-venue has its own items in stock.. rarely will one store carry what another does. You have to go out and search.. If you are looking for something special, I may know where it is. Email: [email protected]

Carrefoure:
In general, the best availability of many items is at the Carrepoure store in Haeundae Beach. One entire wall has imports from all over the world, especially Spain and Italy... do you like anchovies on your pizza? go get 'um. Nice collection of pasta, pasta sauces, balsamic vinegar, olive oils, soups, and occasionally, they even have Meusli cereal in stock. The store carries in it's coffee isle, small import bricks of very good, cheap coffee.... buy a mocha and an espresso and mix them for a dynamite flavor. If you like cheese, try the President Brand of soft cheese, in particular, I recommend the garlic and herb... (spread it on toasted onion bagels from Walmart, use it as spaghetti sauce, melt it in scrambled eggs.. ect.) The store does not carry cheddar, but you can get Feta cheese. They also carry a nice selection of frozen vegetables (but not green peas, which you can find at Walmart) The fresh meat counter has a nice "Ham Counter", where they sell some good specialty items made for the store.. even pepperoni and salami and beer sausage. Things at most Carrepoure stores are changing, since their market share is dropping to E-mart. They are trying to copy E-mart's marketing strategy of low aisles, easy visibility, and interrupting traffic flow with high-profit impulse items shelves.. you can't find anything you want, and when you know where it is, you have to walk way around the cosmetic shelves blocking your way... I predict crowded mayhem.

Walmart:
In Seomyon, Walmart's Assistant Manager, Miss Lee, is trying to keep items in stock that attract the Westerners.. She promises never to run out of Corn King Brands (bacon, sausage, hot-dogs, ect.). They have a good selection of frozen veggies. Want to buy a frozen turkey, they have a few (50,000 won). One of the best deals in the frozen meat counter are the Mexican imports of chicken. The bricks are huge, cheap, and delicious..I recommend the thighs for tenderness and all-round cooking utility. Of particular note is an item that they carry in their "ham" cooler -- they have an package labeled "Delicatessen", which is REAL loin meat secured in a string bag and roasted. The flavor is sweet and meaty..use it for breakfast with eggs, make sandwiches, snack it with a bagel and some cheese, add it to beans. There are two cryo-paks inside of another cryo-pak, so you can open one and save the other in the freezer. The cost for two 400 gram packs is 6000 won. This is REAL LOIN MEAT, folks, not some ground mystery meat packaged in fake plastic sausage-casings! They have fresh bagels in their bread section: plain, sesame seed, onion, blue berry, ect. The high-profile shelves are loaded with American brand names of soaps, cosmetics and such. Excellent wine and spirits collection. I was surprised to see a package of EXTRA-LARGE heavy white cotton t-shirts in stock (110 size), big enough for us foreigners with fat bellies and wide shoulders (package of 3, 9000 won).

Megamart, Kwanganli:
A nice store to shop in, with a large variety of brands. They have a "Western Section" laid out next to the liquor. Pretty disappointing, in all, but you can get nachos and nacho-cheese salsa, hot Pace Salsa, Pecan Sandy cookies, American salad dressings, Too much space given to candy. Look around for the pasta sauces, they often have some nice non-Korean items and things like fusili and other specialty pastas. This store is (as far as I know) the ONLY place you can regularly get SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE... Bega Brand, Sharp and Bitey. The walk in milk cooler is nice in summer--buy a container of whipping cream, an equal amount of Dannen plain yogurt, mix and add a tablespoon of vinegar, then warm it (never boil) and put into a warm sterile glass jar..keep it warm (not hot) for a couple of hours (somehow)... and you now have SOUR CREAM... if you add a cup of instant powdered milk, you will have a much thicker result.

E-mart:
Don't bother going unless you have to have milk.

Kukje Shijang:
Still full of the useful and the useless. You just have to go look. You can get canned hams and oatmeal. Pipe tobacco and cheap rum. Skippy Peanut butter and Sucrets... you just never know.

Fresh Brown Bread 8/6/02

The MegaMart in Namcheon has a sort of grainy brown bread available in their bakery section. It's pretty tasty and seems to be whole-wheat. It's a bit darker than the bread you used to be able to get at Carrefour. Let's hope MegaMart keeps making it and that it doesn't disappear overnight, like what happened at Carrefour.

Tuna in water 8/6/02

The MegaMart store in Namcheon has two or three types of tuna in water. They have both light and white tuna and you can get it in a can or in a bag, which is becoming the more popular way of packaging tuna in the States. The tuna is an American brand complete with the "dolphin friendly" logo on the front.

Cheese Alert! Cheese Alert! 7/27/02

The new MegaMart store in Namcheon has two kinds of brick cheddar from Australia and eight kinds of cheese balls from Holland. The cheddar is Bega brand; the "Sharp and Bitey" style is excellent, the mild has a nutty flavor. The cheese balls are the size of oranges and grapefruit, packaged in bright colors…but not much information on what kinds of cheese they are. It is obvious that one is "herbs".. Just buy something of everything. The Bega bricks cost 4,200 won, the balls 9,900 and 14,200.

When you buy your cheese, buy extra, because it is likely that it will not be restocked. It will stay perfectly well for months in your fridge, since it is shrink wrapped in heavy plastic. When the Haeundae HomePlus store opened two months ago, they too carried Bega and other cheeses, but at last look, they no longer were stocking it.

Walmart at Seomyon is out of Korn King brand meats. 7/27/02

I talked with the Assistant Manager (an American), Miss Lee Sun Hee. They are having problems restocking their "foreign meat" case. They were carrying Bacon, Smoked Sausage, Hot Dogs, Baloney, and Cotto Salami.

Don't hesitate to ask for Miss Lee, if you have a complaint or comment. When you are in the store, let her know that you want the store to continue to carry American-style bacon. Also ask her to try to stock cheddar cheese and frozen vegetables like peas, asparagus, corn, and so on.

Carrefour at Zio Place-Jeonpo Dong has frozen vegetables. 7/27/02

At the moment (no telling how long), the store in the basement of Zio Place is well stocked with frozen vegetables from France. They have large sacks of peas, mixed, asparagus, cauliflower, and green beans. Stock up NOW!

Walmart at Seomyon has several brands of "jug wine". 7/27/02

If you like spending 16,000 won on large bottles of cheap wine, Walmart has the best variety. Rhine, Chablis, Burgundy, California Red, Muscat, and so on.

How to find the "Western products" area in Kukje Shijang.

Kukje Market, near PIFF Plaza, is a confusing sprawl of small alleys filled with small shops. It is hard to navigate, even with a compass and a native guide. However, it isn't hard to find the area that specializes in Western products like drugs, cosmetics, foods, and alcohol. Take the subway to Jagalchi station (number 10). Walk out the PIFF Plaza exit (number 6), the next street in front of you is a wide street for auto traffic. Turn left and stay on that side of the street, don't cross over. You will know that you are on the correct street, because within a long block you will see signs for Outback Steak house and the entrance to PIFF Plaza (across the street, a walking street). As you continue walking down the street, you will start passing entrances to an underground shopping mall. Just beyond the third entrance you will find a store specializing in teas, and then one where you can buy coffee at wholesale prices. The alley/walking street JUST BEFORE the next subway-shopping entrance (#4) is the one you want to turn in to. When you turn left into this narrow lane, you will immediately notice collections of bottles of alcohol. Somewhere in this square block area you can find 5 liter boxes of Franzia wine for 16,000 won, or perhaps a 4 liter bottle of Carlo Rossi. To see everything there is, walk to the next narrow lane and turn right, then right again, then right again…you are now back where you started. It is unlikely that you will see any "fresh" products like cheese or meats, but you can find cigars, over-the-counter medicines, Skippy Peanut Butter, and who knows what else.

(the most) Nutritious Bread in Pusan

There is a lady from Russia (Raisa) who has a bakery near the Busan Train Station. She makes only one kind of bread. This is a small, heavy loaf of whole wheat and rye flours. It is a dense bread that makes wonderful toast, but perhaps poor sandwiches. In any case, this is NOT a fluffy white airfilled empty-caloried feed it to the ducks, bread. You can buy loaves at only one convenience store; across from the Pusan Station, walk through the arched entry to "texas street", and you will see the convenience store on your left. It has Russian Cyrillic letters on it. Otherwise, you have to visit the bakery, across from the KAL building (it is hard to find, call to have her come get you the first time). The cost of the bread is 2000 won. If you want to order 10 or more loaves, she will have them delivered ANYWHERE IN KOREA for 2000 won each, and maybe a small delivery fee. You either have cash ready, or transmit to her bank from your bank.

For delivery, send a fax with an address in Korean to: (051) 467-7140. If you want to talk with Raisa, call: 467-7110 You can also email her at: [email protected]

If you have additions or corrections, please send them to [email protected]