Ylokos (GroupRank 5) Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago: Oak-ay (get it- oak as in oakland, oakay, anyways) so I move into my first apartment in town after moving up from LA where I was spoiled by Koreatown to where I would take the bus and the subway from my family home in the suburbs and then get off and skate around on my board to all of the markets, malls, and restaurants- and less than ten minutes away from my new Oakland apartment is this little, well medium sized Korean market. First thing I thought- kimchi- specifically kkaktugi- the spicy cubed radish (my favorite- so much so that this could make or break a korean restaurant experience for me). They had a sizable panchan section and I went right for it, and needless to say, this is one of my favorite places. Their cabbage kimchi rocks too- they have kimchi other local suppliers too, but I have never tried them. Anyways, they started off selling only a few of the regular Korean ready to eat snacks and small meals like kim bap, chap chae, and now they have started selling bibimbap toppings, california rolls, red bean pancakes, steamed dumplings, and more. I hardly get any of these while I am there because I usually spend my money on ingredients cuz I cook way to much for a single, poor, grad student. They make their own mandu, but I haven't tried it yet because I need to find out if it has pork- I have found that some places put pork in their beef mandu sometimes, so I always have to ask. They are quite friendly at this store, I should know I have spent so much time and money there. They have a lot of frozen fish, for people like me who can't always afford to eat fresh all of the time, or simply need to stock up on protein for the coming quarter (frozen pollack fillet for 99 cents a pound- lets see- seng sun chun, fish cutlets, mix in some frozen shrimp or oysters to make hae mul pa jun, add to soybean paste and water with some tofu, zucchini, green chili, maybe some spinach- all in a clay pot of course which you purchase in the housewares store in the same plaza. I really have fun with the stuff here! It brings back fond memories of the rougher days when I used all of my savings for the giant deposit on my apartment, not to mention on tuition and books too, and I only have a few bills in my pocket and a bag of rice, a block of tofu, and some eggs at home. I went to Koreana Plaza and bought some napa cabbage, some radishes, some ginger, garlic, and some store-made soybean paste. I ate really well with what I made with those things for a few weeks. Thank God for Koreana Plaza! Though when I visit LA I still make a bee line to Koreatown among other places, but I can still take the subway and my skateboard to Oakland's Koreana Plaza when I am back!
Loading...
N37.813646 E122.268552
Add a Review
| 
Add a Photo
| 
Tag This
Ylokos (GroupRank 5)
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago:
Oak-ay (get it- oak as in oakland, oakay, anyways) so I move into my first apartment in town after moving up from LA where I was spoiled by Koreatown to where I would take the bus and the subway from my family home in the suburbs and then get off and skate around on my board to all of the markets, malls, and restaurants- and less than ten minutes away from my new Oakland apartment is this little, well medium sized Korean market. First thing I thought- kimchi- specifically kkaktugi- the spicy cubed radish (my favorite- so much so that this could make or break a korean restaurant experience for me). They had a sizable panchan section and I went right for it, and needless to say, this is one of my favorite places. Their cabbage kimchi rocks too- they have kimchi other local suppliers too, but I have never tried them. Anyways, they started off selling only a few of the regular Korean ready to eat snacks and small meals like kim bap, chap chae, and now they have started selling bibimbap toppings, california rolls, red bean pancakes, steamed dumplings, and more. I hardly get any of these while I am there because I usually spend my money on ingredients cuz I cook way to much for a single, poor, grad student. They make their own mandu, but I haven't tried it yet because I need to find out if it has pork- I have found that some places put pork in their beef mandu sometimes, so I always have to ask. They are quite friendly at this store, I should know I have spent so much time and money there. They have a lot of frozen fish, for people like me who can't always afford to eat fresh all of the time, or simply need to stock up on protein for the coming quarter (frozen pollack fillet for 99 cents a pound- lets see- seng sun chun, fish cutlets, mix in some frozen shrimp or oysters to make hae mul pa jun, add to soybean paste and water with some tofu, zucchini, green chili, maybe some spinach- all in a clay pot of course which you purchase in the housewares store in the same plaza. I really have fun with the stuff here! It brings back fond memories of the rougher days when I used all of my savings for the giant deposit on my apartment, not to mention on tuition and books too, and I only have a few bills in my pocket and a bag of rice, a block of tofu, and some eggs at home. I went to Koreana Plaza and bought some napa cabbage, some radishes, some ginger, garlic, and some store-made soybean paste. I ate really well with what I made with those things for a few weeks. Thank God for Koreana Plaza! Though when I visit LA I still make a bee line to Koreatown among other places, but I can still take the subway and my skateboard to Oakland's Koreana Plaza when I am back!