Kukje Supermarket — Attraction in Daly City

Update: There is now a new competitor named K-Mart which is quite nearby offering better prices in geneal for the same or similar offerings (it's a Korean market, I am primarily interested in things which come from Korea). I recommend shoppers to compare their offerings since they are so close to one another (unless you are walking).

Most importantly, quality of service has gone extremely downhill at Kukje Supermarket, so I am inclined to go elsewhere when possible. End of Update:

Technically not in San Francisco, since it is in Daly City, but as it is easily accessible by public transit from San Francisco, I have decided to include it.

While there are other Korean markets in the City (for example, there are a few by Japantown. No, there is no a Koreantown, to my knowledge.), this is one of bigger Korean markets that is reasonably accessible even to those without a car. It offers a large selection of goods, both from Korea and not from Korea.

While prices are not always the best (both Korean and Japanese markets, as well as restaurants, are known for providing goods and services from their respective country, not for value), if you browse their weekly ad, sometimes you will find good deals. For example, one time I bought a packet of King Oyster mushroom (300G) for 99 cents, and not only was it organic, it even came from Korea!

One of the better places to buy seafood, and the quality has been consistently good (although since not everyone there speaks English well, your questions may not get answered, unfortunately), and, again, some of their sale prices on their seafood are quite competitive.

Personally I think the best prices are found in Chinese supermarkets, especially those in Chinatown, but Chinatown can be difficult to park. If you travel by public transit, either option will be great: Chinatown tends to offer better prices but stores tend to be smaller (although their selection isn't necessarily smaller), and Kukje tends to offer some of the same selection at higher prices, but the store is bigger, and, in my opinion, "appears"...

I can't really say at this time because I didn't really get to buy, try or see everything. I just got off of work and was told about this place by a staff member earlier that day and wanted to see for myself. We were talking about hotpot and I said it takes work to prep everything but as soon as you sit down to eat it's like 10mins and your stuffed 😆. She told me about Kukje where they already have marinated meats and also a restaurant inside and their hot food to go along with a variety of freshly packed sushi and sashimi "I'm like O Waaaaaat!!! 🍣 I had to check it out. It was busy inside but mannn.... She wasn't lying... So much food to grab and go that I couldn't make up my mind. It's like, as I continued down the aisle I'll put this one back grab that or get two of those and reach for those which led me right in front of the restaurant (forgot the name... I'm sorry) I sat down with my husband to have dinner there and when they came with the menu we couldn't decide what to order. The prices were a bit high for me with the portion that they serve and because we couldn't make up our minds of what exactly we wanted, we decided to leave entirely. At least I know now where to go and get a lot of fresh sashimi or sushi 😋and even fried chicken. We plan the next time we go there I won't be so tired and in a rush. So as of right now it gets 3Stars for liking what I saw when I walked inside the market lol. Parking is sucky but we definitely were lucky to get...

Update 11/28/2021 I've been a fan of making it over to Kukje for 10+ years as I usually get my Hot Pot ingredients from here, but lately the prices have creeped up (most likely due to inflation). Meat prices have gone gradually up from $6-12/lb before to upwards of $12-20/lb now.

A major staple that I enjoy is the kimbab, but I will unfortunately say that the kimbab quality has declined, the veggies flavoring has become tasteless, and now comparing apples to apples, H-Mart's Kimbab has better flavoring. I'm not advocating for H-mart over Kukje, but i'm just talking about a specific product that I enjoy. Anyways, do your own due diligence and see which supermarket hits the spot for yourself.

One more complaint from Kukje side, when purchasing the kimchee from this restaurant, it seems many of the jarred kimchi are just loosely capped and there is no formal sealing (this seems normal across the various brands but I am not a fan). I purchased a jarred kimchi a month ago and I had to go back and return it the next day, there was a bleach (not sour) flavoring from this San Leandro brand, I cannot remember the name. Try out the kimchi's yourself and see which brand does great for yourself. There seems to be a lot of kimchi liquid spilled so I would recommend using one of their bags and wrapping it around your Kimchi jar. enjoy!

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