One of the better Asian markets, in a very surprising location that I've known about for some time now, and which has made an excellent use of the space (so basically the corner of 'Music City Mall'--formerly 'Vista Ridge Mall'--facing interstate 35, which I believe is a former JC Penney--after every other "flagship" department stores have closed up--with an unused 2nd floor escalator, deactivated and barricaded, that would seem like pretty much any other modern style grocery store, comparable to a nearby H Mart, or 99 Ranch Market, or Carrollton Carrollton Plaza Supermarket (which specializes in Thai and I believe Phillipino, but has the best spice selection.)
Admittedly it seemed kind of cramped for the space utilized, and during later times of the day the Food Court entrance--which was not yet "open" apart from the doors but I could hear some parts of the restaurants opening--is busier than the activity going on in the mall itself, including there designated Food Court.
Early mornings were relatively calmer inside the grocery store (so my photos don't indicate how busy it actually was, which I avoided photographing due to privacy,) with most everything focused on Korean specialties.
Some of the things I picked up were for making kimbap (colloquially referred to as "Korean sushi.") The nori seaweed sheets were somewhat misplaced (whoever stocked them had placed an $18 100 sheet pack in a $7 spot with the correct inventory behind the box, when it had an existing spot on the top shelf, and a 50 sheet one had been in a $5 spot adjacent to the correct $12 sticker which had been scattered, some of which might have also been an attempt to fill the spot while inventory wasn't available; considering that the majority of the shelfs for seaweed--which is a surprisingly large amount and even had some I've not seen elsewhere such as the larger kelp used for flavoring rice water before cooking--were mostly non-sushi related. It's possible they could easily run out of such inventory and not also have a particular brand I was looking for, such as, 'Surasang,' though I'm sure the brand I got was pretty good (most of the seaweed sheets seem more suited for rice balls or occassionally you might see a cut portion added for presentation and to add "umami" flavor. The ramen section was something that had quality products and inventory, but lacked some of the larger packages that I would normally get.
They had the refrigerated version of pickled radish and was something I probably overlooked elsewhere because I was thinking it was stored similar to jarred pickles (which it seems due to it being a root vegetable has risk of exposure to lead and cadmium, which is the same risk shown on the seaweed sheets. . . Though that kind of is just expected with products that get sold in California.)
I would suggest using the main grocery entrance since it will basically be a divided inventory barrier from the start of the entrance where you have to exit through the registers (connecting from the main mall and a narrow strip of the Korean food court, that walks behind the registers and additional shops (such as a table selling some of the better tea but still limited inventory, with things that also are already sold in the main store,) that have dividers that kind of limit movement (or when entering it was too much to walk from that particular entrance that I hopped over.)
Upon checking out they were very helpful but some of the problems I mentioned with inventory seeming out of place, or realizing the cancer risk and thinking of returning the product back to the shelf (as you will tend to find on these products) might have seemed a bit frustrating when it seems staffing was probably limited, and perhaps not having an easy way to manage some inventory (so I probably could have gotten more things while there, though didn't because it wasn't all that apparent where things should be from initial familiarity (though I suspect i probably overlooked the rice as well.)
They have a few things other shops don't seem to have, though it...
Ā Ā Ā Read moreThe market is conveniently located, seems clean, and they even have special carts for toddlers which I appreciate! We regularly buy fish and meats here and it has been great. I could tell they are taking good care of those departments. I called in once and talked to a man in the fish department, and he was pleasant to talked to. On the other hand, customer service experience (bagging) and quality of fruits were not good!
We bought some Korean pears and organic strawberries last weekend. It looked fine when I initially put them in our fridge. A few days later, on Tuesday, I took it out of the fridge to wash and give to my toddler and I was shocked! The strawberries were covered in mold(80%) and the pears were turning gray inside; the core already turned black! I shouldāve taken them back but due to the current situation, my husband picks up the groceries (heās not the type to confront a problem) so I just had to toss them.
However, yesterday, my husband picked up a few things along with sashimi, and an item that had been rung up was missing in the bag. We searched the car just in case it fell out of the bag on the ride home. It was no where to be found.
We called the market to see if it fell out while bagging since I noticed that some of the baggers text while bagging, at times! Although the missing item only cost less than $3, It was really frustrating because it went with the sashimi we bought for dinner.
Anyways, the associate on the line said sheāll look into it and call me back. She did call me back and said sheās the one who rung up our groceries and that it was bagged properly. I told her I am calling because itās missing. Then, she said she has video recording of them bagging it and that she can show me. At this point I am very frustrated and lose my appetite. I explain to her I wouldnāt make up a story to have some $3 item missing if I had it! Then she said she cannot compensate for something she did not do wrong. I was appalled at her lack of customer service skills and thought I needed to talk to a manager. To my surprise, she WAS the manager.
The impression I am getting over a few experiences is that either the business doesnāt care for their customers or they do but the owner is not aware that the employees are not maintaining freshness of their produce nor do they value customer satisfaction.
I would rather not write negative reviews, or would rather do something more productive instead of taking time out of my day to write a review for a business, but since I couldnāt find a correspondence email address in their website, I had no choice but to post it here.
If the owner or HR is reading this, please consider training the manager about not just doing her job, but also doing her job without making the customer feeling dumb for calling when an item is missing when it was paid for. Thanks and hope things will be better at Zion...
Ā Ā Ā Read moreTLDR: I highly recommend. Great spot for Prepared Asian food and groceries. (I believe itās mostly Korean food in the market but Iām not positive) Thereās a French bakery next to the grocery store.
Zion market is a food court in the mall with all types of authentic Asian food. It also has an Asian grocery store.
The food court has multiple places for noodles, ramen, and pho. We usually order a little bit of food from several shops. It takes some time to get your food. Oh K Dog - has the yummiest corn dogs and cheese dogs. It may sound strange but the sweet potato and potato corn dogs are delicious. They are even super tasty with sugar. We were wary but I trusted the woman behind the counter and she was right! Very yummy with sugar! La Vie en Rose - The woman that helped us was nice enough but was phoning it in. She said that they were out of things that I saw someone else come in and make when our server went to break. Here is a review of the food that my group ordered:
Bing su: This was tasty. The ice shavings are a bit different than youād find in Korea. Theyāre a bit more like snow cone. Still very good.
SoufflĆ©: It was very eggy and most my group didnāt not enjoy it.
Taiyaki: so good! Yum yum yum. I ordered the gelato with tiny Taiyaki. The custard and chocolate were very good. The chocolate gelato was delicious. The Taiyaki were better here than Somi Somi. ????- I cannot remember the name of the place across from Oh K Dog but they have a stellar ahi tower. Everyone in my group absolutely loved the ahi tower. My spouse is addicted to it. The dragon roll and poke bowl are good. They are not the best Iāve ever had though. The grocery store - really nice fruit and vegetables for amazing prices. SO MANY TYPES OF MUSHROOMS! Fresh not dried mushrooms. Costco size ramen packages. Vast array of rice in large bags. Even brown sweet rice! Their meat looks great and is a good price. They have fresh and frozen sliced meat for pho and stir fry type dishes. There are tons of snacks. There is so much more and a lot of things that I donāt yet know what they are. But Iām excited to find out. French Bakery- It has some French bakery type food such as tarts. It also has some sweet bread that is more Asian style like Zero Degrees Bakery. My favorite was a half chocolate dipped croissant. My spouse loved the sweet breads. The orange juice in the bottle doesnāt taste...
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