Oseyo Soho — Local services in London

Oseyo is a new concept, a Tesco Express type H-Mart UK store (sort of). H Mart originally had started big in NJ, USA taking over a suburban Giant big box Japanese Supermarket in early 1990s, and it has opened one box store in every state over the years ever since, and, now, they are opening in-town stores to compete with the local grocery stores, with fresh fish and red meat products no other supermarket can beat. This is typical freshness standard many Koreans demand back in Korea. That is H-Mart USA. Then, H-Mart came to UK many years ago, and they opened their small stores in Central London, one on Goodge street, too. But, their operation did not meet the standard for locals who already experienced Tesco Express opening up everywhere, or the store was not not as good or as popularly located as Oseyo Soho today, with K-Pop and K-food fandom in London. Oseyo is a new strategy from H-Mart to be reintroduced to London again, The owner split it and set it up from H-Mart company and reopened it as more trendy and mainstream, just like Wasabi (another Korean name, 2003, benchmarking Yo! Sushi or Itsu 1996). Today, H-mart UK remains and operates as wholesaler and on-line delivery service from New Malden store. Oseyo and H-Mart are still the same family companies.

Now, regarding this Soho branch, This store has better presentation and shelving layouts. At first, I thought I stepped in Japanese Muji Store, typically using 2 or more floors. The price is as low as H-Mart USA, and, the portions are small, just perfect for the British Fridge sizes and limited cupboard spaces in the kitchen, unlike H-mart USA suburban shopper styles spending $100s.

This particular store has lots of variety of products in a limited space.I noticed more locals (Asians and non-Asians) than visitors to London. They have a good manager supervising the store on the floor. That is a good sign.

I personally advise people to choose established Korean Brand products, like CJ, Chungjungwon, Ottogi, Dong Won, when it comes to seaweeds, and, condiments, compared to the generic store brand names, from my experience (always cheaper than the good brand products). The origins of the ingredients of some generic products or packaging qualities are, rare, but, sometimes, questionable. Use the precautions with sealed bags, or, origins, and, expiry dates of generic products of the store brands. otherwise, enjoy your visit.

If you don't know what to buy first, try Korean soup ramen (with suggestion of added egg, Scallion, frozen seafood or beef), cup ramen, or, Jappagetti (black bean noodle) or Yuju, Ginger, Plum tea in the small jar. They are something you won't see in M&S. Or, try Dried Seaweed, or, Miyuk, (not the salted and grilled, Gim) to add to your everyday diet for its nutritional benefit and its cooking convenience, substituting fresh salad and for its long shelf life.

I hope this helps you to recognize its long retail history, and, I really wish this store lasts long and...

I recommended my friend to buy a rice cooker here because they sell the famous cuckoo brand which I bought a year ago. However be careful of their "return policy" as the receipt says to return product within 7 days but the staff said that rice cookers cannot be returned unless their is a immediate fault. Their was no evidence of this policy in store and staff did not annouce this prior to the purchase. So, the rice cooker needed to be returned as it was not suited for the purpose as she hoped and thought if the the rice cooker was returned the following day of purchase then it would be valid for a refund. However, the staff made a huge fuss about a invisible policy and the owner was very reluctant to come down and the assistant manager was fluctuating her story about his presence. She kept saying he wasn't in store at first but then she managed to bring him down from upstairs stock area. They were really putting up a argument that they were in the wrong for my friend. However, until she mentioned she would raise this a dispute with her credit card company against oseyo then they backed down and gave her a refund.

In summary; Horrible customer service!!!! I've totally lost my interest to make buisness here again and so has my friend. Also, there are many places around the area and online to buy Korean...

Great store, loads of great options I can't wait to go back and try stuff out. There were also a few ready meals and Kimbap etc available if you're looking to grab a quick lunch/dinner too.

Only reason my review is 4 stars is because I actually went there with the sole intention of getting a steamed/bao bun for lunch and that was very disappointing.

The BBQ and pork one sounded great so I got that but it turned out that one was a lot smaller than the other buns so it wasn't really big enough for lunch. (This wasn't made obvious on the menu). I actually left the shop a bit disappointed before deciding to turn around and head back in to get another, different one.

Unfortunately both were very dry and hard.. the filling of the BBQ one tasted great, but I didn't like the pork and mushroom one at all. It was a dense, compacted ball of pork and mushroom which smelt a little unpleasant and just about tasted okay. It also was a tiny bit slimy inside, between the meat and the bun and was awkward to eat because of how it was a dense ball inside a hollow bun. I didn't finish that one sadly. I just wonder how long the buns had been sat there to...