Jagalchi — Local services in Daly City

What a mess! I don’t normally write long reviews but this was warranted. I understand I came on opening week, and that they may have had more of an influx of people than they expected. But the level of unpreparedness and inefficiency I experienced on a Wednesday afternoon made me want to avoid this market in the future.

First thing is the main entrance had two security guards that were only letting in a couple of people at a time when people left the store. I couldn’t believe such a huge store had to limit the number of customers to this level! Two hours later when I left and things were much quieter in the store they still had the line all the way down the sidewalk. What made it even more ridiculous was the mall entrance to the market had zero security guards and people entering freely. I’m not sure what the point even was.

Now for the grocery section, the selection was extremely poor and I was shocked at how little items there were in each section, especially in comparison to the other two Korean markets we have, Kukje and Hmart. Take the ramen section as an example, there was a wall of ramen, but almost all of it was just a few brands, like Shin and Jin, and there were no items like vegetarian ramen that are widely available even at grocery outlet. The organization was also so weirdly planned, there were two sections of ramen in different of the store (all the same few brands), four sections of kimchi with different kinds in each, and other items were strangely grouped so that it was not intuitive to find things. All the shelving was very short, which allows for an open floor plan, but not much actual stuff to buy. And of course, as other people have mentioned, much of the shelves were empty.

Now the prepared food, huge confusing lines in a narrow space, having to yell orders awkwardly over the glass partitions, many things on the menus completely unavailable. At one stall they were selling fried potato spirals, and all of the potatoes were already fried and just needed seasoning, but the staff (who was very nice but seemed lost) took maybe 5 minutes just to sprinkle the seasoning and ring us up. He just seemed very untrained and unpracticed. Again, I understand this is opening week, but I would think they would be more prepared than this.

Finally, the restaurant. We waited in line at the restaurant for almost an hour, with 30 or more people in line and barely moving. The worst part was almost half of the restaurant’s tables were completely empty, and tables that people had just vacated were left empty for 10+ minutes or never filled again. Many people abandoned the line, and when we finally asked what was going on, the hostess, who was not particularly cordial, told me point blank that they didn’t have enough servers, and that if she sat us we would just complain about how long it took for them to serve us. It’s wild to me that they didn’t hire enough servers for their own restaurant. Their store check out line was ridiculously long too, with only 5 self-checkout stations for the whole store.

We ended up leaving and eating a great meal at Kukje. Sad this place was so disappointing after...

Finally had a chance to get inside this 75,000 sq ft Korean market. Although there was a line to get in, we only waited less than 10 minutes. As you enter, the first area you see is Pogu the restaurant. We decided to eat there at another time since our goal was to go home with a bunch of food! We veered right towards the Seafood section where there were 2 fillet trimmers showcasing fresh fish. That area was packed with shoppers. Next stop, alcohol smorgasbord! Every soju flavor and makgeolli. I picked up pineapple and watermelon soju (my favorite). The peach soju was cleared out, guess that's everyone's favorite. On the way to the frozen section, I was completely in awe of a pink portable butane stove that comes with a case. It was only $32 so I had to get it. Super cute. Then the food section...so hard to choose with rows and rows of different noodle packets and a whole wall of frozen items. I picked up scallion pancakes, K-cheese corn dogs, and tteobokki. After leaving this area, we moved into the street cart food hall. As there were queues for all stations, it was challenging to pick up anything. Food like tteokbokki, dakgangjeong, hotteok, fish cake, bungeoppang, japchae, and rice cake desserts were either cooked to order or as take-away. We meandered our way to the other aisles (K-snacks, condiments, more ramen, produce, beauty area).

We had our respite at Basquia Bakery. My mom was wiped out lol! Before you can enter, you have to park your cart along the stanchions (a worker kinda minds them), pick up a tray and tongs, then select your baked goods. It was around 2pm so needless to say, there was not much left. We got in line along the dessert case which begged you to want to buy the decadent cakes and Dubai chocolate bars. I decided to get something savory and ordered the Tteobokki in the bread bowl and black sesame cold latte. The search for a table to sit at didnt take too long. My brother waited by the cash line to listen for our food number to be called (no PA system). My Tteobokki was good and spicy so the milk drink (super delicious) calmed the burn. For GF bread, the bowl was okay so I only ate the top piece which had a nice crisp crust and a chewy bread texture. It was perfect for dipping into the sauce. The mini pound cake was moist and delicious, the sulpang with cream had a bland flavor, a bit dry, and the chocolate covered chocolate madeleines were perfect. After eating, we took our cart and queued up to pay. There's lines for either self checkout or cashier. Since we had alcohol, only option was cashier where I was carded. Ha! Flattering. Overall, loved the experience. I'll go back to try a meal at Pogu. Definitely have to pack your patience coming here but the abundance and variety made it an...

this store is incredibly beautiful with a really nice floor layout that you can enter at multiple points from the shopping center that lead you directly into an easily navigable loop that goes throughout the store. I never once felt like I was crowded. The flow of traffic moves really nicely with plenty of space for people to peruse the product while others are making their way around.

The meat and seafood sections are massive and the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life. The amount of beef, pork cuts available already prepared and ready to cook and whatever sort of dishes you are making is impressive. I’m definitely looking forward to making a pork chop or two from the Berkshire pork available in the case.

There is a Soju bar as well as an oyster bar at the seafood counter. The main restaurant is located in the center of the grocery store. I didn’t take a look at the menu.

The prepared and hot food sections are quite expansive with lots of options available for vegan and vegetarian guests and even a temple food section. Everything is really well priced. I got an extremely large portion of vegetarian japchae for seven dollars, the best japchae I ever had in my life with really plump & supple noodles accompanied by the sauce and perfectly cooked vegetables that had just the right amount of crunch.

there is an open dining area near the front of the store where you can take your purchased meals and dine on them with your family and friends. It is next to the rice flower bakery, which has some beautiful options. The one that I purchased I found to be unimpressive to my palate- was very densely spongy and perhaps not suited to my western tongue. I just didn’t enjoy the density of the baked good. I'm curious about the bread loaves though, they were mostly sold out.

there are self checkouts located near every exit as well as manned cashier stations at the front of the store between the seafood and bakery sections. Staff was very efficient and very helpful. I definitely am looking forward to going back to the store with my teenage daughter and some of her friends for a...