Boo Han Oriental Market — Local services in Portland

I love this grocery store. The prices are very fair. The people working here are so incredibly nice and friendly. I have absolutely nothing really negative to say. The only reason I'm giving the store four stars instead of five stars is because the last two times, that I went here, I wanted to buy the homemade vegan kimchi. It's usually always at the back of the store. I'm not vegetarian or vegan. I eat beef, pork, chicken, what have you. The problem for me is I'm not really a seafood lover. Nine times out of 10 kimchi is made with something with seafood in it whether it's bonito, or little shrimps or some form of seafood is usually in there. Some sort of dashi or flavor whatever. Again because I'm not really a seafood lover I can taste it immediately. I've even made my own kimchi before once. When I found out they sell vegan kimchi at this store I went over there, I tried it and loved it!!! I absolutely loved it!! That vegan kimchi is the best I've ever had, it's so amazing and good.

The problem is, I live all the way over in Vancouver Washington. I ran out of kimchi the end of November. I specifically went back in December to buy another pot/container of it hoping it would be enough and so I went drove all the way down there and they didn't have any, super sad, he said come back in a couple of days. He was so super nice, the man that I was talking to. I mean of course I'm not going to go back in a couple of days, it's not so convenient for me to get to this store.

Now this week I was mentioning to my husband saying boy I really miss having kimchi I haven't had it in a really long time. This time we're a little bit smarter than last time, my husband says let's call first so my husband calls the grocery store and says "do you happen to have any vegan kimchi?" They're like yeah we do. So we hop in the car we make the drive to Portland and park the car and we're all excited to get this pot of vegan kimchi and bring it home and enjoy it because it's again it's the best kimchi I've ever had, my whole family loves it. We did call beforehand we did everything we're supposed to do. You will not believe this. They didn't have it. OMG. It was a very very nice lady she was so apologetic, apparently she's the one who answered the phone when my husband called. It wasn't her fault. Sometimes things happen. We thanked her and we went home.

Absolutely love this grocery store. People here are amazing. Their vegan kimchi gets a hundred golden stars it's so amazing!!! And more than likely, people probably love it as much as my family does and that's probably why they can't keep it in stock. LoL.

I know now to go on a Wednesday or a Thursday and I will definitely go back to this wonderful store in hopes of finally being able to buy a container of your fabulous...

You know a place is set firmly in the heart of a community when the don"t even bother to put their name up on the Front. Like it's an open secret or they are discouraging tourists... like myself.

I haven't been to Boo Han in many years, too many years. I was looking for a good source for Gochujang and gochugaru, I've also gotten into a roasted corn tea kick recently and I wanted a better source for different varieties of Kimchee. I love Asian markets in general and most of them will have a few Korean ingredients, but if you want selection, you have to find someplace where it's the main focus. If you want a variety for your Gochujang and your Korean Fish Sauce then Boo Han is feast for the weary.

Somehow in my memory it was't this nice. I could be wrong, but the place seems to have grown better over the intervening years. Well lit, clean, more spacious than most Asian markets with lots to investigate. There were way more gochugaru options than other Asian Stores in my experience and the Kimchee selection was better than the average. It will be nice not to have to drive out of the area for my my favorite Daikon Kimchee. The place is clean, well organized and well stocked. I could spend a lot of time and a lot of money wandering the cooking utensil area. Best gadgets ever! Absolutely a place I will put on my regular Portland route. If you haven't tried Korean Corn tea, get your butts right down to Boo Han and grab a bag! It's a delight that should have filtered into the American experience years ago and if you haven't played around a little with gochugaru yet, your tastebuds are...

I recently went here for the first time - the poor signage had me thinking that the grocery store itself had closed down and the cosmetics shop was all that was left (not the situation at all).

It's pretty much the only Korean shop that I know of on this side of town (though some of the larger markets carry a few Korean products) and at least to an American like me the food seems pretty good. They also sell some prepared food - Korean style sushi (vegetarian, with egg), vegetarian buns, all of the trimmings (several kinds of kimchi, tofu, vegetables, fish cake and squid etc).

I'm addicted to canned "milk tea" (basically the soft drink version) and you can get it by the case here - they carry T5ea (never seen this brand before, it's from Taiwan tho) in a few diff flavors, but it's a bit more expensive than the one they sell at Hong Phat (which is a diff brand and only comes in one flavor).

The selection overall may be a bit smaller than, say, the Fubonn market but that's only due to space. Definitely stop by and check this place out if you specifically want to buy...