Before reading this post, watch my vlog about the Korean supermarket in Barcelona to see how to get there, what the store looks like, and some of the products I get when I'm there:
Before I came to Barcelona, one of my main complaints about Lisbon was always the lack of Asian foods, products, and stores. Lisbon has a lot of Chinese immigrants and, as a result, a handful of Chinese grocery stores, but if you want anything outside of the Chinese sphere of food, you'll be pretty hard-pressed to find it in the Portuguese capital. After much sleuthing, I discovered that Vietnamese food—a staple of where I grew up—essentially does not exist at all in Portugal, there is very little Thai food, the selection of Japanese food is sparse and westernized, and Korean food is limited to a small number of products imported by the Chinese grocery stores and one (1!) food court with an experimental Asian cafe that offers two (2!) Korean dishes. All to say nothing of the rest of Asia, which as you can imagine is sorely lacking.
So as I was preparing to come to Barcelona, I made a note to take advantage of the city's greater size and more international culture and find all the foods I love and lacked on the other side of Iberia. There is just one Korean grocery store in the city, a bit to my disappointment, but it offers a complete selection of ingredients you need to make your favorite Korean dishes, including some pre-made dishes, but more on that in a second. There are other, more general Asian that have some of the same products in the center as well, so you're never too much for want of options. It is not, however, the same as beloved Hmart or Pacific Ocean Market (in Colorado, where I'm from) of home, gigantic supermarkets filled to the brim with generous hours. Where those supermarkets are more comparable to local Alcampo or Carrefour in size, instead, Han Kuk Market and the myriad other Asian grocery stores are more comparable to smaller-format stores like Lidl and convenience stores, on the smaller end.
Getting back to the Korean market itself, though, the products follow some trends. Everything is labeled in Spanish somewhere on the product packaging, but if you don't know what you're looking at and can't read Korean to figure it out, you might have a harder time identifying things than you would in English, as much can be lost in translation. This can be particularly true with the pre-made products, like kimchi, which are often just transliterated from the original Korean. The products themselves also tend to be Seoul-centric in origin: for example, the soju is exclusively Seoul soju, so if you're looking for things you know from other regions, talk to the workers and see if they can import them for you to the store, or take the Seoul alternative. The workers themselves are friendly and speak good Spanish, but I haven't talked with them in English so I can't confirm if they also speak it. If you're ever in doubt, they'll happily help you with what you need as you're shopping through the store. When you pay with a card, you'll be given the option by the card system to pay in euros or your home currency, which can be helpful to avoid conversion fees.
The homemade kimchi tends to be medium-high in spiciness and on the fresher side of fermentation, but they have many different kinds and amounts you can buy. I've seen regular kimchi (baechu kimchi) in small (around 300g) and large (around 850g) boxes, cubed radish kimchi (kkakdugi), and many others each time I've gone. It's well-made and tastes good, but keep in mind that it's fresher than you may be used to if you eat it home-made and let it ferment more! They charge per kilo, so if you want a little more or a little less, don't forget to let them know.
So to wrap it up, my summary: it's not Hmart, but it'll do in a pinch to satisfy your cravings for Korean food at home. Alimentación Coreana Hankuk can be found on Carrer del Marquès de Sentmenat, 91 just a short walk away from metro station Entença (L5).
Before I came to Barcelona, one of my main complaints about Lisbon was always the lack of Asian foods, products, and stores. Lisbon has a lot of Chinese immigrants and, as a result, a handful of Chinese grocery stores, but if you want anything outside of the Chinese sphere of food, you'll be pretty hard-pressed to find it in the Portuguese capital. After much sleuthing, I discovered that Vietnamese food—a staple of where I grew up—essentially does not exist at all in Portugal, there is very little Thai food, the selection of Japanese food is sparse and westernized, and Korean food is limited to a small number of products imported by the Chinese grocery stores and one (1!) food court with an experimental Asian cafe that offers two (2!) Korean dishes. All to say nothing of the rest of Asia, which as you can imagine is sorely lacking.
So as I was preparing to come to Barcelona, I made a note to take advantage of the city's greater size and more international culture and find all the foods I love and lacked on the other side of Iberia. There is just one Korean grocery store in the city, a bit to my disappointment, but it offers a complete selection of ingredients you need to make your favorite Korean dishes, including some pre-made dishes, but more on that in a second. There are other, more general Asian that have some of the same products in the center as well, so you're never too much for want of options. It is not, however, the same as beloved Hmart or Pacific Ocean Market (in Colorado, where I'm from) of home, gigantic supermarkets filled to the brim with generous hours. Where those supermarkets are more comparable to local Alcampo or Carrefour in size, instead, Han Kuk Market and the myriad other Asian grocery stores are more comparable to smaller-format stores like Lidl and convenience stores, on the smaller end.
Getting back to the Korean market itself, though, the products follow some trends. Everything is labeled in Spanish somewhere on the product packaging, but if you don't know what you're looking at and can't read Korean to figure it out, you might have a harder time identifying things than you would in English, as much can be lost in translation. This can be particularly true with the pre-made products, like kimchi, which are often just transliterated from the original Korean. The products themselves also tend to be Seoul-centric in origin: for example, the soju is exclusively Seoul soju, so if you're looking for things you know from other regions, talk to the workers and see if they can import them for you to the store, or take the Seoul alternative. The workers themselves are friendly and speak good Spanish, but I haven't talked with them in English so I can't confirm if they also speak it. If you're ever in doubt, they'll happily help you with what you need as you're shopping through the store. When you pay with a card, you'll be given the option by the card system to pay in euros or your home currency, which can be helpful to avoid conversion fees.
The homemade kimchi tends to be medium-high in spiciness and on the fresher side of fermentation, but they have many different kinds and amounts you can buy. I've seen regular kimchi (baechu kimchi) in small (around 300g) and large (around 850g) boxes, cubed radish kimchi (kkakdugi), and many others each time I've gone. It's well-made and tastes good, but keep in mind that it's fresher than you may be used to if you eat it home-made and let it ferment more! They charge per kilo, so if you want a little more or a little less, don't forget to let them know.
So to wrap it up, my summary: it's not Hmart, but it'll do in a pinch to satisfy your cravings for Korean food at home. Alimentación Coreana Hankuk can be found on Carrer del Marquès de Sentmenat, 91 just a short walk away from metro station Entença (L5).
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