Step inside Jagalchi, Daly City’s new Korean supermarket with big ‘Eataly vibes’

There’s a hot new grocery in town, and it’s paradise for fans of marinated meats, fluffy rice flour cakes, and sizzling street food.

Hundreds of shoppers queued up Friday morning for the grand opening of Jagalchi, a massive Korean market and food hall in Daly City. As the vibrant brass of BTS’ “Dynamite” pumped over the speakers, a line of people streamed into the 75,000-square-foot store at a former JCPenny at the Serramonte Center. 

The Standard went with a pair of experts: Eddo Kim and Clara Lee, the married couple behind Korean food company Queens. Before they started slinging jars of galbi marinade made with California wildflower honey and 90-day aged gochujang, Kim and Lee owned a specialty market and Hotline, a Korean-Chinese restaurant in the Outer Sunset. On this shopping trip, they stocked up on beautifully marbled pork belly for bossam and light fizzy Korean rice wine called makgeolli. As we walked and talked, the couple pointed out some of the don’t-miss items on Jagalchi’s shelves. 

“It’s very airy — I’m getting Eataly vibes,” Lee remarked while standing just inside the automated double doors.

It was an apt observation. Compared with the tight, crowded aisles at H Mart, Jagalchi feels spacious and chic. Instead of fluorescent fixtures and utilitarian shelving, there are elegant woven pendant lights and wooden display tables. Signage provides basic information about products that may not be familiar to some shoppers. The layout follows the Ikea model, steering customers in a circle around the store, the center of which is occupied by a full-service restaurant, Pogu.

Just past the seafood cases, located immediately to the right of the entrance, is one of the store’s standout — and abundantly stocked — sections: the meat counter. The butcher’s selection spanned the usual grocery store cuts and luxuries like Japanese A5 wagyu ribeye ($79.50 per pound), as well as offerings more specific to Korean cooking like honeycomb pork belly ($9.50). There were also marinated meats, including three regional varieties of bulgogi ($8.50): Eonyang-style, which has more “peppery spice”; Seoul-style, a milder variety meant to be served with broth; and Gwangyang-style, a sweet-savory soy-based version intended to be grilled over charcoal.

In the wine and liquor section, Kim and Lee stopped to peruse the impressive selection of sool, or Korean rice wines. They picked up a bottle of Sang Makgeolli ($22), brewed by Newwave Brewing Co. in Los Angeles, and stopped to admire the lineup of Tokki Soju, which was founded in Brooklyn and has developed a “cult following” in Korea. But if you’re looking for an everyday bottle of soju, that’d be the Jinro is Back ($27 for 6), Lee said. The Korean brand is a reinterpretation of a soju from the ’70s and ’80s, with retro branding starring a vibrant blue frog. 

Next up was the bulk section, where you can grab Gompyo wheat flour if you want the stuff Lee’s grandmother and mom swear by, and the high-quality Sempio 701 soy sauce for marinades. We then arrived at the store’s back wall, where a line of stalls serves hot snacks, including mandu, or dumplings, and massive vegetable pancakes. A smiling gentleman hand-rolling wrappers for steamed jijim mandoo kept a steady flow of buns coming out of the kitchen. Hot and greasy eomuk, fish cakes studded with octopus ($2.50) or filled with mozzarella cheese ($2.50), made a perfect midmorning snack. “A lot of stores sell these things cold,” Kim said. “This is an upgrade to be able to eat them hot.”

Though Jagalchi’s produce section can’t compete with the rainbow of offerings at other Asian grocery stores in the Bay Area, the market boasts a massive selection of skincare products, including  Korean department store brands Lee compared to Estée Lauder and Lancôme, as well as ones many Americans are already familiar with, like Dr. Jart. We found out the hard way that pastries and bread from Basquia, the on-site rice-flour bakery and cafe, can’t be purchased at the Jagalchi cashier, so give yourself extra time if you want to pick up dessert. 

By 11 a.m., two hours after the store opened, the line to enter still wound through the shopping center, with no signs of slowing down. Be advised: Shoppers heading out to explore this weekend should probably brace for a wait. The good news is that there will be freshly fried fish cakes to look forward to when you finally get in.