The best Korean markets in NYC

In Manhattan’s K-Town, this brightly lit supermarket is destination No. 1 when it comes to shopping for Korean ingredients. With clean, well-labeled aisles and forgiving prices, H-Mart stocks favorite snacks such as spicy instant ramen and pickled vegetables. There are also raw ingredients for your next Korean BBQ: thinly sliced meat, frozen seafood and fresh produce along with all the sauces and condiments you’ll need to spice things up.

This Woodside market might be small, but what it lacks in space it makes up for with its selection, stocking almost every ingredient a foodie might need, from spicy gochujang paste to fresh soy milk. For less ambitious eaters, the store’s premade specialties, from spicy rice cakes to boiled dumplings, are delicious and reasonably priced, and yummy desserts like red bean ice cream finish off the meal on a sweet note.

Flushing does right by its Korean population with this clean, well-stocked grocery. Especially notable for its wide selection of tasty banchan—small Korean appetizers such as pickled vegetables, spicy fish cakes and omelets—Goowha also offers plenty of raw ingredients such as fresh seafood and pre-marinated meats. For a fun refreshment, pick up a bottle of makgeolli, fizzy Korean rice wine.

If putting together an awesome Korean meal—no cooking required—is your game, then the name is Woorijip, a wonderful lunch counter and grocery located in the heart of K-Town. Here you’ll find delicious and cheap glass noodles, seafood pancakes, kimbap and a sweet selection of pastries. Eat in, then shop the small selection of packaged snacks and desserts for a pick-me-up later.

This East Village standby isn’t technically a Korean grocery store, as it stocks all manner of Asian ingredients from Japan, China and beyond. But we’d be remiss not to mention it as it carries a wide array of essential Korean ingredients: japchae noodles, lotus root, chives, mandoo wrappers, pancake mix and so much more. For dessert, pick up some packaged gummy candies and Samanco, a frozen fish-shaped cookie filled with ice cream and chocolate syrup.