Korea one-o'-one: Grocery shopping

Hello sweeties !

Today I'm gonna talk about something that might seem pretty pointless but actually is a huge deal if you're living in a foreign country. And that's grocery shopping. When you're on a vacation it's obvious you eat out a lot, and that's what I did 90% of the time the last time I was in Korea. This round though, I do not have the money nor the time to eat out all the time. Also I do have my own apartment with a completely functioning kitchen so obviously, I am going to use it.

Before coming to Korea I heard a lot of other people's opinions about how cheap or how expensive it is, or how the fruits are pricey, etc. Everyone has different views on this matter, though, depending on what kind of price levels they are used to. I am from Finland, where groceries are pretty expensive, and I am writing this from my point of view.

Besides having large corporate grocery stores such as E-Mart, Homeplus & Lotte mart there's plenty of outdoor markets offering fresh products such as fish, vegetables and fruits for, sometimes, a cheaper price than in those big grocery chains. They are usually all around the neighborhood and no matter where you live or stay, you'll definitely have few of those around you within a walking distance. I have maybe three or four of those outdoor markets along the road from my home to the closest subway station. The distance is about 150 meters...so...  Besides buying groceries every now and then from those markets, I also go to Homeplus few times a month. I have yet to confirm this info true, but when I came here people kept telling me it's way cheaper there than in Lotte or E-Mart, so that's the reason I chose Homeplus. Also, later on, I realized it's the closest big grocery store anyway and the others are pretty far from my place. So I've been using Homeplus ever since. 

Now the thing about Korean fruits and vegetables being expensive is funny because while it's completely true, it's also not true at all. Last time I went shopping I bought a huge pineapple for 3,30 euros and a huge box of cherry tomatoes for 4,50e. While a tiny package of grapes right next to the tomatoes was about 6 euros. Like, you can get a shirt with that money from here. One orange costs about a 1 euro, which is pretty high price for a damn orange if you ask me, so unless there's a discount I don't even plan getting that kind of luxury. Strawberries (that actually taste delicious) are always expensive, bananas are almost always cheap. When it comes to vegetables with one euro you can get, for example,  two huge carrots, one cucumber, a pretty impressive amount of salad leaves or one zucchini. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Then you walk over to the other isle and see that one sweet pepper costs about 1.50e and just want to give up. Mostly though, for my surprise, the vegetables here are quite affordable!

I mentioned earlier that the small outdoor markets are usually cheaper when it comes to vegetables and fruits, but that also depends completely on the market, because the owners can pretty much set the prices as low or as high as they want to. Sometimes you find very good deals, sometimes you just feel like crying because the prices are so awful. (3 euros for a one apple, really though?). 

Everything that's imported and the "foreign foods" seem to be the most expensive groceries here. A regular sized Nutella is about 6 euros, Heinz ketchup or some other than Korean brand mayo is about 4 to 5 euros and even spaghetti costs more than few euros which is really rare, for me at least. The price of cheese here is so ridiculous I don't even wanna talk about it. If you're a cheese lover, I recommend bringing your own cheese with you, hahah. Small packet of mozzarella cheese can easily cost you 5 euros, so good luck with that. They have a lot of yogurts and other milk products though that are really cheap.  I used to think bread here was expensive, but that's not the case entirely, either. They don't really have that "morning toast" culture here like we do in Europe (and America?), so you might have to pay a high price for a packet of regular toast if you go to a big store, but let's not forget all those bakeries that are all over the place. Most of them have fresh bread straight from the oven every morning for only couple of euros. 

All kinds of snacks & ice cream are cheap, meat is cheap too if it happens to be on sale (at least at Homeplus they have meat on sale quite often). Eating out in Korea is like, reallly cheap, too, so sometimes, honestly, you will save more money by eating out on the street or at a restaurant than going to a grocery store and buying ingredients and cooking at home.

One thing I absolutely love while grocery shopping in big markets is that they have those little "taste this!" - booths all around the store. Like around every corner there's a lady cooking something or slicing fruits or offering you tiny cup of orange juice and you can just walk around trying out new things while shopping, hahah! Also something to keep in mind, some of the discounts are only valid if you have a membership card or certain type of credit card (honestly haven't paid attention on what card it is) so remember to check that or the total amount of the groceries can surprise you at the cash register ! 

In the end grocery shopping here in Korea, in my opinion, is pretty much like anywhere else in the world. You just need to find the right markets / grocery stores for your own needs with the proper price range for your taste. Korea has a lot of different places to shop at, from small convenience stores to huge markets that are open around the clock. So it's all up to you how, when, where and what do you want to shop ! 

Hope this helped and if you have any questions or suggestions for the next "Korea one-o'-one" post let me know in the comments below ~

xx,
Julia