Korea 2019| Lotte Mart Seoul Station

Okay, this is funny. Like, idk where to fit this topic into and I really want to talk about it because it's a little bit interesting so I just made a separate posting about it. However, it's not a long one, I'll just put out things that you may want to keep in mind before going there. Weeeeee.

Lotte Mart (Seoul Station)

04509  426, Cheongpa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul  

Line 1 or Line 4, Exit 1

The train ride was very convenient because it's very close by but it can be a bit difficult if you buy too many things or have to carry heavy bags. It's always great to get an idea of how to depart this mart before coming here. If you've been to Bangkok's Big C or Japan's Jusco, you can apply those experiences to your shopping experiences here too.

There are also department stores and other brands available here such as Muji and Uniqlo. If you want to go shopping, it's best to do it before groceries or snack shopping because you really can't bring around heavy bags or boxes to shop. It's not enjoyable.

As we walked in, they had a lot of drugstore makeup and skincare products on the right. If you just want to go grocery/snack shopping right away, you can get a trolley immediately when you get in. You will also need to release the chain with a KRW500 coin (or KRW100, I can't remember).

This place gives me a strong Okinawa Jusco vibe though. It felt like I was there again but Lotte Mart is a lot brighter.

This place has a few floors and I've only managed to visit a small part of this floor, which is the second floor (groceries, snacks, cosmetics and daily essentials). The next floor consists of home appliances, homeware, sportswear, stationery, clothes, convenience facilities, MUJI & Uniqlo. (Source)

Please take note that:

1. You should bring your own recycle bags if you don't think you will buy a lot. However, if you want to shop in the mall before going to the mart, it's wiser to bring your own shopping/recycle bags. If you plan to buy a lot of stuff from the mart, don't worry because they provide boxes, tapes and strings. You will need to carry by hand on the train so please be mindful of this.
2. They do provide immediate tax refund service at the cashier counters during the payment but you must remember to bring your own passport.

Upon walking into the groceries section, you will be overwhelmed by a lot of products and price tags. Everything here looked so special and different from what we can get in Malaysia.

I would say that the prices are pretty affordable for most of the snacks here (note: not the cheapest, but affordable). I grabbed two of these as one of the souvenirs that I bought for my colleagues and friends.

Tips: If you want to buy chips or similar snacks that are like an air-packet snack, Daiso may be selling it way cheaper, so it's best to drop by Daiso first.

Also, some of the things have a funny name, like this 'fresh cream pie'. If you don't get the reference, hahaaa please stay that way, I'm serious.  I bought one though but I don't really like the mushy texture. I prefer crunchy food. There was also this Japanese garlic bread spread which I saw appearing quite often on Arisa Chow's IG stories, so I went to buy it. It was pretty expensive but I was up to try it.

I tried it the moment I reached home. It's decent. Doesn't smell as fragrant as butter bars and it's not as sweet as I'd like it to be so I would sprinkle some sugar on top to make it a little bit sweeter.

I've also bought these snacks along with me during my visit:

Banana chips: do not recommend

Sesame honey chips: pretty okay, not to sweet.

Seaweed: this is the cheapest but it has nuts.

I dislike nuts.

There was also a wet food section which contains raw meat, Kimchi and other Korean household side dishes. Usually, if you're in Korea for a short while, you won't need to explore this site but it can be somewhat eye-opening to see how local Koreans shop in their grocery shops.

By the way, if you think you can get pickled radish here, well, it's not. We had a hard time accepting the fact that the whole mart does not sell either white or yellow pickled radish!!! However, we got it from a convenience store near our Airbnb so it was fine.

I would say that the most important section to explore around is the instant noodle section. Seriously, the amount of variety is so crazy! You can find so many types of instant noodle that are usually hard to find in Malaysia, even in Mix store.

I bought this and I actually like how it tastes. It's sweet with a little spicy. But I kinda don't like the idea to put it into cold water after cooking it since it may be harder for the stomach to digest the noodle.

This udon is pretty decent and I do recommend it.

But it only comes in a packet of 3... so......

That's pretty much all of it. Places like this require you to be there physically so it's best that I leave it to you to experience it. Sorry that I didn't take enough pictures though. I didn't have a good mood and it was a little hard for me especially after all the walking that I'm not used to.

That's all for this post!

Do check out my other posts!

You may find them helpful :D

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