Everything You Should Eat at Doraville’s Super H Mart Food Court

As the largest Asian supermarket chain in the U.S. with over 97 locations in the country, going to an H Mart for international groceries is a no-brainer. It’s a treasure trove for specific ingredients and brands I can’t readily get at conventional markets, like Chinese chives for dumplings or Twin Marquis Shanghai wonton wrappers, making it worth the drive across the city to Doraville’s Super H Mart.

While it wasn’t the first in the metro area (Duluth was, joined now by Suwanee and Johns Creek), the Doraville location has been Atlanta’s darling since 2009. Its impressive food court sets it apart — a feature that’s been part of select H Marts for 30 years.

But to know one H Mart food court is far from knowing them all. Most H Marts around the country have food courts that offer different independently owned and operated stalls, which means there are exciting new discoveries to be made at every location. Do remember, trays, servingware, and flatware usually need to be returned to their specific stalls after your meal is finished. Here’s everything you need to know to avoid confusion and indecision in Doraville’s H Mart food court, and even find some inspiration for your newly acquired groceries.

Beijing House Korean Style

There can often be quite an overlap between Asian cuisines: take the tanghulu (originally Chinese, now beloved by Koreans), gimbap (often confused with Japanese sushi, especially with its increased popularity due to outlets like Trader Joe’s), mandu (like gyoza, dumplings, et al.), and tteokboki (similar to Chinese stir-fried rice cakes). This shop offers this mix of regional cuisines, and throws in lots of American Chinese classics for good measure: sesame chicken, General Tso’s chicken, orange chicken, beef or chicken with broccoli, and Mongolian beef or chicken. You’ll also find some more versions of “traditional” dishes like mapo tofu, kung pao, and Singapore noodles on the picture menu displayed above the counter. This menu includes Korean dishes, too, with descriptions — some of which are more helpful than others, such as a brisket jjambbong, a “spicy beef brisket with noodles or rice,” as opposed to “king dumplings” or “mixed seafood,” which are more vague.

All individual entrees come with white rice and Korean combo menus are also available if you look at the “specials” wall. That’s where snacks like Korean popcorn chicken, jumbo wings, and sides such as fries, fried rice, or shrimp or pork egg rolls are listed. But even easier, I prefer to grab pre-selected bento boxes, which are assembled hot and fresh throughout the day and save me from waiting or making any tough decisions!

Daejanggum Korean Cuisine

Numbered pictures are tremendously helpful at this booth for those who prefer to first eat with their eyes, and a bonus, it makes it easy to order without any familiarity with the language, as photos of Pajeon pancakes, mandu soups, noodle bowls, bibimbap, and meat and rice plates are displayed overhead.

Items numbered 1 to 18 (except for 17, which are mandu or Korean savory stuffed dumplings) are all considered entrees and come with white rice, a soup, and two sides of banchan, which are typically forms of kimchi. Four types of banchan are offered daily, but you can let them choose for you. The rest are side dish options or appetizers, including pre-rolled and packaged squid, beef, crab, and other types of gimbap (often romanized as kimbap) seaweed and rice rolls displayed at the register.

Tous le Jours Café

Don’t be fooled by its name – this “everyday” (tous le jours) bakery franchise founded in South Korea is as Asian as it is French and is now hitting its 20th year in the States. Everything is baked fresh daily and those ovens turn out unexpected flavors in appealing shapes and textures that make it extremely hard to resist touching the treats. In fact, there are signs asking customers to please refrain from squeezing the Squishmallow-soft, pillowy pastries, and reminders to use tongs and a tray even for individually wrapped items. (Handling them freehand is a cultural faux pas at Asian bakeries.)

Magic Mocha Cream and the Chestnut Mammoth Bread are a must-try. Look for red bean paste in everything from baked buns to filled doughnuts. Get loaves of cream breads or tall-pan sliced milk bread for slightly sweet sandwiches. The cakes are cream-based on light and fluffy sponge, with a more Parisian look than the fruit-and-whipped-cream cakes of Chinese bakeries. For a savory treat, try the garlic cheese croissants and kimchi croquettes.

Mochibees Mochi Donut

The 2021 grand opening of the first Mochibees in Duluth sent Atlanta’s food community into a tizzy, and over the past several years, it’s opened franchised locations in Alpharetta, Roswell, Cumming, and this booth in Doraville’s H Mart.

A modern, cheery pastel kiosk by the exit of the food court, this is essentially the “express” version of the expanding brand. They have a rotating selection of crisp-fried, rice flour mochi treats shaped like a baby’s teething ring (with much of the same QQ-chewy satisfaction). Glaze flavors include peach, churro, s’mores, and more, and you can scope out the entire selection up close before you buy, as they’re all individually packaged at this location in clear to-go single containers for $3.05 each. The price for the doughnuts decreases with larger quantities; a dozen is $32 here.

T1 Bento & Grill/T1 Hong Kong Cuisine

Come to this Malaysian-Cantonese family-owned storefront with an appetite, because the portions are enormous. Look for made-in-store thin-skinned Hong Kong-style wontons and order them in the noodle soup, but only if you can resist the call of roast duck in savory broth with springy egg noodles. The other must is their stir-fried ho fun/chow fun, which they make with fresh wide-cut rice noodles — a rarity in this city, since Thai and even Chinese restaurants typically use dry, narrower versions. Non-Cantonese dishes include dishes from Thailand like pad thai, laksa curry soup, and tom yum noodles. The use of fresh ho fun also makes a strong argument for the pad see ew at this stall.

The secret to the flavor here is that much of the menu is cooked in pork fat, a happy and natural meeting point between Southern American and Southern Chinese culture, but an important consideration for vegetarians and those whose diets restrict pork consumption.

Chicken Pelicana

Chicken Pelicana is one of the leading names in Korean fried chicken, and this stall is one of 3,000 locations worldwide. It’s all about the chicken here, which you can get fried, spicy, or as an extra crispy version of the two. All sauces cost extra (pro tip: they’ll let you get half and half if you’re feeling some FOMO since there are around eight types available.) The chicken can be coated in a Camembert white cheese powder, which is essentially Cheeto dust. Try the cups of chicken bites or “‘Ugly’ Fried Chicken Sandwiches” dressed with spicy ranch, spicy honey, white honey garlic, or truffle mayo. Wings come fried or grilled, but salads feature grilled chicken or shrimp.

Sides are similar to Western fast-food offerings: topped fries, fried okra, corn nuggets, hush puppies, onion rings, mac and cheese bites, and fried balls of cheese. But try something different like tempura shrimp or fried chicken gizzards you can wash down with lemonade in a pouch or their own Peliade fruit fountain drinks.

Yaki Yaki Waffles & Beverage

If you find yourself enchanted by the adorable fish waffle-bread hybrids all over social media, this is where you can get little ones filled with Eastern flavors (green tea or egg custard, red bean cream cheese) or Western ones (Nutella or Kit Kat). Note that these aren’t the big ones where the fish stands in for a cone, but rather, aboong ice cream is more of a sundae garnished with red bean or custard-filled fish.

Also try bingsu here, which is shaved ice typically topped with chopped fruit, sweetened condensed milk, mochi, sweet red beans and/or green tea flavors. Essentially, it’s a creamy, fruity, fuller-bodied shaved ice. Grab some walnut cookies to go with this.

They have a new savory option, too: bulgogi cheese hotteok, which are arepa-looking patties of glutinous rice flour stuffed with bulgogi and cheese.

Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast/Facebook

Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast

Despite the fact this location doesn’t sell its titular egg toast, this stall is one of the most popular in the food court for its Instagrammable and low-cost treat, the K-dog. Each fried hot dog on a stick starts at $5 (the minimum purchase amount required to pay with a credit card), and the tanghulu — juicy candied fruit on a skewer, a northern Chinese snack that’s become popular among Koreans — is even less.

Here’s where you get extra-thick cornless “corn dogs,” which are speared on a stick and then battered with a rice flour for a yeasty sweet and savory flavor. The default dog is pork; an “upgrade” to beef is $1 more. Vegetarians can opt for mozzarella only or rice cake centers, and the indecisive can wrap their dogs in cheddar or do half meat and half “mozza.” The cheese pulls are epic, so if you’re trying this for clout, you’ll want one of the mozza options.

As for the exterior, you can have diced white or sweet potatoes mixed into the batter for a starch-studded snack. The $1.50 Hot Cheetos crumb coating is a popular one. Wash it down with a slush drink.

With this primer, you can consider yourself prepared to feast on some of the best eats of the East as you prepare to throw away the world’s oldest grocery shopping advice. You’ll definitely want to shop on an empty stomach for the rewards just beyond the registers.