Dae Han Oriental Market

I come here every month (more in the summer) to get my Japanese food staples and leave here in a good mood. I do have a bias since I am a fan of Asian food in general. Dae Han sells things that make me get in touch with my Japanese roots, and I happily buy them. I have absolutely nothing to compare this store to; except the bo-​dunk Asian stores in Ohio. Take this review with a grain of salt; I’m far from an expert.
The store is small, but I’m able to buy my furikake and instant miso soup here. It’s fun browsing and splurging on the extras such as Calpis water and sweet bean mochi things that they sell at the counter. Granted, I don’t go all out and actually prepare Japanese dishes using ingredients from this store. So, if your looking for Japanese produce, you would be S.O.L. The freezers are filled with scary looking stuff, so you might be able to find rare Asian ingredients here? It’s mostly Korean stuff in the freezers, and I can’t read Korean.
The cashiers are nice. I’m not sure how much business they get so I feel good about helping out their business each time I shop here. It’s a $ 10 minimum to use your credit card. This place is just a little out of the way on my way home from work, so it’s super convenient. I would probably try other places to compare prices one day.

… (I’m a fan) of their…
— thinly sliced beef brisket: marbled, fatty, beefy, yum! Always sliced slightly frozen, it’s always a breeze to make a super fast dinner with it! Wash veggies, scoop some rice, pan fry slices and serve! (with a dip of ggochujang (korean spicy red pepper paste) and dwenjang (korean soy bean paste) with sesame oil with minced garlic is delish)
— tofu! always fresh and the exp dates are well into a month from purchase date!
— prepared side dishes… the owner lady makes it herself and you can taste the homemade-​ness.
— i like their selection of korean spices, teas, snacks, and pantry staples.
Beats Hmart in my book for a good Korean mart with all the essentials you need and would want!

Their kimchi is fresh, the prices are affordable, and the little old lady (who appears to be the owner?) is always so kind!
And don’t worry if you don’t speak Korean— even though I’m Japanese-​Korean I only speak Japanese, but they spoke English and it was a breeze buying everything.
I’d give this place 6 stars if I could.

So I’ve finally made a stop in here a couple weeks ago in search of Kim Chi to make kim chi dip. Let’s just say that this store is tiny. And while it is tiny, you still can’t find anything in here!
I give this place 3 stars because it is authentic (for Koreans — even though the name says Oriental Market — another woman was in there looking for these Japanese plum things and a specific tofu and they didn’t have those either). I couldn’t tell you what package was what because it was all in Korean. Maybe the reason why I couldn’t find anything and causing me to be bias, I dunno. But… they did have fresh homemade kim chi in addition to the stuff you can get in the branded jars.
While the kim chi kicked ass, it wasn’t all that spicy and didn’t have a lot of juice to it. Kim Chi juice is essential for my dip, since I needed to blend it with cream cheese, without juice it makes the blender/​food processor very mad.
Cash only if less than $ 10. But if I had to choose I’d rather go to Chinatown or Super 88. Even that Oriental Market down by Waverly has better selections.

I must have high standards for Asian grocery stores. because I thought this one was horrible. I think there is a better one in central IL (where the city is significantly smaller than Boston). This one has no produce really (unless you count their huge Napa cabbage). It’s kind of overpriced… and you can’t find a lot of things.
Oh. and I wanted to buy their thinly sliced pork. and I found out they were almost double the price that you pay in Chicago! And it’s frozen. and only comes in big 3 lbs sizes. I asked them if they had a smaller size since it’s just me. nope, they don’t care. they just won’t do it! Plus, their English isn’t really too good. Not that it is a problem. but they aren’t particularly nice either.
Oh. and I asked them for another bag. They are so cheap that they won’t give you any. They also tried to make me pay in cash. but I noticed that if it’s more than $ 10, I can pay with credit. If you’ve been spoiled by nice Asian grocery stores, you probably will not like this place either.

A little clean Korean grocery store in the middle of Waltham. The selection is good but not quite as big as Reliable Market in Union Square. They have high quality pre-​sliced meat that you can take home to make bulgogi or use in hotpot. I think the prices are slightly higher than Reliable Market, but the fresh dumplings intrigued me although I could not find them anywhere.
As with any Asian market for the items that I could not find, I tried to ask for help but it took a few minutes for them to be able to find someone that understand English.
The parking lot is very small but there is plenty of street parking.

Dae Han has all the staples for just about any Korean or Japanese dish. For rice and bulk purchases of noodles or curry mix, you’re better off at Reliable. For homemade kimchee and dumplings, Dae Han is great.
The couple who runs the store used to run Seoul Kitchen before it became Seoul Garden (and later closed, unfortunately.)

Dae Han Oriental Market reminds me of my neighborhood Korean store from back home in Tejas (except that it’s brand spankin’ new and cleaner). The prices are a smidge higher than what you’d normally expect but if you were a box of wonderfully delectable curry that had to cross 2 oceans and a continent to get to Waltham, I’d charge $ 1.25 (at least) to spread out over a bowl of rice.
There’s a tea aisle with brown rice green tea (a staple. and rightfully so), citrus honey stuff for sick people, and chinese diet teas for fat people. I get my 5 pounder of brown rice here, some ban-​chans (korean side dishes) like seaweed salad for $ 2 (so much cheaper than a sushi restaurant or even your local grocery store). They have a mini butcher shop with fresh meats cut in ways that you can prepare traditional Korean dishes. They also carry pre-​marinated bulgogi (Korean BBQ) but it’s like $ 15 for a tub, which I think is expensive… that’s what someone told me.
There’s a limited selection of fresh ingredients (spinach, green onions, radish, etc.) and plenty of frozen items. Yummy snacks — sprimp crackers, mochi, chocolate mushrooms, pocky, onion rings…
For your seasonings and spices, you can get your crushed red peppers, your pots of hot red pepper paste, soybean/​miso paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, and other essentials for whipping up delicious things or for pouring over rice, whispering incantations, and hoping that your concoction tastes something remotely close to food from the far east. Good luck!!!