Great Food Hall

Consumers BEWARE! Often the prices are not updated and at check-​out very likely you’ll be charged higher prices to the ones stated on the shelf, this is especially true for reduced/​discounted items. This has happened to me more than a few times (the cashier had to run to the shelf to check each time for every single discounted item causing the people in the queue to wonder what the delays could be or feeling sorry that I have to quibble over a few dollars) and Management has offered no solution or explanation for this except to say the prices have not been updated. So it’s $ 10 more here and $ 7 more there if you don’t double check, it quickly all adds up. Also another frustrating thing is that obviously some staff there are just aiming/​hoping to hook up with a «rich gweilo», my husband has commented that they’re always so keen to serve him and are quite flirty (!), whereas I’m often ignored and have to call and wait for service, guess cos I’m a Chinese female? Guess that’s why they look disappointed and disinterested when they see me… honestly this place reeks of the same desperation of late Friday nights in Wanchai. In short, this place is great if you are a white male, not great if you are female.

I love this supermarket. It’s located on the basement of the luxurious Pacific Place. It has all kind of gourmet grocery food, Asian, European… There is a heavenly wall of gourmet chocolate! Very few health food selection. At the bakery section, they only have one gluten free bread, made with corn flour and soybean flour. :(Still, I like to spend hours in these kind of gourmet supermarket. This is one of the reason why I love Hong Kong so much. They have prepared food to take away but no tables with sit down area.

This is basically a mix of Waitrose (for anyone who is missing home) and other local groceries. It has cereal (which is what I was missing in the USA) so was great to come here and see all these familiar things!

This is a great grocery store. It is not close to where I live in Sheung Wan and although I love my Fusion because it is my only option, this place is like Whole Foods and my Fusion is like Albertsons. There is no comparison really.
Another outlet in the Park-​N-​Shop labyrinth of food stores that has clearly cornered the market here in Hong Kong, this is above the Taste brand as well. Some personal high points for me: the extensive fresh sushi options available (including salmon, tuni and yellow tail sashimi), the Zambra coffee bar, the fresh made Christmas cookies from the bakery. Now I see a florist and big magazine section along with all the other bells and whistles of the wide variety of food stuffs throughout.
Located on the lower floor of Pacific Place, directly under Starbucks, you will indeed pay more for food here. But for a well made Christmas cookie, it is worth every dime to me.

This market is an Asian version of Whole Foods. I particularly like the hot food /​take-​out options. The sushi /​sashimi bar is a solid option if you’re craving Japanese. My favorite though is the salad bar. I now live in New York, where there are a ton of salad bar chains in every part of town, and I barely ever opt to pick up a salad for dinner, but the salad bar at Great is just SO GREAT. The salad bar has an extensive amount of options, and they allow you to pick 2 meats! (The chicken is quite tasty.) I can make the most extravagant salads, all for around 50 HKD. For the quality, the price can’t be beat.
During lunch, the line is ridiculously long, but the ladies at the salad bar are very fast and very efficient. You will be out of there in no time.

I realize how spoiled I’m about to sound when I make this next statement. But the one thing I miss about living in the U.S. now that I’m in Asia is the western-​style grocery stores I used to frequent (i.e. Whole Foods and Berkeley Bowl). However, the Great Food Hall is a legitimately great rendition!
First things first: open up your wallet, because you’re going to have to part with a lot of cash! Getting your hungry mitts on California butter lettuce or UK yogurt doesn’t come cheaply — someone has to pay the costs associated with import and most of it is handed down to us, the consumers.
Exploring the Great Food Hall is a lot of fun — in fact, my partner-​in-​crime and I recently came here on a Saturday evening after shopping at Pacific Place. Seriously, grocery shopping is one of my favorite hobbies! And GFH gives you a lot to work with: an extensive salad bar (you choose the toppings; they make it for you — much more sanitary that way), a dedicated cheese room replete with cheese monger, fresh maki rolls, a cold case with freshly-​prepared gourmet foods, a variety of organic selections, and freshly-​squeezed juices (try the grapefruit!).
I could go on and on but you’ll just have to go check it out yourself. But beware: once you go GFH, you can’t go back… it’s just that great.

Great definitely has the best salad bar in this area. The salad bar is pick your own ingredients and there is a fantastic range, my faves include rocket, spinach, egg, broccoli, artichokes, almond flakes, pineapple, just to name a few. Food is fresh and reasonably priced — $ 63 for a salad in admiralty is pretty good!
There is also fresh sushi/​sashimi, noodle bar, pasta and south eastern cuisine to select from.
The supermarket is imported goods and has choice of organic ingredients, including veggies and fruit. Not cheap, but good quality!

This is a long overdue review on Great… especially on its SALAD BAR. Because it is the single BEST SALAD BAR IN HONG KONG. So much that since I went there I haven’t gone back to any of the other ones I know. There are two salad box sizes (medium — 57HKD and large — 64HKD). I’ve only gone for the larger one once, and it was just too much. The best deal here is that you can pick basically anything from the salad counter… a few types of greens (including spinach and rocket) and pasta, legumes (chickpeas, beans, lentils), boiled eggs, pumpkin, tomato, selection of cheeses (usually feta, parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella), nuts and seeds, sundried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, fruit and four types of animal protein where you can choose two from (chicken, bacon, tuna and ham). After you’ve picked everything you like, you can also choose the sauce… there are so many… but I always go for olive oil. I think it’s just the perfect place for literally everyone. I’ve heard some vegetarians complaining but, honestly, there are veggie options all over the place (although the staff may need to be a little more careful and try not to mix food between bowls…).
I think a good proof of how much people like it it’s the long queues at lunch time, however it runs pretty quickly. Now that I’ve become an expert and know exactly what I’m gonna put in my salad, I don’t need to think about it for too long but be warned that the staff can be a little pushy when you have to pick your ingredients. My only complaint would probably go for the ingredients not being changed at all for months (or forever?). There is always the exact same selection in the exact same order. I’d love to see something new (new nuts, seeds or vegetables… or what about avocado?) but I guess there’s little more you can ask for at 64HKD max.
Because if there’s something I like Great for it’s the take away counters… everything else is good, or, emm great, sure, the variety is amazing but way too expensive.
What am I having for lunch tomorrow??? You guessed well!

It’s difficult to write a review about a supermarket, as one has to think of what makes a particular supermarket any better than any of the others. Well Great, is a «erm» great supermarket. It is great in its selection of imported foods, which is ideal for expats, but beware it can be quite pricey.
«Well is that all?», I hear you cry. Well, «No»! One of the best things about Great is that it has a cheese room. There is a very generous cheese counter, but this supermarket also has a dedicated cheese room. It is incredibly cold in there, mimicking the environment of a French cellar, and it stocks a great number of excellent cheeses from all around the world.
The staff behind both the cheese counter and cheese room, are incredibly knowledgeable about their products. I often find myself asking them for recommendations based on cheeses that I already like, and they have not yet missed on their recommendations.
Other little touches I like about Great include (but not limited to!) the Tai Tai Pies stand, the frequently stocked Quorn, the Triple O’s concession, just in case you need a mid-​shop burger, and the Watson’s Wines section. Bear in mind though, a couple of these concessions are «pay for at their till», not that of the main store.
As mentioned before it can be quite pricey, but occasionally you do want to treat from home, so the price can be somewhat justified.

Despite the fact that I once paid in excess of $ 60 for an avocado here… (yes, ONE avocado), I genuinely get excited about trips to Great. It’s just such a treat to shop here compared to the narrow-​aisled, low-​ceilinged supermarkets that are the general standard in Hong Kong.
I must point out that after the avocado debacle, I rarely purchase vegetables from Great. Frankly, it’s just not worth the cash when you can get the exact same produce in the exact quantities that you require in the wet market.
When it comes to fish, meat and cheese, however, Great is my best friend.
Great generally has a tank of live seafood which varies depending on the season. So far this year I’ve picked up some delicious Scottish langoustines and two extremely juicy lobsters. Call me a hypocrite, but I don’t like killing things personally so it’s a relief that the fishmonger at Great is prepared to do that for you.
The fresh fish selection always showcases the best of the catch and I really enjoyed cooking up two glossy, bright eyed Italian sea bass recently. It’s a shame that some of the scallops and prawns have been previously-​frozen… it just seems to out of place having previously frozen goods alongside such top notch fresh produce.
The meat section is also great. It’s one of the few places in Hong Kong that you can pick up pre-​packed minced lamb and the selection of beef is amazing.
Moving on to the cheese section, I’d say it’s impossible to pay it any real attention without purchasing something. There’s a room of cheeses that I can only assume are VVIP whilst the floor counter is loaded with a mind blowing array of products including my favourite cheese accompaniment — quince paste. I’ve all but given up making pudding for dinner guests now — a cheese board from Great is definitely the way forward.
There’s an in-​house Watson’s wine cellar as well as a kitchenware section that stocks everything from counter top grills to spherical ice-​cube molds.
My friends with cars assure me that the valet parking is al life saver although the taxi rank is only a couple of escalators away and suits me fine.
The prices are toppy but that’s just the way it is in Hong Kong when it comes to quality imported goods. Great is certainly not somewhere I’d do my every day shopping, but if planning a dinner party or cooking a special meal, this is the place to pick up your ingredients.

Hong Kongers are always looking for new and cool products, from electronic devices to innovative home wares. For me, I love to search for new restaurants, new bars, new food products (basically everything about food!). Not sure if this sounds weird to most of you but I love going to supermarkets. Supermarkets make me happy. Recently, I have found my new love at GREAT.
My new favourite is not an ordinary mayo but the first ever plant-​based mayo. No, you didn’t read that wrong… they really are egg-​free mayo. It literally is a vegetarian’s dream come true!
With the mission of providing healthy and affordable foods available to everyone and everywhere, Hampton Creek created Just Mayo, which contains no cholesterol, is non-​GMP, gluten-​free, dairy-​free, lactose-​free, soy-​free and kosher, offering consumers a healthy alternative to the fattening traditional mayonnaise. How awesome is this? I am a little bit crazy about mayo, especially flavored mayo, they just go so well with everything, like crackers, fries, sandwiches, hotdogs, tacos…
So, how can they make mayonnaise without egg? The secret is to replace egg with a special type of split pea. After screening 1500 plants by the R&D team at Hampton Creek, they found a Canadian yellow pea that has the same functionality as the egg in traditional mayonnaise, interesting!
There are four flavors for Just Mayo, including the original flavor, which taste exactly like the traditional mayonnaise, the Mexican chipotle flavor, the spicy Sriracha flavor and the strong garlic flavor. I especially love dipping nachos with Sriracha Mayo, simply delicious and moreish! MmmMmm …