Just when you thought Bergen County had too many Asian markets

Hong Kong-style whole Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Honey Barbecued Spare Ribs at 99 Ranch Market in Hackensack.

A wide variety of Dim Sum are available at another stand in the busy food court.

Editor's note: On visits in December 2019, a cashier at 99 Ranch Market charged me twice for the same item, necessitating a return trip to get a credit; and one of the employees behind the fish counter cleaned, but didn't scale, whole yellowtail snappers I purchased. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Korean supermarket chain with the folksy name of "One Arm Full of Groceries" has defined Asian food for decades.

With 6 H Marts in Bergen County alone, Han Ah Reum has had a loyal following among Korean-Americans and non-Koreans alike, despite competition from H&Y and other smaller chains.

But all that changed last week with the opening of 99 Ranch Market in Hackensack's Home Depot Shopping Center (June 2018).

The Chinese supermarket may not have as many good deals as H Mart, but the Hackensack store is simply a better Asian-food experience.

See more photos at The Sasson Report and on Instagram @victoresasson.

One of the stands in the food court of 99 Ranch Market in Hackensack.

Costco Wholesale pizza withdrawal cases are mounting in Hackensack

Now that small businesses can get delivery of orders they place online, the parking lot at the Costco Wholesale Business Center on South River Street in Hackenack usually is almost empty, as it was last Monday afternoon.

On Monday, the shuttered food court from the old Costco warehouse looked like it did in this March 15 photo. Employees said a renovated food court is expected to open in the first week of May.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

As a supplier to restaurants and pizzerias, Costco Wholesale Business Centers sell pizza boxes, but not the pies themselves.

The Business Center in Hackensack is different, however, because it's a renovated Costco warehouse with a food court that catered mainly to consumers for more than 21 years before closing last October.

When the warehouse reopened on March 15 with a new sign and a new purpose, the food court remained closed, but employees said it would reopen in a couple of weeks.

On Monday, when I stopped by for one of Costco's 18-inch veggie-combo pizzas ($9.95), the food court still was closed.

But I was assured the food court will indeed open in the first week of May.

As the opening has been delayed, I've been showing Costco pizza withdrawal symptoms.

No-pizza diet

The last slice of Costco pizza I had was more than six months ago, on Oct. 15, when the new, bigger and more crowded Costco Wholesale opened in Teterboro.

I could get only a slice of the regular cheese pizza (which is cut into two smaller slices), and, as usual, it was gooey and filling.

I went on a no-pizza, no-bread diet to lose weight more than five years ago, so I only allow myself the guilty pleasure of a couple of slices of Costco pizza once or twice a year.

The pies are pre-made, and baked in a conveyor-belt oven that can't be slowed, if you want a well-done pie -- my preference.

I usually put one or two slices in my oven at home, and crisp them up.

I saw 22-ounce jars of refrigerated Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto marked down last Monday at the Costco Wholesale Business Center, apparently because of a freeze/use by day of April 27.

The price was cut in half to $3.97.

I bought two 34.5-ounce bags of Quaker Simply Granola for about $1.85 a pound, below.

Details

Costco Wholesale Business Center, 80 S. River St., Hackensack; 201-296-3044. Food court, 201-296-3061. Call for warehouse hours. Closed Sundays.

Who thinks Costco pizza is for the birds?

A seagull enjoying a big slice of Costco Wholesale fresh baked pizza left behind by a shopper at the Hackensack warehouse store on Monday. Another bird tried to eat his lunch.

One of the things I really miss on my no-bread, no-pizza diet is the fresh baked, 18-inch pies available for only $9.95 at the food court of my Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

I love the vegetable pizza, but haven't had any for several months since enjoying one big, guilty pleasure slice back in 2012.

I'd bring the pie home and cook the heavy, drooping slices in the oven until they were crispy.

I ate the pizza slice Brooklyn-style: Pick up by the crust, fold and down the hatch.

So, on Monday, I was surprised to see a big slice on a paper plate in a shopping cart in the parking lot, and that a seagull had swooped down for an al fresco lunch. 

A smaller, darker bird also had to come to rest on the cart -- out of striking distance from the gull -- and squawked his desire to get a piece of the action. 

That didn't seem likely.

Slices of Costco pepperoni, left, and vegetable pizza.