NEW HAVEN — Glance out, Connecticut: Korean road meals has arrived.
Oh K-Dog, a rapidly-developing chain with retailers in New York City, Texas, California, Illinois, Ga and Arkansas, between other folks, has opened its to start with Connecticut outlet at 208 School St. in downtown New Haven.
The go introduced vibrant, trendy and crunchy Korean rice dogs — feel dressed-up corn pet dogs without the need of the corn — and hearty Korean egg toast to the Elm City masses.
And with promotion so far only on Instagram, it’s presently packed at instances.
“It’s definitely good!” stated Caroline Munoz, 15, a Cooperative Arts And Humanities Significant Faculty scholar who was one of a lot more than a dozen nearby superior faculty learners who independently stopped in just after university for a bite a person working day this past 7 days, after getting a couple of bites of her first rice canine ever.
Co-op Significant is instantly throughout the avenue from Oh K-Doggy, which opened previously this month in the storefront that employed to house Which Wich.
In accordance to Oh K-Dog’s website, the New Haven locale is the Texas-based chain’s 18th retail store — including 5 in New York Town. A different 14 are in the pipeline, which includes the initial stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Oklahoma.
“It was good!” said Jeffrey Morales, a college student at Eli Whitney Specialized High Faculty in Hamden.
“It’s crunchy and the dough is seriously smooth inside of,” explained Hill Regional Career Magnet university student Maria Torres after sharpening-off a potato mozza dog, which is a combination of scorching doggy and mozzarella finger on a adhere with stubby chunks of fried potato embedded around it.
“It’s great! It reminds me of New York City,” reported West Haven High College university student Sara Unne, who drove downtown with her very little brother, Shiv Unne, 13, for a potato mozza puppy after school.
Sara Unne, sitting down in a window seat a several feet from a significant-monitor Television displaying movie of Korean boy band megastars BTS and other K-Pop sensations, was the only client who mentioned she experienced ever experienced a Oh K-Pet dog in advance of. She explained she experienced been to a shop in New York.
Yale College learners Danielle and Heather, the two from New York — and equally shy about supplying their last names — were curious as they waited for their Oh K-Pet dogs.
“It looks good,” reported Heather, scoping-out 1 of her neighbor’s canines on a nearby table.
None of the folks interviewed had tried Oh K-Dog’s squid ink half-and-50 % canine.
For co-proprietor Sen Lin, 28, opening New Haven’s first Oh K-Pet retail outlet grew out of obtaining his work as a individual trainer in New York Town squashed by the coronavirus pandemic when “everything shut down” in the town.
Lin, who at age 17 immigrated with his spouse and children from Fujian, China, stated he lived in New York for 8 decades, but his complete family lived in Connecticut — and his sister, Lily Yu, owns the T-Swirl crepe cafe a few of doorways down at 198 College or university St.
So he arrived to New Haven.
Although dwelling in New York, Lin tried using Korean incredibly hot dogs, which he claimed are “really popular” in the city.
“People my age like this concept,” Lin mentioned.
So he obtained jointly with a few companions — all pals — and purchased an Oh K-Pet franchise. It took them about 8 months to get the lease negotiated, he said. He worked at his sister’s crepe cafe while he waited, he reported.
Oh K-Puppy, which has 10 staff so much, is his to start with restaurant.
“I see a great deal of prospective in this town,” Lin said.
Oh K-Pet dog is the fourth Korean-impressed restaurant in downtown New Haven, becoming a member of longtime whole-assistance Korean restaurant Seoul Restaurant & Bar at 343 Crown St. Bonchon, which specializes in Korean fried chicken and “comfort food” a handful of doors down at at 170 Faculty St. and bb.q Hen, which also specializes in Korean fried rooster, at 56 Whitney Ave.
For the uninitiated, Oh K-Pet functions a wide variety of sizzling canine on a adhere, such as a vintage scorching doggy, a rice cake doggy, a high quality beef puppy, a mozza pet, a cheddar puppy, a mozza cheddar pet, the aforementioned squid ink canine and a number of versions including nubs of potato or sweet potato — kind of like getting your fries embedded right on the dog.
A selection of sauces are in a rack on a desk at the much end of the restaurant to be squirted and swirled on, like mustard (both yellow and honey mustard), ketchup, chili scorching sauce, sweet chili, and cheese mustard.
Oh K-Puppy also capabilities many versions of egg toast — which includes avocado, ham and cheese, bacon and cheese, and teriyaki — as effectively as tteokbokki, a dish mixing rick cakes with Korean chili paste. It also capabilities Korean snack food, four flavors of slush and a number of flavors of Korean flavored milk, including banana and strawberry.
Since opening, Lin reported he has discovered some difficulties linked to the reality that there is no community supply for some of the Korean elements he wants. So it is possible that Oh K-Canine may tweak the menu at some issue, he claimed.
Lin also was amazed when his first posts on Instagram drew far more consideration than he predicted.
“People started coming all at when,” he said. In reality, “we bought way too busy” in people 1st times, with lines occasionally forming from the time they opened at 11 a.m. until the time they shut at 10 p.m.
So far, about 90 % of the consumers have been non-Asian, Lin stated.
“The initially 7 days, we have been stunned!” he reported. “We didn’t have the time to go to the bathroom, even.”
Items have considering that settled down as the workforce strike their strides.
“I’m really blessed” to have “this type of chance,” Lin claimed.
