Business & Tech

Yamadora: A Bright, New Flavor for East Haven

The Korean BBQ spot in the Trolley Square Shopping Plaza looks to build on familiar East Haven restaurant traditions while also starting a new path that is all its own.

When Jessica Kim tells people she's opened a Korean American BBQ restaurant in Connecticut she gets a few mildly surprised looks.

But when she adds that that new restaurant is in East Haven — a community well-known for its family-run Italian American eateries — the eyebrows go up even further.

"People ask me why East Haven? And I say, 'Why not,'" Kim said.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

, which sits across from the post office in a corner of the Trolley Square Shopping Plaza on Hemingway Avenue, opened its doors April 22.

The restaurant features a variety of traditional and modern Korean foods — a Japanese-inspired sushi bar to provide something that might be a bit more familiar for some customers — as well as a rather rare treat for Connecticut diners: the ability for customers to grill their own meat right at the table.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"We are the only place in Connecticut that has been approved for this type of barbeque," Kim said.

Several of Yamadora's tables are equipped with a special halogen lamp grill that is able to cook the various marinated meats the kitchen has carefully prepared for diners without creating a large amount of smoke.

"It's hot enough to cook the meat, but it's not an open flame," she said. "And this grill was designed specifically for that reason."

Once they are done grilling, customers then have a variety of side dishes and sauces to pair with their meats, to complete and round out the meal.

"And these usually have a spicy, sweet or tangy flavor," Kim said, adding that these three flavors tend to be a theme throughout Korean cooking.

"We actually love spicy food that has a lot of flavor," she said.

And just like any authentic Italian American restaurant would be remiss if it did not make it's own signature pasta sauce, Yamadora's kimchi — the hot and spicy fermented Korean cabbage dish — is homemade, too.

"People even come in to just to order it for take out," Kim said with a laugh. "They love it."

Still, the question remains: Why East Haven for a Korean BBQ? And the answer, like most of the town's long-standing Italian American eateries, comes down to family.

"Well, I practically grew up in this plaza," Kim explains.

Her mother, known affectionately as "Mrs Moon" to her regular customers, Kim said, has owned and operated on the other side of the plaza for more than 11 years.

Because of this, Kim, a Hamden resident, said she spent much of youth at the salon and around the plaza.

"So, I've kind of watched this place grow as I have grown," she said.

And so the decision to open a new Korean restaurant in the East Haven plaza — while adventurous in some ways — also had a strong familiarity and comfort level to it.

"It's a homey, family style here," Kim said.

So far, the restaurant has been doing well, drawing a lot of people from the surrounding towns, as well as New Haven.

Kim said on the weekends, Yamadora is a frequent destination for Korean students attending area universities who are looking for a little bite of home.

She added that as a local small business owner, it feels good to help attract new visitors into town.

Kim said, however, she is also excited about the opportunity to share her Korean American cooking heritage with East Haven residents, too.

"I am American, but I am also Korean American. So, I'm really happy that people are trying things out," she said.

"I just wanted to let people know what Korean food is about," Kim said. "And our food is about as authentic as you get."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here