Donburiya Cafe — Restaurant in Hamden

For years I keep hoping actual, homestyle Korean food will make its way out from NYC and the college towns. Korean BBQ is apparently the “advance troops” of the cuisine, because it is everywhere now. But “regular” Korean food is still hard to come by. There was a great little spot in Hamden with delicious food, but she closed down. However! Donburyia Cafe has taken over the space and opened with an impressive menu of Korean and Ramen and even an entire Kimbap section (WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!).

This is a small, casual spot. No alcohol. All food prep happens right behind the counter where you walk in. Two women were working while I was there and were dressed extremely professionally, IIMO. They had black full aprons with matching black kitchen type hats. Really good call. Between the two of them they were doing all the prep and waiting tables. I happened to show up during peak lunch time, so there were probably 5 tables worth of people (there are maybe 8 tables total??). The wait for food was not particularly long. But it also is not going to come out immediately when there are multiple people ordering because there are just two people working and this food needs to be actually prepared.

The Korean flavors I have been chasing after are Teok Bokki (English spelling varies WILDLY…) and Kimbap. Because once you’ve eaten the “contents” of your Teok Bokki you can then dip your Kimbap in the sauce.

I ordered the Teok Bokki and the special, Donburyia Kimbap (which is HUGE and has a ton of ingredients, including Teriyaki Salmon).

This is the third time I’ve had Teok Bokki in the past month. The previous two were at longstanding spots in Koreatown in NYC. This was the best of the three. No joke. This Teok Bokki was delicious, the sauce was perfectly seasoned (although not spicy) and thick and the “balance” between ingredients and sauce was perfect (i.e., it is not a stew/soup type situation - it’s a well sauced dish).

The portion size was also excellent. Big, but not too big so I couldn’t also eat my Kimbap. Full disclosure, just these two things were a lot of food. But that’s what I was looking for: a lot of DELICIOUS food!

I’m pretty sure the other Kimbap are smaller, but I decided to try the giant one on my first visit. Why not??

Delicious food. Lovely people. Not a fancy place. But I don’t need fancy. I need excellent food and chill vibe. I...

This is truly the definition of a mixed review. The food started off fantastic: I ordered the pork bulgogi, which was delicious, and my husband enjoyed his chicken katsu don just as much. Both dishes were flavorful and satisfying, and we were initially thrilled with our meals.

However, the atmosphere quickly became a distraction. The walls were covered in AI-generated art, which felt like an odd and unfortunate choice. There was so much AI imagery that it made us question whether the photos on the menu were even real, eroding our trust in what we were ordering.

Dessert was the final letdown. We both ordered cheesecake, only to receive slices that were rock-solid, straight from the freezer. We had to chip away at them with our spoons, which is definitely not how cheesecake should be enjoyed.

Overall, the mistakes we experienced felt easily avoidable, which only made them more disappointing. Donburiya Cafe has the potential for a great dining experience, but the execution fell short in some...

On our recent visit to Donburiya Cafe, we experienced excellent food and service that met our high standards. Being from LA and my partner from NYC, we have been searching for quality ramen in Connecticut, and Donburiya Cafe delivered just that.

We started with a buy-one-get-one offer on peach and milk tea boba. For our main courses, we chose the tonkotsu ramen, chasu udon, and unagi kimbap. Each bowl of noodles came with four large slices of meat, which was quite generous, and the noodles were perfectly bouncy throughout our meal. The service was outstanding, which is not easy to find in Connecticut. We arrived 30 minutes before closing, yet the staff greeted us with friendly smiles and provided excellent service. They asked if we preferred our water cold or hot, a thoughtful touch that we appreciated.

Donburiya Cafe has become our go-to spot for ramen, thanks to their delicious food and attentive service. We are looking forward to...