Bobadochi — Restaurant in Salem

We had heard of this place opening recently through social media and the paper, and figured because we like Korean Dogs, we'd go give them a try!

FOREWARNING - this is a long review for a reason!

We got there about 10:30 - a half an hour after their listed opening time. First and foremost, when we entered, the atmosphere kind of screamed chaotic from several groups of customers waiting on the other side of the donut case. The interior is fairly narrow and doesn't make for a great seating or standing experience. Secondly? Zero instructions on how to get the donuts. My significant other and I only knew what to do from the woman in front of us - grab a pair of tongs from a holder, grab a board with paper and then go into the cases.

A half an hour after opening and 3 of their standard donuts were empty - this is totally unacceptable for a new establishment. We ended up getting a candied maple bacon and a s'mores donut, along with a Passion Fruit drink and Gochujang Dog. We ended up having to wait about 20 minutes for the Gochujang Dog and drink, which I felt was a fairly long wait.

Appearance was decent for the donuts and Korean dog; taste was an entirely different and disappointing story. For all of this hype around social media, Bobadochi leaves a lot to be desired. The candied maple bacon donut was solid and a highlight! The s'mores donut simply was an overpriced double chocolate donut - the marshmallow wasn't toasted, very little graham dusting that had no actual flavor/addition, literally could not tell it was a s'mores donut. The mozzarella blend in the dog had an off-taste which did not mesh well with the breading. We've had far better from other places in the area.

This is a long-winded review because people need to understand that Bobadochi definitely has potential .. if they can work the kinks out of their service and availability of donut options. It's a niche and for a niche audience you definitely need to step it up to continue business once the limelight wears off.

We may try them again in a couple of months and update this review but until then, we definitely do not recommend Bobadochi. The hype is...

I was very excited to try this new boba spot seeing as they have something similar to Happy Lemon's puff cream topping. Husband brought home a Thai boba for me 4/25.

Immediately noticed they forgot to add the boba pearls even though he requested them. Disappointing but at least I can sample the tea. Popped in the straw and was immediately struck by the strong odor of mold. I thought, "maybe it's just me," since I can be sensitive to smells. Proceeded to give it a taste. Big mistake. It didn't just smell like mold, it tasted of mold too.

To confirm my suspicions I asked my husband to try it himself seeing as he tends to be sensitive. Nope. Immediately said, "tastes like mold." Cue horror.

I'm immunocompromised and don't need to be ingesting moldy drinks. I just hope I don't spend the evening vomiting. The boba and the donuts we also purchased are in the trash. I'm not risking eating food made by the same staff that felt comfortable serving moldy drinks.

Looks like I'll be saving my puff cream boba cravings for Happy Lemon in Bridgeport Village.

To the owner: I highly doubt serving moldy drinks was your intention. You need to find more conscientious staff that care about the products they serve. This isn't a training issue, this is common sense. The scent and flavor were unmistakable; someone chose to serve that drink to one of your customers. You can't train away that kind of callous attitude. I certainly hope you're paying your employees a living wage. If so, it shouldn't be difficult to curate a staff who holds themselves to basic standards of decency.

Tldr; moldy drink...

Today I got the lychee rose green tea and a glazed, chocolate, and strawberry donut. The lychee rose green tea was lovely and delicate, very refreshing on a warm day like today. I got it at 50% sweetness and next time I’ll do even less, it was very good. The donuts tasted good and the texture grew on me, but they’re a little spendy for what they are so I probably won’t be getting them very often. I went back this evening for my first k-dog. I ordered a regular corn dog with half cheese and half hotdog, and a lychee slushy. Both were very good and I’ll definitely be going back for more of those. The slushy was perfect- 10/10 no notes. The fry sauce was very mustard forward- hopefully they’ll have another sauce offering cuz mustard isn’t my favorite (they’ve been open for less than a week so I’m sure they’re still fine-tuning things). My son ordered the hamburger dog and I took forever to cool down, so if you’re starving or eating in-store maybe skip this one. But my son liked it and it was huge- worth the price. He also got a mango drink with brown sugar boba and of course loved it. There are a ton of drink flavors I’m dying to try and I’ll definitely be going back. I hope they’ll consider opening a location in...