A new corn dog chain has opened in Manchester, and it’s already got punters queuing out of the front door for the new Korean-style delicacy. Bunsik opened its doors on Friday last week, and has been struggling to keep up with demand.
Queues were seen snaking out onto Piccadilly Gardens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as the small chain debuted its fried frankfurters to hungry Manucunians and legions of eager international students.
Bunsik - pronounced ‘boon-shik’ and meaning ‘street food’ in Korean - already has branches in Camden, Embankment and Leicester Square in London, with the Manchester branch being the first outside the capital. There are also plans to expand to Leeds and Birmingham soon too.
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It has been founded by Korean restaurateur Jae Cho, with the chain selling a staggering one corn dog every 20 seconds on its busiest day at its branch on Charing Cross Road.
As well as its standard signature corn dog - a chicken hot dog sausage covered in corn-based batter and deep fried - the chain also boasts the eye-catching ‘potato corn dog’, which adorns the original corn dog covered with chopped up crispy french fries.
For vegetarians, there’s also a mozzarella cheese corn dog, and for those who can’t decide, a ‘half and half’, which is half sausage, half mozzarella. It’s not just corn dogs, however, with the new menu also featuring sticky Korean fried chicken, fried chicken burgers, ddukbokki (Korean-style rice cakes in a spicy sauce), noodle dishes and Korean style sushi rolls.
Founder Jae told the Manchester Evening News: “We opened Bunsik two years ago in London, and everyone was telling me ‘Oh I wanted to open one of these!’ But no one did.
“When I was very young, seven, eight, or nine, you’d go to the market with your mum, and you’d be pestering ‘Oh mum, can I have one!’ At primary school and secondary school, you come out and have something like this after school. It’s fascinating how fast it has become so popular.
“When we opened our first branch, people started to queue, half an hour, an hour, just for the corn dogs, so we had to get rid of the rest of the menu for a while.”
An original corn dog at Bunsik will set you back £4, the potato corn dog is £5.70, while the beef corn dog is £4.90. For veggies, the ‘cheese and cheese’ - a mozzarella corn dog, which is then showered with grated cheese - is £7.60.
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A bowl ddukbokki is £8 for regular size, their fried chicken starts at £5.40, while the chicken burgers start at £7.50. A basic ramen bowl is £4.90 going up to £7.90 for a chicken katsu curry with rice.
“I came to this country 20 years ago, and I’d say I was from Korea and people would say ‘Where’s that?’ Now Korean culture is massive, there’s K-Pop, Korean barbecue, people know much more about it. I think if I’d have opened 10 years ago, it would have been nothing like this. This feels like the right timing,” Jae went on.
Two more branches are opening in London - one in Chinatown and then in Westfield in Stratford - before plans for Leeds, Birmingham and Dublin.
