Attention fans of Korean cuisine—and convenient delivery—in Foster City: OLHSO Korean BBQ & Seafood launched its delivery service in the city in late May. The plan? Using robotic kitchens, it will offer gourmet Korean dishes prepared fresh on the way to the customer, with an emphasis on precision and consistency (Olhso means “that’s right”).
With typical delivery services, “for orders that you have delivered, the driver still takes 20 minutes to pick up the food and bring it to you. Then when you receive it, it is not of optimal quality,” says Charles Kim, chief operating officer of OLHSO’s parent company Shin Starr Presents, describing the problem the company wants to solve. “When an order is sent to one of our delivery trucks, it determines the distance and time it takes to get to the customer. On the way to the customer, the food is cooked, so the customer receives fresh and hot quality food time and time again.”
Headquartered in South Korea, Shin Starr Presents was founded in 2019 by Kish and Jay Shin (not brothers, just friends, Kim noted) as a food tech company focused on designing and manufacturing automated cooking equipment. The company developed a machine called Auto-Wok that can make “any stir-fry recipe,” Kim said.
The company currently has two food trucks that deliver exclusively to Foster City. “We did a lot of research to find the optimal location,” he said. “We thought Foster City … would be the perfect pilot location for us.”
The city was chosen because of its demographics and manageable size (the trucks can reach most locations in about 15 minutes), and the size of the terrain made it suitable for the enormous trucks.
“We can operate within this radius initially,” Kim said. “Our plan is to expand once we feel safer and more stable.”
Although much of the process is automated, there are still some people involved in OLHSO’s food trucks. At an off-site location, kitchen staff prepares all of the ingredients for each meal. Meals are stored in individual steel containers that are loaded into the trucks’ automated refrigeration units. When an order is placed, it is shipped to one of the two trucks.
“The robot then grabs the appropriate container from the cooling unit, hands it over to another robot, which takes it to one of the four auto-woks, transfers the contents of the container – the ingredients – into the auto-wok, and then cooks it,” Kim explained. “At the same time, another robot takes an empty bowl and places it in front of the auto-wok so that the food can be transferred once it is cooked.”
Time and distance are calculated depending on the location and upon arrival the (human) driver hands over the food to the customer.
“After the Auto Wok cooks a meal, it goes into self-cleaning mode,” Kim added.
The system is powered by a generator, the auto-woks are electric and cook via induction.
“The reason our Auto-Wok is completely induction based is because we can control the temperature more precisely and accurately,” he said.
OLHSO currently offers four menus to choose from: the Wagyu Galbi Menu (boneless Wagyu ribs in a sweet soy glaze with vegetables); the OLHSO Dak Galbi Menu (fried chicken in a spicy gochujang sauce served with rice cakes and vegetables); the Seoul Food Menu (fried kimchi, pork belly, shrimp and traditional Korean soybean paste); and a vegetarian option, the Japchae Menu (glass noodles, mushrooms and vegetables stir-fried in a sweet and savory “secret sauce”).
Kim said his personal favorite is the chicken dish as he is a big fan of the rice cakes, but added that the short ribs are also a popular choice, not least because of the delicious vegetables that come with it.
“We have a lot of different vegetables – Brussels sprouts, lotus roots, spring onions – that aren’t normally included in a short rib dish,” he said.
The meat dishes cost $45-55 and serve two to three people, while the vegetarian japchae serves one to two people and costs $25. All dishes are served with Korean rice, kimchi, seaweed and pickles, and the spiciness can be customized.
Chef Sungil Han is OLHSO’s culinary director and something of a celebrity in South Korea, Kim said. He owns and operates four brands across the country with multiple stores. The robotic kitchens ensure his recipes are cooked exactly as intended, the company’s website says.
The company has been working on its plan for some time.
“From concept to launch, it took us a good four years,” Kim said. After developing the system that can operate under cook-en-route conditions, “the biggest challenge was getting the certification for hygiene and safety for this particular concept,” Kim said. “There is no exact code or standard for this type of operation because it is so new; getting the approval was quite challenging.”
The company had anticipated this challenge, however, and Kim said the San Mateo County Health Department and other government agencies involved were there to help and advise, even if they were initially a little confused by the concept.
All orders must be placed through OLHSO’s app, and customers can find a link to it on OLHSO’s website. Kim said the company does not charge delivery or service fees (but customers can tip drivers if they want).
You don’t have to be a Foster City resident to order from OLHSO – their trucks deliver to any location within city limits.
“You can be at a park or at CVS and just put in that delivery address to order the food and the truck will go right to that location,” Kim said. (The company also hosts private events and catering in the Bay Area.)
Soon, downtown San Mateo will be home to a more traditional venture – a permanent OLHSO restaurant with a more extensive menu of seafood and grilled dishes, also helmed by Chef Han.
Kim acknowledged that there are other companies trying to use the automated mobile kitchen model, and that some have tried and failed (remember Zume Pizza?). He said OLHSO stands out for its commitment to gourmet quality and cutting-edge technology.
“Everyone is intrigued and interested in the concepts,” Kim said. “Ultimately, the novelty wears off and it’s the food that brings customers back.”
OLHSInstagram: @olhsotruck. Open daily from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to 9pm
