POULSBO — Wok Teriyaki may serve up a sizable selection of mouth-watering meals, but it’s no match to the size of the greeting each customer receives upon entering the establishment from owner Kyu Cho, a petite Korean woman with a personality larger than life.

With six months under her belt at Poulsbo’s College Marketplace, and five years of previous experience running her shop in Mukilteo, Cho, 53, said she was looking for a place where her business could expand.

And expand it has.

She still commutes from Mukilteo six days a week, but said the three-hour trip is a sacrifice she’s willing to make in return for Little Norway’s thriving, diverse patrons.

“This is a really big market,” she said. “It’s worth it to come over here.”

Known in Mukilteo as the “Wok Lady” after her restaurant’s success there, Cho said Wok Teriyaki offers all natural ingredients and 100 percent soy bean oil in its dishes, and not a trace of MSG (Monosodium glutamate) can be found.

“Personally, I don’t like it so I don’t like to serve it to customers,” she said.

Open Monday through Saturday, Wok Teriyaki has accumulated a large number of community regulars, who Cho said have gotten “hooked” on what she serves.

“Everything is so delicious,” she said. “We just take the order and then we make it, so it’s really fresh. Once they try it, they love to come over here.”

Customers can expect not just a friendly welcome, but free hot green tea and fortune cookies as they await their lunch or dinner. Cho said she hopes to soon expand her business, possibly on Bainbridge Island. Someday she’d like to operate four or five restaurants under the Wok Teriyaki name.

“That’s my dream,” she said.

Cho said she’d also like to open a Christian missionary school in the area. As much as she likes Poulsbo, she said the real reason she is here is because it’s where God wanted her to be.

“I really like to come over here because it’s a really growing place,” she said.

Until then, Cho said she looks forward to meeting new customers and continuing to befriend her existing ones, customers of all economic statuses and ethnicities.

“I like Mukilteo, but since I’ve come over here, there’s more friendly people from everywhere,” she said. “I welcome the mixture of people.”