Today we were at Marpole to check out a new Korean restaurant in the neighbourhood. Co-owned and operated by the already popular Sushi Bar Shu, a few shops down. This would be one of the only Korean restaurants in the neighbourhood and as a result, there was an anticipation of it being well received.
During the time of our visit, this was a sneak peak look with the restaurant, with them planning to soft open 9 days later on July 10th, 2025. Therefore the decor, drinks, and full menu were still in the works.
As is, things felt relaxed and low key in the minimal space. An equally comfortable setting to match the comfort of the cuisine. All intentionally done home-style with nothing lavish, as a love letter to the neighbourhood and his own young family. How far they have gotten was impressive considering it has only been three months since they received the keys and moved in.
A a group, we would work our way through their entire menu, family style. Starting with the Sesame Mushroom Salad with sauteed mangadak mushrooms and fresh
greens tossed in sesame-doenjang dressing. This was a nice refreshing start to whet the appetite with. There isn’t too much depth to this.
The Spicy Abalone Salad woke up your appetite with braised abalone slices over greens in a sweet, sour, and spicy dressing. I thought it was a waste of presentation flair to the cover the premium seafood in glops of sauce like this, but at least things were tasty. Tender to chew seafood with brightening acidity. This reminded me of a Korean-style lettuce wrap with protein, sauces, and jalapeño, but deconstructed and without the slices of raw garlic.
This was a unique way to offer their Korean Steak Tartare. Steak-grade striploin seasoned with soy sauce and topped with Korean pear, egg yolk, pine nuts, and grated grana padano cheese. This is traditionally served with the pear as a base and no cheese, but here they dressed it and deep fried a puck of noodles, with the consideration of the Vancouverite palate. The noodles were hard to divide and share, but a clump of was a nice crispy contrast to the soften meat, cured with salt and pepper. Together their textures were enjoyable and offered a nice modification for those who normally don’t like the meaty texture of raw and red.
I am not a fan of leafy greens as a textural issue, but appreciated how beautiful and delicate this plate of Bae-Chu Jjim (Braised Napa Cabbage) was. Butter-sous vide Napa cabbage topped with sautéed beef, sweet and sour sauce, and spicy chilli slices. I did get a taste of the tender beef that easy soaked up the umami broth. Alone, it was a little too salty and having it with the vegetables would have probably helped. I personally would have liked rice, and thankfully would get plenty of that below.
The Crispy Potato Pancakes were one of my favourite dishes and reasonably priced at under $10. Golden crispy potato pancake served with truffle dip and fresh greens. I would have liked the sauce on the side for self application. I found it overwhelming and took away from the delicate nature of its thin wafer-like texture. I would have enjoyed it as is, although am the type to order my crepes plain.
The Kalbi was a group favourite. Six pieces to an order, this is grilled beef short ribs marinated in sweet and savoury soy sauce, topped with pickled onion. You could taste the quality of the beef used. Each cut had an even amount of fat and lean meat. Marinated and prepared with a sweet salty char, the kind you lick your fingers clean of. Once again some rice would have helped to really highlight the texture of the meat, and would have been the perfect base.
The Kalbi Jjim (Braised Beef Short rib) is more like a stew. Tender soy sauce-braised beef short ribs simmered with wood
ear mushrooms, radish, carrots, and pyogo musnrooms. Topped with roasted walnuts and pine nuts. You want to make sure you order rice with this one, to be able to coat with all the umami and earthy flavours of the jus. A collection of complimentary flavours with varying textures to pick and choose your bites. This was another dish I liked and would recommend.
They focus on and will be known for their Soon Dubu stews. So if you can only get a couple of things here, let it be a variety of these.
Each stew includes soft tofu, zucchini, pyogo mushrooms, seasoned bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, scallions, and sesame oil. You have a choice between spicy or non-spicy. Either the Soybean beef broth in a murky eggshell white or the Keumsan’s spicy beef broth in a neon red. From here your choice is the main ingredient that your stew will be centred around.
Thin slices of sautéed beef, Korean beef dumplings, seafood with shrimp, mussels, and baby cuttlefish; or all cuttlefish and/or all shrimp only. The spicy cuttlefish was my favourite for its tangy gentle burn and fun to chew protein.
It all tastes the same between the two broths and your choice comes down to texture. The shrimp had you peeling shells, the dumplings offered a nice chewy mouthful, and the beef felt the most familiar, like hot pot meat.
Their House Creation Soon Dubu stews were slightly different, more robust with toppings, they did not allow substitutions in order to preserve the original, intended flavour.
Your non-spicy option is the Doen Jang, a soft tofu stew with thinly sliced sautéed beef. This broth differs from the soybean beef one above. I found it closer to the spicy beef one, but with none of the tingle or burn.
Between the two house specials I liked the Korean ARMY Soon Dubu with beef sausage, spam, cheese, and baked beans for a more homey mix of ingredients.
Each of these stews came with its own perfectly prepared soft boiled egg that you crack into the stone pot, before stirring and eating. It offered a nice gooey gumminess, but in hindsight I wished I cracked it over the side of rice we were given with each stew. This would have allowed me to be able to make it out amongst the other ingredients, and to fully appreciate its creamy custard-like texture as is.
We also got some of the traditional Korean sides with this. Pickled soy radish, kimchi, and sweet tofu. I am typically a big advocate and fan of complimentary sides, but the food was so tasty that I didn’t need to lean on any of it for breaks in between bites or of additional interest in a plate, if I found it uninspiring.
Their individual rice pots are just as good. Freshly cooked rice served in a sizzling pot with butter. For the best flavour they suggest mixing the rice with the sauce before eating, and to allow the rice to crisp up at the bottom.
Similar to the stews are their Sot Bap rice dishes. Here, you also choose your main protein and it dictates the taste and texture.
The BBQ Eel Sot Bap was most flavourful in the iconic salty and sweet eel sauce.
The grilled chicken Sot Bap was less exciting compared to the abalone and the beef was the safe pick for a delicious serving.
Each order comes with miso soup on the side. The soup was heavier and oilier side with plenty of seaweed to get your teeth around.
In closing I really enjoyed the food and found them different from other Korean restaurants out there. The dishes were refined and light, yet richly satisfying and homey. It covered all the bases and is currently the top of my Korean restaurants to recommend list. Be sure to check them out, and if you do you can take advantage of their opening promotions and my latest giveaway! Win $100 on my Instagram page, details there.
And for the month of July, to celebrate their opening on the 10th, each paying guest will receive scratch cards with the ability to win giftcards or free dishes. Prizes vary from try again up to a $100 gift card.
Keumsan Restaurant
8363 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6P 478
