Nui

Nui’s gomtang arrives in a clear pork broth with rice and barley already warmed in the stock, the old toryeom habit, plus thin picnic shoulder and a thread of chive oil. Kimchi and chili shrimp paste sit on the side so you decide how much heat the bowl gets. Chef-owner Jae Hwang (J.J. Hwang) opened the 29-seat Main Street room in March 2025, in the old Autostrada Osteria space in Riley Park, with co-chef Kyle McIntosh. The name points to an older Korean word for mother or older sister. Hwang told the Vancouver Sun he cooks the way his mother did at home, without blasting the food with red chile. He came up at Maenam, Wildebeest, Bufala, and Aritzia’s A-OK Commissary, then learned butchery at Pete’s Meat.

The short menu keeps that same quiet register. Seafood jeon cracks on both sides and lands under herbs and grated nut. Tofu egg jjim reads closer to chawanmushi, with ikura and chili oil. Pork jowl sooyuk, seafood and galbi rice bowls, and a sweet-potato crisp over vanilla ice cream round out the list. Vancouver Magazine gave Nui Best Korean silver in 2026; Air Canada enRoute put it on the Canada’s Best New Restaurants finalist slate the same year. Book on OpenTable. The wood-and-steel room fills early, and the stools are snug.

Regulars send people for the gomtang on rainy nights and for the seafood jeon when they want something crispy to share. Rice bowls get ordered on second visits. The broth reads light and clean; diners who want a heavier, redder Korean soup sometimes say so. The room is small and the seats are tight, and the check sits above strip-mall soup houses even when the food feels everyday. Tabletop barbecue still lives on North Road and at Hanwoori; Zoomak holds the tavern night.