Nabi House Korean Foods is a subdued ode to home cooking

Restaurants rarely feel like home. Yet you’d be right to think you stumbled into someone's kitchen at Nabi Kitchen House, the city’s newest Korean restaurant, joining a busy lineup of new spots, including Jeju and Nui.

Situated in the former Aleph Eatery, little has changed inside. It’s an airy space, a warm embrace as you enter. Plates are piled haphazardly in the front, while Daniel Lee’s mother, Young Mi Jeon, works in the back. I’m told the kimchi is a family recipe.

When you think of Korean food, many readers inevitably picture flame-grilled meats and deep-fried chicken smothered in bright red gochujang sauce. Meat tends to be the focus. 

But Korean food shines as a vegetable-forward cuisine. Banchan, small side dishes of vegetables, like kimchi, are prepared in numerous ways and served with meals. It’s a simple, homely and comforting reminder that vegetables are the basis of Korean food. 

Chef Lee’s cuisine can only be described as intentionally subtle. You won’t find intense flavours like gochujang red pepper paste or red pepper seasoning of gochugaru. Each dish is a delicate dance, a focus on simplicity that is rare in Korean restaurants in Vancouver.

As Lee told me, that’s a conscious decision. Competing against other, more established restaurants is a challenge. You have to stake out your own space. 

Soups feature prominently on the menu. A chicken perilla soup features heaping chunks of chicken simmering in a light perilla-infused broth. The vegetable soybean stew, loaded with firm tofu, has an intense aromatic depth that pulls you into a warm embrace and doesn’t let go. These are dishes for a chilly Vancouver day.

There is, of course, meat on the menu, but even that is done with care. 

Soy-braised pork belly is technically cooked perfectly, a soft ribbon of pork fat hanging, clutching for its life, on the moist meat. Drizzled on top is a dark, thick, reduced sweet soy sauce, infused with star anise and cinnamon. It’s rich, but balances with the meat. 

One dish sure to make hearts flutter is the royal court tteokbokki. Done in what can only be described in the style of beef bourguignon, the sauce is a dark pepper-forward umami stew. Tteokbokki are cylinder-shaped wheat cakes, usually made from rice, and an inspiring pairing that elevates the ingredient beyond just its traditional street food. The menu changes, but I’d be surprised if this ever leaves.

Home cooking means bigger portions, and Nabi doesn’t disappoint. With dishes ranging from $12 to $30, Lee has found a way to bridge affordability, quality and portion size. It’s a place you could visit often, given the small hit to your wallet. Another intentional choice by the chef.

In a city full of skyrocketing prices, Instagram-focused dishes and extravagantly ornate spaces, Chef Lee’s subdued intentionality has carved out a space in Vancouver’s Korean dining scene that feels fresh and needed. 

It’s as close to feeling at home as you’ll find.