Jeju, the Tofino restaurant that earned a spot on enRoute’s Canada’s Best New Restaurants list in 2022, is expanding to Vancouver. Their new location at 540 East Broadway will bring together the heart of Jeju Island and the quiet soul of British Columbia’s west coast — and, by extension, return co-owners Sung and Dylan to the city where they first met and began their hospitality careers.

The pair’s journey from Seoul to Vancouver – then Tofino, and now back to Vancouver again — has always centred on bringing family, land and food together. “The most significant gift Jeju restaurant has given us is that of connection,” says Sung. “Connection to our guests, community, team, and most importantly, to our families. From ingredients grown by my grandmother to recipes shared across generations to working shoulder-to-shoulder on the kitchen line as mother and son, with Dylan’s dad not far away.”

When Sung and Dylan opened Jeju in late 2021, it was almost by chance (a Scout ad for a lease in Tofino led them there), but the coastal setting immediately felt familiar. The mist, water and pace of life all reminded them of Jeju Island, Korea’s southernmost province. The restaurant quickly took root, earning national attention for its thoughtful reinterpretations of traditional Korean dishes made with ingredients from both the Pacific coast and Sung’s grandmother’s farm in Haenam.

With Jeju’s Vancouver opening, that original foundation continues to be built on and refined through a new lens. “Having our new kitchen and being on the mainland gives us much more freedom in our cooking methods and access to the best local ingredients,” says Dylan. “We are excited to showcase our full creativity and capabilities.” This will come through in dishes like spot prawns dressed in dill oil and orange vinaigrette; and Galbi aged 35 days and paired with house-fermented kimchi, jangajji, and pickled radish.

In conversation about the move, I pointed out that in Tofino they worked with local kelp, mushrooms, and seafood alongside ingredients from the family farm in Korea; and I wondered: what new elements specific to Vancouver have surprised or inspired them so far? “Recently, we’ve started talking with a few local farms — trying to learn what ingredients we could collaborate with and how we can grow together,” Dylan explained. “There’s so much to discover, and we plan to keep learning. Not only from local farms — Vancouver gets amazing ingredients from all over the world. As the seasons change, I want to keep learning and keep creating new ways, new dishes, and new expressions.”

As in Tofino, Dylan’s mother, Myungseok “Julie” Suh, will be an integral part of the kitchen. “I feel very lucky,” Dylan says. “People think family members know each other best — but when you actually spend a lot of time together, you realize how much you didn’t know. We argued, learned, and slowly started to understand each other. That’s family. Jeju isn’t just a restaurant; it’s a reflection of our family, full of our own colours and emotions.”

It’s easy to imagine Dylan and his mother side-by-side in the open kitchen — sometimes laughing, and arguing other times, but always in sync. “We call our diners ‘guests’, not ‘customers’ — because when someone walks into Jeju, we want them to feel like they’ve been invited into our home.”

Food & Drink

The bar program comes from a collaboration with Byungjin Lim of Seoul’s Bar Cham (ranked #6 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025). Alongside their signature Jeju cocktails, the team will introduce seasonal drinks designed to complement the food’s storytelling. As Dylan explains: “For the first rotation, we wanted to capture the mood of a Korean winter — bright citrus notes with a touch of warmth and nostalgia. Mandarin is almost iconic for this season in Korea; families buy them by the box and the scent fills living rooms all winter long, so it felt natural to start there. We’re also working with red bean, which is the heart of so many Korean winter desserts — it’s sweet but a little earthy, and it adds a rounder, more comforting depth to cocktails. We love the idea of taking these familiar flavours and bringing them into a seasonal drink experience.”

On a recent trip to Korea, Dylan, who doesn’t usually drink, was moved by Byungjin’s approach: “He’s not someone who just makes drinks. Everything he does has intention and meaning behind it. I actually can’t drink alcohol — but his cocktails were so delicious that I just kept drinking them. I knew we had to work together. The way he thinks about drinks fits well with the way we approach food.” That collaboration will show through in soju-based cocktails infused with local herbs, traditional Korean spirits like Leegangju, and the kind of narrative-driven flavour that has defined Jeju from the start.

The Space

Designed by Vancouver studio &Daughters, with construction by Must’Art, the 50-seat room balances the old and with the new. Inside, a central bar anchors the space, flanked by four-person recessed booths and a chef’s counter that pulls guests into the rhythm of the kitchen. Overhead light fixtures reference the thatched roofs of Jeju’s chogajip houses, while polished concrete floors subtly echo the ripple marks of Tofino’s Long Beach. Every detail ties back to story and place.

Significantly, the front windows are framed with Jeongnang — the three-pole gate system traditionally used on Jeju Island. “The Jeongnang symbolizes openness and trust,” says Sung. “We wanted to bring a piece of that feeling into our new space, and to express something that feels warm and familiar.” When all three poles are lowered, it signals “we’re home”. At Jeju, however, it means “we’re open.”

On my visit earlier this month, Dylan and Sung introduced me to the Jeongnang and the layers of meaning behind it. “In the old days, people used to live closely together — neighbours trusted and relied on one another,” Dylan explained. “Now it feels like people value privacy a little more. When we decided to use the Jeongnang, we wanted to bring a piece of Jeju Island’s feeling into our new space. We even created a new open sign inspired by it — partly to give our guests a small sense of discovery and fun, but also to express something that feels warm and familiar. At the same time, we wanted to bring back that old feeling of trust and connection — the kind that once existed between people. That’s a big part of our identity. It’s Jeong (정): Korea has a unique kind of love that is Jeong, a single word that exists in Korean capturing all these sentiments. It implies love, an affectionate state of mind, the invisible bond that connects us to Tofino in the same way it ties us to Jeju. These two towns we love, a mirror image of each other in uncanny ways, have taught us the invaluable lesson of cherishing family, venerating nature, and fostering a nurturing community. Now that spirit continues in Vancouver — the city where we grew up, where we hope to share that same warmth and connection in a new way.”

The Context

As we wrap up our conversation, I mention that this team has been dreaming about opening a restaurant in Vancouver for a long time, and that finding the right space must have taken some patience. Having begun their journey as restaurateurs in a small coastal town, and now preparing to open in the heart of the ‘big city’, I ask what the moment feels like. Dylan reflects: “Tofino was our first restaurant — unfamiliar, quiet, surrounded by nature, and far away from home. It was a place we had never experienced before. Now we’ve come back home, to Vancouver — familiar, but somehow not the same anymore. That makes this moment more emotional. I want to show a better version of who we are — of who I am. And because opening a restaurant in Vancouver has been my dream since I was young, I feel both nervous and incredibly grateful. It pushes me to give my best.”

Jeju’s Vancouver location is slated to open doors in Mount Pleasant later this year, in November. Stay tuned here, and to @jeju.tofino for further developments and an official opening date announcement. We can’t wait to welcome them to the neighbourhood!

OPENING CREDITS
Co-Owner and Manager: Sungeun “Sung” Kim (Manager)
Co-Owner and Executive Chef: Yunyoung “Dylan” Kim
Chef: Myungseok “Julie” Suh
Bar Program: Byungjin Lim of Bar Cham (Seoul)
Branding: Glasfurd & Walker
Design: &Daughters
Construction: Must’Art

Jeju Vancouver

Neighbourhood: Mt. Pleasant

540 East Broadway

604-260-5944

WEBSITE