Keumsan Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

Just opened recently. Authentic korean cuisine with modern take. It's interesting that they use individual pressure pots with induction cooktops. The rice tasted amazing and was the highlight of the meal for me (in a good way). The texture and consistency of the rice was so good.

Soup was also great. The broth tasted like it was a real broth, and not just MSG instant soup. Side dishes were fine. Price was market competitive for this neighborhood. Great addition to the food scene at Marpole.

Some suggestions: Bring out the banchai side dishes immediately after the order. This gives the customer something to snack on, so they don't feel bored waiting for the rice to cook. Keep the soft boiled eggs in the fridge or sous vide water tank, so that they come out either noticeably cold or warm. They came out room temperature, which, I know should be fine since they're pasteurized during the sous vide process, but it still kinda makes me feel nervous since I'm not used to breaking a room temperature soft boiled egg into soup. Use a mini bamboo rice paddle to scoop out the rice. The bamboo adds a nice additional fragrance, and it would be more tactile and nicer to use to scrape the rice bits, rather than using metal spoon. It would be nice to have fresh veggie lettuce wrap accompaniment with the bbq meat.

Good luck! Wish you much success and prosperity with your...

Weird the restaurant doesn’t have a phone number. It is not a good system. I suggest using OpenTable or Google Reservations instead of taking 2+ days to email back customers about booking a table. It's way more efficient to use those tools, so customers know which time and days are available. Eventhough OpenTable charges the restaurant to use their system, I think it's worth it and won't do you any damage to your sales since it seemed like there are often long line-ups here.

Or let everyone know it's walk-in only. That way, your inbox won't get bombed with booking questions. Just like how Nui on Main st started, they accepted walk-ins only. You only begin to accept bookings after a month has passed.

Judging from the recent reviews, seems like you got problems managing the line. I have another suggestion that was inspired from Japan. You could take orders from the first 1-3 parties in the line. That way, you don't have to worry too much about the lack of menus. Buy those Korean water jugs for tables, so customers don't bother you about refilling water constantly.

I will delete the review if they change the reservation system to something easier and more fluid or when they decide to do...

I visited this restaurant a couple of days ago and I was not impressed from the onset. First, their reservation system is not efficient. In order to get a reservation, the customer is required to send an email and wait for a response. That is a very archaic way to reserve for a table, and the customer cannot make any other arrangements until they responded. Second, the staff working the front doesn’t seem to be pleasant. She also took multiple runs to clean and to set up the table. For example, taking a few napkins one time and getting utensils on the second run. A lot of people are waiting in line and she did not make any effort to make the process faster and to get the customer seated. Furthermore, the tables are often empty for a while before asking the customer to come in and be seated. They seem like they wanted to create a scene where a lot of people are waiting outside for the oncoming traffic to see as an advertisement for the restaurant. I really don’t appreciate this tactic. Overall, the food was great but the several factors I have listed above don’t make up for the service and overall experience I received at...