Just ahead of the end of 2024, a new Korean-Japanese fusion restaurant quietly welcomed its first guests in Vancouver's West End, marking a new chapter for the second-storey space that had been the longtime home of a popular sushi and Japanese tapas "lounge."
Banju is located at 827 Bute St, steps from Robson and on the upper level, and soft-opened in mid-November 2024.
Its predecessor at the location was Ebisu, which had been there since 2006 until its most recent owners closed the restaurant permanently in mid-September.
Banju comes from the originators of Oak Street's Joon's Kitchen, which changed hands in November 2023. At the time, Chef Joon said they'd hoped to find a new location.
According to the restaurant's listing on Google, "Banju is a contemporary fusion restaurant that artfully blends the essence of Korean cuisine with Japanese influences." Highlights of the new venture include a raw bar featuring "fresh sushi and oysters."
The menu, as posted to ordering platform Toast, shows that in addition to the sushi and raw bar, Banju serves lunch sets featuring omurice (an omelette over rice with sauce) and Japanese-style Hamburg steak, as well as sets based on congee or sushi mains.
For dinner, Banju offers everything from Korean seafood pancakes to noodle dishes like udon with kimchi or spicy seafood pasta. The new fusion spot has several small plates, ranging from Korean rice cakes (tteokbokki) to izakaya-style dishes like corn fritters or chicken karaage. They're also doing several kinds of rice bowls, whether it's hot stone with duck or Japanese don.
From the raw bar, there's pressed sushi, cut and hand rolls, nigiri pieces, and sashimi, too.
Banju is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
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