Jinmi’s Birthday Bapsang Was the Home-Cooked Meal I’d Been Missing

There’s something about birthday dinners that can feel a little bit high-stakes. After all, you only get one shot a year, so it better be good. Whether spent at home with family or out with friends all night, the pressure is on to make it count. 

Living thousands of kilometres away from my family, I usually opt for the latter. And while Vancouver’s rich culinary scene ensures that my tastebuds will be satisfied, phone calls and birthday messages from parents and grandparents also have me longing for a warm, home-cooked meal. So when I heard that Jinmi’s chef Jay was serving a Birthday Bapsang inspired by “a meal that a mother would make at home on one’s birthday,” I didn’t need much convincing. 

The Korean restaurant specializing in raw soy-sauce-marinated crabs (ganjang gejang) started out as an online business in 2020. As a self-proclaimed ganjang gejang connoisseur (there was a period in my childhood when I ate it almost daily, thanks to my grandmother’s culinary efforts), Jinmi has been my go-to spot since they opened up their brick-and-mortar store last year. Now, I was ready to try their take on the quintessential Korean birthday dish: seaweed soup (miyeok guk).

Starting at $48 per person, the Birthday Bapsang must be booked at least three days in advance  and comes with a bowl of rice, six seasonal side dishes (banchan), grilled seafood or meat and uni seaweed soup. 

In Korea, birthdays are incomplete without a bowl of iron-packed seaweed soup, traditionally reserved for birthday celebrations and recovering postpartum women. It’s a hearty dish full of love and affection—something I looked forward to with great anticipation. 

“Many of our guests choose Jinmi not only for their everyday meals, but also for celebrating special occasions,” says chef Jay (who chooses not to use his last name). “In Korea, miyeok guk is more than just a soup—it’s a symbolic dish enjoyed on birthdays to honour our mothers and reflect on the gift of life. Birthdays are precious occasions everywhere, and we wanted to express that sentiment through a warm, heartfelt bowl of miyeok guk.” 

And heartfelt it was. 

My Birthday Bapsang arrived with grilled beef short ribs (galbi), garnished with a tangy gamtae chimichurri that brightened the smoky meat. The kimchi was fresh and crisp, with just the right amount of spice, and the gat kimchi (made from mustard greens) offered a crunchy and peppery bite. The japchae—glossy sweet potato starch noodles tossed with thinly sliced vegetables and egg whites—was sweet, savoury and impossible to stop eating.

The rolled omelette (gyeran-mari) was delicately fluffy, the stir-fried zucchini (hobak bokkeum) was nutty and subtly sweet. Even the lotus root pancake (yeon-geun jeon), which I’ve never been a fan of, won me over: thin, crunchy lotus root slices sandwiching a plump shrimp, coated in flour and egg, pan-fried golden and topped with a zesty yuzu (yuja) mayonnaise.

But the real reason this meal exists—the dish that makes it a birthday meal—is the seaweed soup, loaded with generous portions of uni. Its briny depth and creamy sweetness make each spoonful linger, the kind of flavour that’s reminiscent of a tender embrace from someone who knows you well.

Jinmi means “true flavour” or “genuine taste,” a name that reflects the restaurant’s efforts to capture the natural flavour of each ingredient and the care that goes into every dish. For me, the Birthday Bapsang did just that.

Whether you’re like me and missing that home-cooked birthday meal, or you’re curious about Korean food beyond the well-known barbecue and fried chicken, Jinmi’s Birthday Bapsang is a thoughtful introduction to the nurturing heart of Korean cuisine.

We ended the meal with a light and creamy chestnut tiramisu ($12) and two pieces of yang-geng ($9), a sweet traditional jelly that was smooth and silky. But what’s still on my mind is the hearty bowl of seaweed soup that has left me longing for more. 

So much so that I’m already planning out my next birthday dinner—all giddiness, no pressure. 

782 Cambie St.
Open daily from 12 to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.
@jinmibychefj
jinmidenman.ca