

Foodie Experiences
Burnaby's dinner-only Korean kitchen where the chef greets you tableside and the soy-marinated crab requires both hands and no apologies.
Na-Re is small, dinner-only, and doing something quietly extraordinary in Burnaby. The reason is ganjang-gejang: raw crab marinated in soy until the meat turns silky and sweet, a dish so rarely done well in Metro Vancouver that people cross bridges for it. You crack the shells with your fingers and scoop the roe over warm rice, and the mess that follows is not incidental but rather the whole point. Laughing about it is free. Beyond the crab there is beef tartare, Andong-style braised chicken, and a chef who often appears from the kitchen to make sure you're happy, giving the evening a personal warmth that mood lighting cannot replicate. Rated 4.4 to 4.6, dinner only, closed Tuesdays. Plan accordingly, call ahead, and arrive hungry enough to earn the crab.