“Bap” means “rice,” “meal” or “food” in Korean. Bap is also Paia’s newest dining sensation on Baldwin Avenue in the former Hana Ranch Provisions building.

Half the menu at this Korean/Japanese restaurant and sushi bar is as Seoulful as it gets: Mama Kim ferments, chills and artfully stacks Korean kim chee ($5). The Dolsot Bibimbap hot-stone bowl ($20) layers steamed white rice with fresh vegetables and a glistening sunnyside-up egg set atop. Mix it all up with spicy gochujang sauce. Add a side of grilled beef, if you like.

The other menu items transport your taste buds to Tokyo. Savor fried or steamed gyoza ($10), soft-shell crab sushi and udon brimming with aromatic broth, thick rice noodles and plump shrimp tempura ($14). Sushi prices are $7 for natto, $8 for hand rolls and market price for sashimi.

“We opened on Sept. 7,” explained General Manager Joyce Kim. “We’re now serving lunch and dinner seven days a week. The family all works here.”

Bap is decidedly a mom-and-pop shop, and it’s a success story of how a Korean immigrant couple long ago landed on Maui with their children to create quite a culinary empire.

“We started off with Makawao Sushi and ran that for 17 years,” said Kim, who learned to speak English in the first grade. “So we have quite the Upcountry sushi following already. My parents are both from Korea, and my dad lived everywhere from Washington, D.C., to Oregon and Seattle. My parents came to Maui from Virginia for their second honeymoon and eventually moved here because they loved it the most out of anywhere they’d been.”

At Bap, patriarch Ben Kim rules the roost of the sushi bar while mom Jeong “Kim” Kim is maven of the hot foods in the expansive kitchen. Besides front-of-the-house duties, Joyce jumps in to help cook whenever she can.

“My dad’s brother, Woo Chang Kim, works with Mom in the Bap kitchen; my sister Bo Kim comes in here and helps; and so does my brother Alex Kim, rolling sushi and baking.”

The Kim family also owns the fairly new Hoi Hoi Hawaiian Bakery at Maui Lani Parkway in Wailuku and the even newer Hoi Hoi Patisserie in the Fairway Shops in Kaanapali, both where Joyce’s older brother, Jong-Rak Kim, is baker of the trendy high-end Korean pastries that are impossible to resist. Jong-Rak also lends a hand at Bap.

Bap has just enough dishes to keep you coming back for more. “Our menu is super small, but with the added sushi menu you can find enough to eat,” said Joyce. “I didn’t want this to be the bible of menus with, like, dish No. 57 and counting. It easily guides you to dishes you like.”

One must-try is the savory Korean pancake made with kim chee, green onion or seafood ($15 to $24). It’s snipped into manageable slices with scissors at the table. Want to try a traditional Korean summer dish intended to restore stamina and energy? Dive right into the Samgye-Tang, or ginseng-chicken soup ($22). Other highlights are La Galbi of beef short ribs with house sauce ($25) and Deji Galbi of pork ribs with spicy sauce ($22).

All fresh fish is procured from Maui Prime Fine Foods, the island’s top seafood purveyor. Only white rice is available. A liquor license is pending approval, and a grab-and-go counter with kim chee, sauces and pastry items is in the works.

“At home we all cook together. Everybody goes at it,” Joyce said. “We do random dishes. Everyone is capable. It’s fun to showcase what we do for the Paia public.”

—

BAP PAIA

>> Where: 71 Baldwin Ave.

>> Hours: 11 a.m.-10 pm. Sundays through Thursdays (till 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays)

>> Info: Call 446-3629; @bappaia on Instagram

Email Carla Tracy at carlatracy808@gmail.com.