It is the middle of the week, and dinner reservations at Nae:um are full. Diners in the 28-seater restaurant barely drink, but the decibel level within the shophouse space is palpable, and we understand why. People — mostly women — come here to see the oppa (boyfriend) of Telok Ayer, chef-owner Louis Han, who has been winning over diners with his charming smile and special brand of contemporary Seoul cuisine.
Fans will know Han from his days as the sous chef at Korean restaurant Meta — where he emerged as a finalist in the San Pellegrino Young Chef Award Southeast Asian leg — and former head chef of now-defunct Kimme, where he became a finalist for the 2019 World Gourmet Summit Rising Chef of the Year. Before his time in Singapore, he worked around the fine dining circuit in Seoul and Abu Dhabi, training in everything from the Mediterranean to Italian cuisine.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Han flew to Seoul in 2020, after being away for six years, to rediscover his roots and seek new insights and inspirations. There he worked as a sous chef for two Michelin-starred Mosu in Seoul and got married — over Zoom — to his Singapore wife (yes, ladies, he is taken).
When he could return to his adopted hometown of Singapore, Han opened Nae:um in 2021, designed as an airy and inviting space to showcase his uniquely cosmopolitan creations. Despite manpower issues and vexing dining restrictions, the restaurant still received its first Michelin star the following year and Michelin Guide’s Young Chef Award in 2022, proving just how talented Han is.
Inspired by nostalgia for his native Korea and his global sensibilities, Han’s culinary style for Nae:um goes beyond mere interpretations of Korean classics or simple renditions of regional dishes. Instead, the cuisine models itself on the culinary vibrancy of Seoul, embracing the city’s international influences in food and ingredients and its blend of old and new. The result is innovative dishes with a sense of familiarity and flavours that are nuanced and layered, new and coherent.
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Han’s menus are episodic (like a Korean TV drama) based on the seasons. In this latest Episode Five, which celebrates spring and summer, he stages a “Front Yard Barbecue”, drawing from memories of open-air garden cookouts with his family back home in Gangnam. Think refreshing cold starters, citrusy desserts and succulent seared meats.
For dinner till the end of summer, Episode Five offers a choice of a six-course Classic tasting menu at $198++ or an eight-course Signature tasting menu at $258++. The latter, which we sampled, will include re-inventions of Han’s signature duckgalbi snack, somyeon noodles dish, and kkul hotteok jujube dessert.
Kicking off the journey is a trio of snacks presented on a tray to resemble Han’s family home in Seoul, where you find traditional pottery filled with fermented kimchi, bean and chilli paste in their garden. Among the bite-sized nuggets is a refreshing striped jack tartare on a kimchi-tomato meringue, bulgogi wagyu beef in a house-made Korean crepe topped with caviar — and, my favourite — a tangy green pea creation served atop a filo pastry and garnished with citrus jelly and lemon zest.
As part of the Signature menu, diners will enjoy Han’s much-loved duckgalbi featuring juicy minced duck wrapped around a rice cake; this episodic menu is served skewer-style to coincide with the barbecue theme.
If you love cold dishes, as I do, there is plenty to enjoy, from the charred bonito tuna served with a summery bouquet of fruits, vegetables and edible flowers to the signature Korean buckwheat noodle topped with grilled Kurobuta black pork belly. The sweetness from the succulent meat to the perfect marination of the cold noodles makes this Nae:um’s best samyeon by far.
One of the dishes that left everyone floored was the dongchimi, a modern interpretation of Han’s grandmother’s cold water kimchi soup. This version is served with a confit of Obsiblue prawns, sea urchin, cured eggplant and fermented kimchi in a pool of brine from house-fermented ‘mul’ water kimchi. Han goes further to drape the dish with Hokkaido scallop silk artfully.
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Warmer dishes ensue, such as the grilled red mullet served over an addictive parsnip puree and Wagyu striploin marinated with galbi sauce. In true Korean barbecue fashion, the beef comes with a side of Korean lettuce with sliced fresh vegetables.
Rice, the staple pairing for grilled meats, finds itself in a doeji-galbi bap or pulled pork rib rice. The meat is braised overnight in a sweet and savoury marinade. The Duroc pork is then pulled from the ribs and served over fluffy multigrain rice. The dish comes complete with condiments, featuring a selection of pickles and house-made kimchi.
Han takes a leaf from a homemade fruit cocktail with a palate-cleansing melon lime punch sorbet for dessert. It comes with tiny balls of fresh honeydew, thinly sliced rock melon, aloe vera, basil oil and melon tuile. The second sweet dish is a play on Nae:um’s popular jujube dessert, kkul hotteok, now served as a jujube ice cream spooned over a warm glutinous rice pancake.
Dining at Nae:um ends just as well as it starts, with a unique array of Korean-inspired petit fours set in modern wooden boxes and served with a shot of tart goji berry kombucha. One of our favourites is the makgeolli-fermented rice cake moulded in the shape of a Madeleine and torched to give off a delicious char flavour.
The fifth episode of Nae:um continues to showcase Han’s creativity and passion for Korean gastronomy, which is a well-executed balance of technique, ingredients, plating and personal stories. As we complimented him on his current menu, he jokingly lamented: “I don’t know what to do for the next one!” We are quite certain he will blow us away yet again.
Nae:um
161 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068615
Contact:
8830 5016 | cho.pe/dineatnaeumsg
Opening hours:
Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday | 6pm - 10.30pm
Lunch: Saturday | 12pm – 2.30pm
Closed on Sundays and Mondays
