05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Food Picks: Nae:um chef's dream on a menu
(Clockwise from left) So Galbi, the main course of Episode Nine at Nae:um, Tomato Dongchimi and Chogye. PHOTOS: JOHN HENG
SINGAPORE – South Korean chef Louis Han of one-Michelin-starred Nae:um in Telok Ayer dreams of running a small guesthouse some day, in the mountains near Seoul.
So, the 35-year-old has crafted his new menu around that dream. The restaurant presents its menu as a series of themed episodes and Episode Nine, called A Hanok Prelude, presents food he would serve at that guesthouse.
Judging by the food, guests lucky enough to stay at the guesthouse are in for a treat. The menu, priced at $228 a person for six courses or $268 for eight, celebrates produce now in season. This is a well-thought-through menu, but four courses stand out.
Tomato Dongchimi comes with tomato jelly, avocado cream, spring petals and greens, slices of velvety shima-aji or striped jack, and a dollop of caviar. Sure, the caviar is luxe, bu t it is the umami-filled tomato jelly that perks me up.
Chogye, chilled chicken broth spiked with vinegar and mustard, gets something of a makeover. Gone are the noodles, replaced with pan-seared ribbons of squash. Steamed organic chicken and squash blossom stuffed with chicken mousse take centre stage, and they are delicious with the broth; tart and refreshing with konbu vinegar.
I am also bowled over by the brown butter-doenjang sauce in the diamond trevally course. It makes a case for burning butter expertly. That butterscotch vibe tempers the savouriness of the fermented soya bean paste, and it is magic with the confit fish.
So Galbi, the main course of seared short rib, is a triumph. Extravagantly marbled beef is prized, but really, some of us value flavour and chew. This course has spades of it. The beef – marinated with dallae jang, which is made with soya sauce, wild chives that are in season in spring, sugar and sesame oil – is then grilled over binchotan. Served alongside, perfectly seared maitake mushrooms and kale.
Nae:um, which opened in 2021, will close for about eight weeks in early Jun e for renovations. Squeeze in a meal there before it reopens for a new season.
Where: Nae:um, 161 Telok Ayer Street
MRT: Telok Ayer
Open: Episode Nine is available at 6, 7 and 8pm (Mondays to Saturdays); noon, 12.30 and 1pm (Saturdays), closed on Sundays
Info: Call 8830-5016 or go to
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