With its umami-rich jangs, zingy fermented greens and widespread affinity for seasonal produce, it was solely a matter of time earlier than Korean delicacies had its second within the worldwide highlight. Whereas diners have lengthy lauded Korea for its contribution to the world of barbecued meats, rising numbers of cooks across the globe are discovering contemporary methods to refocus the nation’s unbelievable elements and traditions by means of a contemporary lens.
Meet 9 of the prime gamers elevating Korean delicacies in our information – then discover much more culinary inspiration on 50 Greatest Discovery
Atomix, New York
104 E thirtieth St, New York, NY 10016
atomixnyc.com
@atomixnyc
The follow-up effort to informal, minimalist Atoboy, this stylish tasting menu boîte claims the basement of a Manhattan townhouse and is the brainchild of chef Junghyun ‘JP’ and spouse Ellia Park. On the bottom flooring, friends cross by means of a lounge the place the crew presents a shorter nine-course meals and beverage tasting menu for $270 USD, earlier than descending one degree down into a contemporary, minimalist room outfitted with a horseshoe-shaped black marble counter.
Every night, 14 friends per seating embark on a 14-course, $395 USD tasting menu rooted in modern Korean delicacies accented with international inspiration. Distinctive approaches to highlighting fermentation type a standard thread all through the menu; there’s a kohlrabi course wherein the vegetable is coated in a salt and nuruk shell and aged for 3 days earlier than baking, whereas roasted butterfish is blanketed in a sauce constituted of white kimchi and heavy cream. Atomix’s international ascent has been such that it was lately voted into the highest ten of The World’s 50 Greatest Eating places.
Picture: Evan Sung
Komah, São Paulo
R. Cônego Vicente Miguel Marino 378, Barra Funda, São Paulo 01135-020
komahrestaurante.com.br
@komahrestaurante
Whereas São Paulo may not be finest identified for Korean delicacies, there’s one restaurant that’s not solely placing it on the map for locals, however drawing in diners from around the globe. Having clocked in hours at globally famend eateries like D.O.M., chef Daniel Park helms the informal 50-seat Komah with its five-course, R $115 jang-forward invoice of fare, which embraces basic Korean ferments corresponding to ganjang (soy sauce), doenjang (fermented soybean paste) and gochujang (fermented chili paste). With an à la carte menu additionally obtainable, anticipate finding international influences all through the flavour-forward dishes, like within the kimchi bokumbap. A dish historically constituted of fried rice and kimchi served with an omelette, on this case the cooks prep the rice as if it have been paella and make a custardy omelette utilizing the French strategy of baveuse.
Picture: Juliana Corsi
Koan, Copenhagen
Langeliniekaj 5, 2100 Copenhagen
koancph.dk
@koancph
“For the previous seven years, curiosity about my beginning nation, South Korea, has grown stronger,” asserts Kristian Baumann, whose want to discover his roots has manifested in freshly minted Koan, Copenhagen’s solely Korean tasting menu hang-out. Impressed by his personal deep dive into Korean tradition and traditions, the previous government chef of the town’s acclaimed 108 – a sister restaurant to globally-renowned Noma – launched Koan as a pop-up previous to touchdown its present brick-and-mortar area inside a historic waterfront constructing at Langeliniekaj port.
Baumann is wedded to conventional Korean flavours and strategies formed with seasonal Nordic elements and a minimalist eye. 23 friends per night embark on his refined, 17-course tasting menu priced at 2500 DKK, with dishes like rice flake-encrusted langoustine with salted inexperienced strawberry and a sauce constituted of makgeolli (alcoholic fermented rice wine), and kohlrabi plus white kimchi laced with elderflower oil and wasabi flowers.
Picture: Neve Qaraday
Meta, Singapore
1 Keong Saik Rd., Singapore 089109
metarestaurant.sg
@metasingapore
Korean-born chef Solar Kim is on the helm of Meta – brief for metamorphosis – the place he unites previous learnings about Japanese delicacies (beneath Australian-Japanese chef Tetsuya Wakuda) along with his personal heritage. Kim’s minimalist dishes echo Japanese simplicity, mirrored in his clear and trendy 30-seat eating room, however his actual purpose is to carry Korean delicacies from the previous to the longer term. At Meta, fermentation and flavour are the core of his seven-course, $298 SGD tasting menu, which highlights Kim’s twist on conventional Korean dishes, like fortifying miyeok-guk, a standard seaweed soup, with scallop instead of beef, and serving kimchi constituted of kale.
After being named American Categorical One To Watch at Asia’s 50 Greatest Eating places in 2021, Meta graduated to the total Asia rating and now sits at No.17 within the continent’s culinary hierarchy.
Bōm, New York
17 W nineteenth St, New York, NY 10011
bom-nyc.com
@bom_nyc
Manhattan’s latest tasting menu engagement takes form as 18-seat Bōm, the beef-based, Korean ingredient-laced dinner expertise housed inside chef Brian Kim and managing companion Maximilian Soh’s Michelin-starred Oiji Mi – itself a barely extra unbuttoned but elegant set-menu Korean eatery. Stroll by means of the eating room and behind a closed door sits a spacious U-shaped counter inlaid with gas-fuelled grills; on the centre you will see a gaggle of cooks quietly and methodically constructing compact bowls of chojang-cured sea bream atop a tangle of gamtae (seaweed) noodles, and positioning caviar on dry aged sirloin.
Providing Kim’s trendy perspective on basic Korean delicacies, the 12-course, $325 USD menu spans lighter to heavier dishes, with a collection of 4 plates all devoted to beef. One preparation entails getting old tenderloin in nuruk, a wheat-and rice-based starter tradition used to provide Korean alcoholic drinks corresponding to soju; one other entails diced wagyu galbi atop aged kimchi and steamed white rice.
Hansik Goo, Hong Kong
1/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
hansikgoo.hk
@hansikgoo
One in every of Seoul’s most famous culinary innovators, chef Mingoo Kang of Mingles took a danger by increasing past his residence nation in the course of the pandemic to launch his inaugural abroad enterprise in Hong Kong, Hansik Goo. Whereas Mingles excels at a technique-driven, trendy method to Korean delicacies, 60-seat Hansik Goo as an alternative focuses on “authenticity and traditionalism” by way of a seasonal nine-course menu priced at $1398 HKD.
The chef notes that right here “flavours are easy and served with minimal presentation”, like a dish served earlier this yr: a play on tteokuk, a standard rice cake soup believed to carry luck, studded with beef and beef tendon-stuffed dumplings. However as a contemporary season rolls in, the newest menu iteration highlights Korean spring greens, so anticipate finding produce like dureup (angelica tree shoots), sugar snap peas, and imported Daejeo tomatoes woven right into a starter referred to as Spring Bites.
Nae:Um, Singapore
161 Telok Ayer St, Singapore 068615
naeum.sg
@naeum.sg
With its blonde wooden and cream-coloured backdrop, Singapore’s Nae:Um – the two-year-old restaurant that Korean-born chef Louis Han debuted in the course of the pandemic – welcomes diners to its residence eating room-inspired, 28-seat area. Providing what Han describes as “modern Seoul delicacies targeted on Korean flavours formed with French method”, the chef serves “episodic” menus that rotate roughly each six months. These nostalgic meals derive inspiration from Han’s experiences rising up, and he places his reminiscences on the plate, bringing them to life by means of the season’s finest elements.
Previous menus centre round visiting the mountains of southern Seoul and a street journey to the East Sea, however his present provide strives to inform the story of the out of doors barbecues he as soon as hosted for buddies as a younger cook dinner. On the plate that manifests as a six or eight-course feast priced at $198 SGD and $258 SGD respectively, with binchotan-grilled wagyu tenderloin beside pickled candy potato leaf, and black barbecued pork ribs served with black truffle-anointed multi-grain rice. Fermented elements are a staple of any basic Korean barbecue, so Han provides his signature kimchi to a somyeon (chilly noodle) dish, served alongside a lime and plum chung fizz, a fermented drink generally made in Korean households.
Benu, San Francisco
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94105
benusf.com
@benu_sf
Probably the most impressed and scrumptious menus within the US, Korean-American chef Corey Lee helms three-Michelin-starred, former World’s 50 Bester Benu, the Bay Space’s fine-dining fixture that weaves Asian flavours with French method. Right here, one will word a selected concentrate on Korean elements, like dried anchovies and salted shrimp, alongside conventional Korean practices together with meat braised in pear and preserved persimmons.
The 14-course, $375 USD menu is “targeted on the pursuit of discovering new flavours and [ingredient] combos”, explains Lee, like making a non-delicate pairing for caviar, which finally led to matching the posh roe with an surprising ingredient: chilli oil. The chef provides that his plates “virtually at all times have a reference to one thing conventional”, like his standout lobster coral xiao lengthy bao: plump soup dumpling so stuffed with lobster meat and consommé that they resemble small, crimped water balloons, barely held collectively by the paper-thin pores and skin.
Jung Sung, Sydney
Stage 3/2-10 Kensington St, Chippendale, Sydney, NSW 2008
jungsung.com.au
@jungsungrestaurant
Home-made ferments are on the coronary heart of Sydney’s Jung Sung, the two-year-old modern Aussie-Korean hybrid from chef Insup Kim overlooking the Internal West skyline. Inside its grey-hued, 32-seat eating room, vibrant plates laced with house-pressed sesame oil and Australian soybean-based gochujang pop with flavour.
“Most inspiration comes from my childhood reminiscences in Korea,” explains Kim, referencing dishes like his tackle bibimbap made with two-day soy-marinated Moreton Bay bugs, puffed quinoa and buckwheat, plus poached eggs and micro-chives blanketed in steamed rice seasoned with extra soy sauce, butter and seaweed.
Picture: Jiwon Kim
Use our metropolis guides and seek the advice of the 50 Greatest Discovery gastronomic search engine for hundreds extra restaurant and bar suggestions the world over. Begin planning your subsequent journey at this time…