Na Oh, Our Return Visit for The Summer Menu

Na Oh Restaurant

2 Bulim Ave, Level 3

Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS)

Singapore 649674

We return back to Na Oh and this time for its newly launched Summer Menu. Read our previous full review of Na Oh here where we last had their Autumn menu. The Summer menu this time round is full of what Koreans consider to be a cool relief for the hot summer days.

Our menu starts off with our entrees:

• Homemade Tofu with Aged Soy Sauce

• Mugunji and Pork Belly Jeon

• Salad of Today's Harvested Lettuces

• Hwe Muchim of Wild Summer Croacker, Fine Vegetables, Gochujang, Sesame Leaf and Rock Seaweed

The homemade tofu was the same as what we had the previous time. This time we had a pork belly jeon which was incredibly flavourful. The salad, freshly harvested from the Hyundai Smart Farm was also crisp, tender and had a beautiful burst of tang.

The Hwe Muchim came as a beautiful display of a salad and the various parts of the wild summer Croaker displayed on top. Our server then mixed it up with some gochujang table side before serving it to us with perilla leaf and seaweed on the side. The Croaker has a tender, mild, slightly sweet flavour and is firm in texture, and pairs beautifully with the tangy spicy sauce and crunch of the vegetables. It's a beautiful dish for summer.

Our drink for the night is Chungju, which is the Korean equivalent of Sake. We learnt from the team at Na Oh that in Korea, the preference is not to have an extremely polished rice grain so you get a good flavour coming through. Our Gimpo Yaeju was recommended. Coming from Gimpo, it is made of golden rice grown in Gimpo that is renowned for its high quality and distinctive flavour. The flavour profile? Soy sauce. Yes, soy sauce. Very interesting to have it on its own, but when paired with the food, was so easy to drink, aromatic and smooth.

We were a party of 4 and managed to try all the mains available:

• Gamasot Albap and White Kimchi Jigae - Golden Queen Rice, Fish Roe, Pork Neck, Spicy Pollack Muchim, Squash Blossom and Shrimp Jeon

• Pyongyang Style Cold Noodles with Beef and Dongchimi Broth, Shaved Raw Beef Loin, Marinated Quail Eggs, Cabbage Geotjeori

• Samgyetang - Young Chicken Stuffed with Glutinous Rice, Neungyi Mushrooms, Green Scallion Jang, Chonggak Kimchi (Not pictured here)

The Albap is refreshing, light and hearty and flavour packed. It had a gorgeous toasty rice bits and the fish roe was popping with every bite. On the Jinjitsang, we particularly enjoyed the rice as well as the squash blossom which was stuffed with a mixture of prawn paste.

The Pyongyang Style cold noodles was quite different from any Naengmyeon we have had before. The Pyongyang style cold noodles are primarily made from buckwheat flour and are soft, light and slightly chewy. The broth is mild, clean and refreshing and can be supplemented with the provided vinegar and mustard for an extra oomph. Served cool, it is a wonderful summer dish to refresh and cool the body. The interesting part of the history of Pyongyang noodles is that it was orginally a winter dish in North Korea when ice was available and buckwheat was harvested. But in modern day South Korea, Pyongyang noodles have become a summer staple.

The third dish is the Samgyetang. Our server brought out the whole chook before bringing it back to the kitchen to serve it up. We were told that in Korea, people often have Samgyetang with their hands and provided a hand towel should we choose to do so. Samgyetang is eaten typically during the hottest days of summer. Tradition says that you can fight heat with heat and therefore eating Samgyetang raises raises the body's temperature, induces sweating and therefore helps to balance internal energy and restore stamina lost to the heat. Here at Na Oh, our dining party enjoyed the Samgyetang in the aircon (:

We ended our meal with some Summer Melon Bingsu. The bing was light and fluffy and every spoonful we were digging in to something different, which was absolutely delightful.

Booking

The link for reservations are provided on the top of the page through Sevenrooms and reservations are open 30 days in advance at 10 am each day. I will not sugar coat this, it is not easy to book Na Oh. The venue is not huge and they do 2 seatings per service. But the demand is high and you would have to ready to book at 10 am when reservations come out. So do plan and book in advance!

Accessibility

Alright, Na Oh is very very very inaccessible. As we were on route, my partner told me, this is essentially our journey to the west. And he was right. Na Oh is located deep in the industrial estate within Jurong West and the nearest MRT station is a 40 min walk away. So yes, Grab would be the most reasonable option.

The Damage

Total Damage for the night was 505 SGD (tax inclusive) with a bottle of Chungju. At just under 100 SGD per person for just the meal, and extremely high quality ingredients, it is very good value.

Would we recommend?

Yes Yes Yes! In my previous post I had already mentioned that the food was extremely refined and the service was polished. It was the same this time round, the service staff was kind, patient, and made sure we had everything we need. Our glasses were always full and it was incredibly easy to get the attention of the staff at any time during the meal. And the food? Amazing. We absolutely enjoyed the summer menu this time round and can't wait to visit again (: