Two Michelin-starred restaurants unveil their new menus
NAE:UM 2.0 returns with a storybook menu
Reopened on Aug 21 after a refresh, NAE:UM 2.0 frames chef-founder Louis Han’s cooking as a single, coherent “storybook” rather than the episodic menus of its first four years. The space takes cues from the hanok, the traditional Korean house, now reimagined with quiet modernity to match the cooking’s matured tone (main image).
The Signature tasting menu (8 courses, $268++) opens with a chilled tomato dongchimi, a bright, savoury shot that wakes the palate before a trio of snacks: gwanja (a clean, saline scallop bite on a seaweed rosette), toran (a pork ragu in a crisp yam puff lifted by green chilli) and sokkori (braised oxtail between lavash). From there, the menu balances familiarity with refinement. The dish of memilmyeon & mandu remains a house anchor: buckwheat noodles in white kimchi and perilla oil with a cured tobiko sauce, paired with a grilled morel dumpling stuffed with duckgalbi. It is deliciously textural and cool, with the noodle’s clean snap offset by the dumpling’s deep, smoky chew.
Jeonbok (left); Memilmyeon & Mandu (right)
See also: Po Singapore unveils new Nanyang heritage menu
Fish is Han’s favourite ingredient. Here, a five-day dry-aged turbot, nobchi, is seared to a delicate crust and served with Korean squash and a butter-enriched maeuntang sauce. The eating is full and layered without heaviness, the spice in the sauce held in check by butter and sesame, leaving focus on the turbot’s lacquered skin and gelatinous flakes. A brined and galbi-glazed Iberico ribeye follows, then hansang: short-grain rice cooked in a cast-iron pot, folded with chives, cabbage and nori, topped with grilled gochujang-marinated deodeok and served with banchan and a clear mushroom gomtang. While this is seemingly a simple set, the seasoning is precise and the broth’s clarity grounds the course.
The desserts completed the menu beautifully. The darae changmyeon riffs on a traditional sweet noodle soup with golden kiwi, lemongrass and aloe for lift. Then the main dessert — daechu, the signature charcoal jujube — returns as a crisp charcoal tuile filled with date pastry cream and jujube truffle espuma, crowned with shaved truffle and white chocolate ice cream. It is a playful break-and-mix that still finishes tidily, not cloying.
Overall, Han, who cut his teeth in Seoul and Singapore before launching NAE:UM in 2021, is now consolidating nine episodic menus into one autobiography of flavour. The cooking shows confidence, grounded in Korean memory yet open to global technique. The reworked room, with exposed beams and a soft “skylight” glow, evokes the feeling of being composed, generous and detail-led.
See also: Sky-high oriental flavours
JAG ushers in a new season
Across town at Robertson Quay, Restaurant JAG is equally clear about direction. The one-Michelin-starred institution remains the authority in vegetable-centric, nourishment-led gastronomy. Today, it is steered by executive chef Laurence Tan and general manager (GM) Maryjoy Lim, a pairing that keeps the core intact while adding youthful perspective to both kitchen and service.
Executive chef Laurence Tan (left) and general manager (GM) Maryjoy Lim (right)
Tan’s path through JAG — from chef de partie in 2020 to executive chef in 2025 — mirrors the restaurant’s tight discipline. He assumed full culinary direction for a year while chef Jeremy Gillon was abroad and now leads with streamlined plates, bolder flavours and gentle regional inflections.
The cuisine, under Tan, remains French; the produce is still centre stage; the seasoning now feels marginally more decisive, with local notes peeking through without forcing the narrative. Personally, it was nice to see how Gillon’s techniques are reinterpreted by Tan in this new menu.
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Beef (left); Melon (right)
Those pursuing the full arc should book The Grand Experience ($298++). It moves through seasonal canapés, house bread and an amuse bouche, into five produce-led plates with a consommé and palate refresher in between, a proper cheese trolley moment, and a composed dessert. Current seasonal compositions include a tomato course built around green tomato sorbet and confit with sariette, and a yellow corn dish layered with creamed corn, thyme-scented espuma and spelt salad. Proteins are offered as optional complements, keeping vegetables in the foreground while adding richness where desired.
Service, meanwhile, has been quietly updated. Lim has introduced a seasonal scent programme, refreshed the music list with local and regional artists, and refined wine and cheese selections. The effect is felt rather than announced, softening the edges of a formal room and giving the experience a gentle modern pulse. Her path to GM — from barista to service captain to leader at 27 — underlines JAG’s commitment to nurturing young talent.
