Han

Another restaurant we’ve been wanting to try however the hours haven’t quite worked is Han. With the holiday season and us both having some time off we had to give it a try! Nice easy greeting, they’re rather quiet however it is the season where most people leave Auckland.

I like that there are chopsticks and knives and forks, speaks to the Modern Korean element they’re going for.

We start with an Amuse Bouche of a rice and seaweed cracker, seaweed cream, asparagus and tomatoes – it’s nice and fresh I especially like the cream.

Smoked duck, raspberry and spiced crumb – the raspberry is served as a sorbet! It’s controversial but I like it, very clever and different. The duck fat and sorbet complement each other well.

Hoe Bibimbap, fresh salmon on rice, roast almond, chojang sauce, cucumer and seaweed powder. A delicious balance of flavours and I particularly love the almond crunch.

We get an extra course of the fried chicken and fiancée is happy. The sauce is nice but as we’ve discovered fried chicken is not really my jam.

Braised boneless short ribs, pumpkin, hazelnut, kimchi. The organic Argentinian malbec goes down a treat too! A steamed bun would elevate this immensely. Nice mix of flavours just slightly macadamia heavy for me.

Wild venison, cheddar potato and Korean miso. It’s missing some sort of cut-through for the richness of the sauce and kumara.  The components themselves are delicious just needs to be more in synch.

Our refresher is chocolate mushroom and apple. It’s like a weird jelly tip but we’re not complaining.

Grapefruit, passionfruit ice cream, sticky praline. It’s a nice way to finish a nice meal.

Overall Han is doing some great things, I really liked how Owner Chef Min asked for our honest feedback as we left the restaurant and humbly took it on board. I wouldn’t be surprised if some steamed buns end up on their menu soon!