Namu Restaurant at W Hotel Seoul

Namu Restaurant at W Hotel Seoul

The W Hotel is not just a hotel, it is an experience. It is like the city on the hill that reminds the rest of us in Seoul, what it is like to live the good life. From Mount Acha, the hotel overlooks the Han river from the east side. At night this view is breathtaking and during the day, the distance makes Seoul look very sleek and modern. The W Hotel is headed by Ciarian Hickey, an Irishman that has had one of the longest running tenures as chef in Seoul. Under his wing, this restaurant has pushed the boundaries of the possibilities of food in Seoul. He was one of the first to do a contemporary Korean menu, he has advocated the sourcing of local ingredients, and his restaurants have been the model for many copycat institutions all around Korea.

First of all, let’s not confuse the W Hotel with Sheraton Walkerhill. They are very different hotels with different management, different chefs, and different restaurants. The W Hotel is fresher and edgier and has an Hongdae feel to it.

I have eaten at many of the restaurants at W. The champagne brunch at Kitchen is one of the best brunches in Korea and you can get fizzy drunk on Sundays over plates of artisan cheese, jamon iberico, grilled fish and steaks cooked to order, and waves of desserts. The place that I have been meaning to get to has been Namu, the W’s contemporary Japanese restaurant. When I was invited by Les Toques Blanc to participate at their chef’s table, I leapt at the chance.

Entering Namu, you immediately sense that this is going to be a precision-made, stylish, zen-like meal. The main sushi bar feels like you are in a techno concert and the DJ is spinning tunes to order. The wood paneling all around is embracing.

We were led to one of the private rooms that overlooked the expansive Han River at night. Our servers started pouring us our wine and this was done pretty regularly and almost invisibly that it seemed as if we had not touched our glass at all.

The first course was a clear soy sauce soup with various mushrooms. This was simple and aromatic. The light soup let the mushroom flavors sing.

After this came a tuna caviar course that was served in a delightful little jar that had the W Hotel label on the lid. The bottom layer was buttery avocado and then some marinated tuna and then poppy, black caviar. It came with a long sesame cracker that you could use to dig to the bottom of the jar and get some of each layer. The flavor and texture combination matched the impressiveness of the ingredients. The buttery green of the avocado matched well with bite of slightly salty tuna, the pop of black caviar and the crunch of the cracker. Each bite needed to be savored for the textures and flavors recombined each time to create something new.

Our next course was a very interesting take on crab sushi rolls. The chunks of crab were wrapped with thinly sliced pickled daikon and topped with a very light sauce. I believe the sauce was made with pine nuts. This was topped with beet sprouts and drops of ponzo that added just the right amount of citrus needed for the dish.

The teppanyaki course had “creekstone prime” black angus ribeye from Kansas. I don’t know what those boys are feeding their cows out there but this was one of the best steaks that I have ever had. It is so tender, rich, and flavorful that this is a taste that has embedded itself into my mind. It was simply cooked so the natural beef flavor could simply be. The beef was so tender and buttery that I think an ice cream could have been made with it and it would become a new food trend. Simply delicious. With the steak came 3 crisp stalks of asparagus wrapped in bacon. It had a spry green taste and snappy bite. I asked where the asparagus came from and the chef answered, “Korea.” I need to find out specifically where next time.

Next up was foie gras sushi. Perfectly seared foie gras with a bit of crunch and the right amount of caramelization on a dollop of vinegared sushi rice. There was a nice pop and refreshing flavor of rice to go with the rich umani flavor of the foie gras. It was like toro taken to the third level. The shallot sauce added a nice bridge to the flavors with its light, earthy and caramel taste.

Finally, the dessert came and by this time, I was little tipsy. It must have been a combination of the boisterous company and the never dry wine glass. Dessert was a green tea tiramisu with green tea so strong that it was like a shot of espresso. The white marscapone cheese on top was sprinkled with copious amounts of this green powder. It was so strong that I believe if we snorted it, that we would have felt on top of the world. This came with a small cone of yuzu ice cream also great and little candies.

Namu is a place that you go to be impressed and to impress someone else. If that is your intentions, then I highly recommend you might a trip out to the W Hotel. You will have a high-end, creatively prepared meal in an incredible atmosphere.

Namu

Ph: 02- 2022 0222
Website: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/dining/attraction_detail.html?attractionId=38256&propertyID=1451

177 Walkerhill-ro, Gwangjin-Gu 143-708

Directions: Take a cab. If taking subway get off at Gwangnaru Station (Line 5) Exit 2 and cross the street. You can grab the shuttle to the W Hotel or take a cab.

Full Discloser: I went to this event as part of the Les Toques Blanc Chef’s Association Chef’s Table event. I fully intended to pay for the meal, but the restaurant and the chef’s association was kind enough to cover my meal in return for pictures and a write up on the site.

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