Na Oh is the kind of Korean restaurant where the small details stay with you. A cold miyeokguk you weren't expecting. Banchan that changes from seat to seat. Ssamjang aged for a decade. It operates inside HMGICS (Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore), a working factory in Jurong, and rebuilds its menu with every season. The Spring 2026 edition is its most assured yet, and for the first time, Hanwoo beef joins the lineup as an a la carte addition.
The tasting menu is $88 for four courses. The Hanwoo dishes are priced separately, giving you control over how far you want to take the meal.
The Setting
You arrive through HMGICS's car showroom. An IONIQ 6, an IONIQ 5, a vintage Hyundai Pony. In the background, their smart farm is visible through the glass. It is an area of surprises. Then you reach Na Oh and the mood changes entirely.
The dining room is built around warm wood, hanji-style paper partitions, and soft diffused lighting. Onggi jars line the entrance. Private tables sit framed by translucent screens with views of Jurong at night. Every material choice is considered. It feels like a hanok relocated into a factory, and somehow it works.
The Spring Menu
Four of us at the table. We ordered all three main course options with one repeat, which gave us full coverage of the seasonal range. The starters, though, had already made their case before the mains arrived.
The Starters
The meal opens with a carbonated juice, potent and refreshing, a clean palate reset that signals the kitchen's intention from the first sip.
Then, because it was a friend's birthday, the kitchen sent out a cold miyeokguk. The flavour stayed with me long after the meal. Cold miyeokguk is rare even in Korea, and Na Oh's version was precise and quietly stunning. (No photo. I was too absorbed in the moment to reach for the camera.)
Makgeolli and cheongju followed for the table. Small gestures like this define the Na Oh experience. You feel looked after without being fussed over.
Homemade tofu arrived next, dressed simply with aged soy sauce. Restrained and effective.
Between courses, 수국차 (sugukcha, hydrangea tea) on ice. Floral, light, and exactly right for pacing a multi-course meal.
The assorted jeon came as three varieties on a single plate, ideal for sharing. Each was well-executed, though the lotus root stood out.
A detail worth noting: the salad greens are grown on-site at HMGICS's smart farm, inside the Hyundai innovation center itself. This is central to Na Oh's philosophy. The ingredients are not just sourced carefully; they are traceable to the building you are sitting in.
Cold noodles with chicken followed. This style of noodle dish is a personal favourite, and Na Oh's rendition holds up against any I have had in Singapore.
The Mains
Three options, each with its own character. This is where the tasting menu diverges and becomes personal.
Spring Vegetable Bibimbap was the table favourite. Scorched rice cooked in a gamasot, layered with spring vegetables and edible flowers, finished with a gochujang sauce that elevated the entire dish. The interplay between the crunchy rice base, the seasonal greens, and that sauce is what makes this the standout. If you are choosing one main, this is the one.
Jeju Black Pork Bossam arrived as a full spread: sliced pork presented on a wooden stand, accompanied by rice, soup, greens, and an array of banchan. The pork itself was clean-tasting and well-prepared, though I would have liked a bolder accompanying sauce. I solved this by pairing it with the bibimbap's gochujang, which worked beautifully.
Spicy Beef and Spring Leek Gomtang delivered genuine depth. Hearty, warming, with a slow-built complexity in the broth that rewards patience. A strong choice for anyone drawn to something more grounding.
One detail that deserves mention: each person's banchan was different. Personalised side dishes at a tasting menu is the kind of thoughtfulness that separates Na Oh from the rest. I finished mine and my wife's.
The Hanwoo
This season marks the first time Na Oh has offered Hanwoo as an a la carte addition to the tasting menu. Two dishes, both worth ordering.
Yuk Hwe (Hanwoo Beef Tartare) — $28
1++ grade, BMS 9 Hanwoo eye of round. Served raw with shaved pear, pine nuts, oyster jeotgal, and dolgim bugak.
The key is combining the yukhoe with the bugak. Individually, the tartare is clean and delicate. But loaded onto the crispy bugak with a touch of oyster jeotgal, the combination becomes something else entirely. Texture, brine, richness, crunch, all in a single bite. At $28 for 1++ grade Hanwoo, this is an essential add-on.
Charcoal Grilled Hanwoo Rib Finger — $38
1++ grade, BMS 8. Skewered, charcoal grilled, served with smart farm leaves and 10-year aged ssamjang.
The skewer is excellent, but the ssamjang deserves its own paragraph. This is the best ssamjang I have had. Ten years of aging produces a depth and complexity that is difficult to articulate. I ended up eating the ssamjang on its own. Wrap a piece of rib finger in a smart farm leaf with kimchi and a generous dab of the ssamjang, and you have one of the best single bites available in Singapore right now.
The Verdict
Dessert closes the meal: mugwort ice cream, wrapped in hanji paper like a small gift. The first bite is deliberately unfamiliar, herbal and slightly foreign. But as you work through it, a rich, layered balance emerges that lingers well after the plate is cleared.
Na Oh is my favourite Korean course restaurant in Singapore. As a Korean, that is not something I say lightly. The $88 tasting menu represents genuine value for what you get, and the Hanwoo additions let you extend the experience at a reasonable premium. What earns the 9/10 is not any single dish but the accumulation of small, deliberate choices: the cold miyeokguk, the personalised banchan, the ssamjang you want to eat with a spoon.
The two real obstacles are geography and availability. HMGICS sits in Jurong, a significant commute from the city centre, and reservations fill quickly. If Na Oh were located in Tanjong Pagar or along Orchard Road, I would eat here regularly. Even with the distance, it is worth planning around.
While you are there, make time for the HMGICS smart farm tour and the car experience. Hyundai built this restaurant inside their innovation centre for a reason, and it shows. Book early. Order the bibimbap. Add both Hanwoo dishes.
Full video coming soon. Follow @thehansang.sg for the reel drop.