Her Name is Han

Her Name is Han Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant & décor: Owner Kihyun Lee named his cozy restaurant, near the Empire State Building, after his mother. The carefully prepared Korean home-style dishes are served in a modern, quirky space on blonde wooden tables. The walls are exposed brick, and there’s a baby blue retro stove in the dining room.

Likes: The casual, stylish décor; cocktails; mushroom bibimbap.
Dislikes: Can get noisy.

Food & Drinks: Her Name is Han brings soulful home cooking to Koreatown. There’s often a wait in the evening, and for good reason. The restaurant’s menu features tapas, mains, pots, BBQ, rice and noodles. From the first section, baby octopus in soy apple vinegar sauce is tender and bright. The pots are full of depth from gochujang and kimchi, and kept simmering at the table over a small flame. A soup of seafood and plump dumplings in a just-spicy-enough beef broth warms body and soul. Or try fire-grilled pork belly with a bowl of sweet and sour chicken fried rice. Noodles are made from scratch, and they’re pliable and delicious in a beef bone soup with zucchini, seaweed and scallions. Pair the food with yuzu beer or creative cocktails like lime-ginger mojitos and pomegranate rosemary sangría. End your meal with a mini green tea cheesecake or chocolate tofu mousse topped with salty crunchy almonds.