I recently visited Odem, a modern Korean makgeolli restaurant located in the so-hip-it-hurts New Bahru compound, with our reservation made one month in advance. I've saw a few posts on social media and was sufficiently intrigued to want to go check it out myself, since I quite likely makgeolli and there aren't many options. However, my pet peeve was triggered. While the restaurant was well-designed, dimly lit and despite being strongly air-conditioned without an open kitchen, I definitely smelled like food upon leaving.
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| Immediately walking in, a bunch of chilled makgeolli were luxuriating in a sunken bowl where a bar was situated. |
Here are the menu items, split into bar bites and main menu. The selection was quite thin.
And here's the two-page menu, which is split into appetisers, mains and desserts. As you can see, prices swing quite widely especially in the appetisers section.
For mains, I saw somewhere that the Iberico Secreto tasted like ba kwa. The price point also felt a bit high for the two meat dishes.
I really enjoyed the extensive makgeolli menu and the storytelling before it though! We took a good 15 minutes to peruse the menu and still ended up not really knowing what to order. You can view the drinks menu yourself from this link (PDF).
In the end the wait staff helped us by explaining that the makgeolli is split into different categories - floral, fruity, umami & complex and rice & grain. Then there are two types of makgeolli as well - the Takju, which is cloudy because they did not filter out the sediments, and the Yakju, where everything is filtered to leave behind the clear liquid. Both have their pros and cons.
There was also a smart collab between Odem and Drinkaid where these optional pills were available for purchase to help those who cannot drink to .. drink.
From the rice & grain category, we thought we will start off with a takju that has only 6.5% ABV - the Nakhwaju (S$68) 500ml from C Makkoli. This was quite sweet and had that ricey aftertaste. A pretty decent start for our meal.
On to the food itself!
A must-order HAS to be the Brioche & gamtae seaweed butter (S$20) which had a fluffy brioche bun with soy glaze paired with the umami-rich yet creamy gamtae seaweed butter. Everyone raved about it on social media, and I could taste why. The bun was so incredibly soft like a pillow, yet the butter made it smooth and incredibly sinful. The seaweed butter was the perfect additional spread to lather onto the bun. It was so good we had a second order between the 5 of us. 5/5
Next up from the bar bites menu, we decided to give these Gim chips, tofu mousse and perilla (S$8) a try. It is basically Korean seaweed crisps with a soft tofu mousse and Perilla oil. Kind of lacklustre if you compare it to the price (each chip's like $1.60??), since the seaweed tastes really normal and the dip was also nothing too special though the perilla oil was tasty.
Then came the second best dish of the night - the Chive & oyster pancake (S$28) with chives, oysters, sakura ebi (dried prawns) and gim. This was really well-executed with the crispy bits in tandem with the seafoody flavours of the oyster cut through with the freshness of the chives. Makgeolli and pancakes (jeon) are a match made in Korean heaven, so you know they had to get it right! 4/5
Then two disappointing dishes - the Toro kimbap (S$55) made with chu-toro, akami, perilla, pickled radish, kelp soy, rice, sesame and gim. It was a mistake to order gimbap, or Korean sushi, in Korean restaurants because it is not a specialty the Koreans have mastered. The tuna was incredibly fishy and the rice to fish ratio also did not help to balance out the taste. I couldn't even have a second piece... 1/5
The last dish of the night was the other mains - the Abalone boribap (S$52) which was a bowl containing abalone, Makkoli-abalone jus, pearl barley, gamtae butter, zucchini, gosari (mountain fernbrake) and abalone liver sauce. The gosari was an exotic ingredient. Unfortunately, I felt the dish was a bit heavy on the herbal side and the liver sauce also added a funky element (not in a good way). Perhaps I am just not used to eating such a dish, though it did seem like every ingredient had been well-intended. 3/5
We decided to get another bottle of makgeolli towards the end and to try something a bit floral, listed as a favourite on the menu - the Soolpang Magnolia (S$88) 500ml with a 10% ABV from Soolpang Brewery. It is also a takju, since we decided that we do enjoy the unfiltered bits inside. However, this one was perhaps WAYYY too floral, and a friend described it as drinking AESOP hand soap. Quite apt of a description. Not really something one could drink a lot of.
We decided to skip the desserts since we've ordered quite a lot of food and both makgeolli were quite sweet. We decided however, that there's room for a second brioche, which disappeared as quickly as the first. Here we were ~ happy after our second order of the brioche. In the end we spent about $85 each all in, which wasn't too bad.
I did not go with high expectations and Odem did not meet any. However, I am still glad I managed to try it out at least once and have the amazing brioche bun. I probably will not go back, especially since the smell of food clung to my hair and clothes after leaving.
🙅 Thank you, next ✔️
🤷 Try if feeling indulgent
💁 Bookmark this
🤷 Try if feeling indulgent
💁 Bookmark this
Odem
New Bahru, #01-17, 46 Kim Yam Rd, Singapore 239351
Tuesdays to Sundays 11.30am to 2pm, 5pm to 12am
Closed on Mondays
Reservations at odem.sg
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