There's much more to Korean cuisine than bibimbap, barbecue with banchan and pajeon, however sapid these dishes may be.Korean neo-gastronomy is above all a cuisine delicately seasoned with herbs and condiments that French palates know little about, and which often expresses all its finesse through minimalist presentation.
And that's exactly what OMA, theFranco-Korean-inspired bistronomic restaurant run by chef Ji-Hye Park, has been offering since the start of the school year, relocating just off the Champs-Elysées in the boutique-hotel Château des Fleurs, after a highly successful first stint in the 9th arrondissement.
Originally from South Korea , but Parisian at heart and by adoption, this self-taught cook, inspired by the culinary discoveries she made alongside her father as a child, has been cultivating her love of cooking with passion and generosity for sixteen years, in the manner of an'oma' ('mother' in Korean).
OMA 's menu features homemade dishes made from well-sourced French produce, and recipes that are sometimes meaty, sometimes iodized, sometimes plant-based, with occasional twists of ingredients and condiments from the two cultures that shape chef Ji-Hye Park. There are 5 starters, 6 main courses and 5 desserts, and that's enough.
The menu is all about autumnal flavors. Starters include roasted onions (12€) served with a gorgonzola and parmesan cream that counterbalances the natural sweetness of the onions with its creamy, cheesy flavour, and which we recommend you choose; and Korean fish cake (16€), very crispy, for dipping in wasabi mayonnaise. There's no doubt about it, Korea is on your plate.
The dishes continue to flow onto the table, as time goes by and our cocktails drop visibly into the glasses. Created by our in-house mixologists, the cocktails are astonishingly creative, and we enjoy them to the last drop, as with the Butterfly cocktail (Aquavit infused with butterfly pea flowers, violet liqueur, verbena syrup, verjuice, sparkling white tea and organic darjeeling, basil flower ; 18€) or the Jasmine Blossom cocktail (organic quinoa vodka, elderflower cordial, cinnamon buds, cranberry juice, mandarin granulate, jasmine flower; 17€).
For the main courses, it's impossible to miss the chef's signature creation, the OMA rice (23€), with its devilishly melt-in-your-mouth shredded beef chuck, soft-boiled egg, crispy seaweed slivers and pickled radish as a little kick that wakes up the taste buds - no wonder this is the restaurant's flagship dish, it's excellent. The octopus (€33) is also very good, topped with a kimchi chutney.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time for desserts, as the OMA rice, served very generously, took up too much room in our stomachs. But that's just a temporary reprieve! Buoyed by the bonhomie, inventiveness and technical skill of chef Ji-Hye Park, this new address certainly deserves to be better known.
Location
Hotel Château des Fleurs
19 Rue Vernet
75008 Paris 8
Official website
www.chateaudesfleurs.paris
