Han Oak reinvents itself with Portland’s first premium hot pot experience

Oxtail broth, cloudy and scented with orange zest, cascades from a copper kettle, filling a shallow, persimmon-colored pot at a table crowded with plates of raw greens, mushrooms, tofu and beef so thin-sliced and well-marbled it could be mistaken for prosciutto. Staff hustle around the room, carefully bringing broths to a simmer, delivering ingredients and instructions on how long to cook them. Besides a few murmured conversations in the courtyard and some dreamy pop playing quietly from a speaker near the kitchen, the vibe is calm, quiet even.

Wait, this is Han Oak? Portland’s 2017 Restaurant of the Year, a place known for its nightly crowds and loud music, where children ran free early and chefs cracked open cans of light beer with the precision flick of a dish towel late, home to an annual Feast Portland after party more memorable than the food festival itself?

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A few months ago, Han Oak reopened to the public after a nearly two-years hiatus, an extended closure that began just after owners Peter Cho and Sun Young Park moved out of the little loft apartment behind the restaurant they famously shared with their two young sons, during which the space was used only sporadically for pop-ups and private events. But instead of the modern Korean menu that made Han Oak a hit, the restaurant has been reinvented, now offering Portland’s first premium hot pot experience, two nights a week.

This isn’t Han Oak’s first foray into hot pot. I remember dropping by, years ago, for a one-off dinner, when Cho and his team were experimenting with a new line of Le Creuset pots filled with good broth and fancy beef. I wasn’t totally sold on the format then — from Beijing to Beaverton, hot pot is typically an all you can eat affair, where waddling out overstuffed is part of the deal. Han Oak was more focused on the ingredients, the broth bobbing with dried red dates, slices of ultra luxe A5 wagyu.

And then, the pandemic. Cho and Park pivoted, mothballing Han Oak, dropping Pocha, a street food restaurant planned for the space next door, and eventually heading downtown, where Toki now offers many of Han Oak’s best-known dishes.

Han Oak’s style of hot pot makes more sense today. Under the current format, each large table is reserved for a single party, each with a single burner and a single soup pot. Aside from add-ons, the three-course menu ($75 per person) is pre-ordained, reducing stress on the kitchen. The grassy area that helped inspire the restaurant’s name is now framed by a patio covering, more suited for contemplation than cartwheels.

That’s not to say you won’t have fun. Earlier this month, the Stanley Cup playoffs were being projected on the wall for Sean Gugliuzza, a hockey superfan who, along with Maddie Tien, helps orchestrate the front of house. Kourtney Paranteau, a key member of Han Oak’s early days, is back, charged with building a fun wine list that recently included a pair of orange wines, one opaque and ripe with stone fruit, the other copper-clear and bracing. The meal structure is set, but you can and probably should request a round of petite Pacific Northwest oysters, one of a handful of add-ons ranging from inexpensive (bay scallop and shrimp dumplings, $3 each) to spendy (Astrea brand caviar and whimsical Korean chips, $85 a tin).

When it came to planning his hot pot menu, Cho was laser focused on preserving the flavor of the broth throughout the meal. As such, most savory ingredients, beef, veggies and noodles included, are left intentionally underseasoned, presented instead with a trio of dipping sauces — spicy gochujang, soy-wasabi and salted sesame oil — the use of which is both encouraged and essential. After the first round, Cho might stop by himself to whip up a quick juk, or rice porridge, using the concentrated broth, stirred quickly tableside and finished amber orbs of salmon roe, toasted seaweed and optional bay shrimp or Dungeness crab. It’s a fun and tasty hack, like an instant risotto, though you might crave a little textural variety (the rice course reminded me of Mapo Galbi in Los Angeles’ sprawling K-Town, where meals end with rice soaked in gochuajang toasted to a crispy crunch at your table). Dessert is among the most memorable bites, with a little blob of mochi, slowly flipped and grilled over an open flame until it’s as browned and gooey as melted mozzerella, then laid alongside a ball of tart frozen yogurt. Yum.

Cho, who honed his chops under chef April Bloomfield at The Spotted Pig and The Breslin in New York, hasn’t always been blown away by the beef quality back here in his home state. For Han Oak’s hot pot, he requests prime grade steak from Painted Hills, brisket from Snake River Farms and short rib from Creekstone Farms, then dry-ages each in-house for around two weeks. The beef is about as good as you’ll find in Oregon, even before you contemplate adding on a strip of Japanese wagyu ($18 an ounce). Long term, the restaurant’s dry-aging box could make room for fish, duck or other high-end hot pot ingredients. But with warm weather approaching, Cho is already planning to pivot again, rolling out a charcoal grill at the end of June and turning Han Oak into a Korean barbecue. If we’ve learned anything over the past half decade, it’s that if it comes from Han Oak, it will probably be good.

Han Oak is open from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 511 N.E. 24th Ave. Reservations are required. Visit hanoakpdx.com for more information. Many of the restaurant’s old favorites, including dumplings, noodles and Korean fried chicken wings, are now available at sister restaurant Toki, 580 S.W. 12th Ave.

Read more:

Portland’s 2017 Restaurant of the Year: Han Oak

Han Oak will expand with Pocha, a noodle and dumpling restaurant

Fueled by tasty TikTok trends, downtown Toki is a new destination from the Han Oak team

Toki’s refined lunch offers a compelling argument for returning downtown

Han Oak: Living in a Korean restaurant (YouTube)

— Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com @tdmrussell