Best eats of 2024: Excellent food at Na Oh, StraitsKitchen returns, Tiger Soju’s new flavour wows

Hwe-dupbap set meal at Na Oh. PHOTO: NA OH

UPDATED Dec 14, 2024, 01:05 PM

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SINGAPORE – Travel to a factory in Jurong West to dine at Na Oh, 2024’s best new restaurant, or head to Pete’s Place to indulge in its tiramisu, which is the year’s best dessert.

From Yelemon’s coriander lemon refresher to FairPrice’s Roasted Corn Cashews, these are The Straits Times’ food and drink critics’ picks for the best newcomers of 2024.

Best new restaurant – Na Oh

Charcoal-Grilled Pork Bulgogi set meal from Na Oh. PHOTO: NA OH

Who in tarnation would go – no, travel – to a factory in Jurong West for a meal? Turns out, a lot of people.

In 2024, a year when diners deserted restaurants, a booking at Na Oh, the 40-seat Korean restaurant at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore, was hard to get. It entailed stalking the reservation website, planning ahead and jumping on 2pm lunch bookings.

Na Oh, which in Korean means “the journey from inside out”, opened in June. It is is a partnership between Korean-American chef Corey Lee, 47, of three-Michelin-starred Benu in San Francisco, and the South Korean car manufacturer.