Han Oak

511 NE 24TH AVE. 971-255-0032

Photo credit: hanoakpdx

When a menu says “homemade,” it’s usually a euphemism. At Han Oak, it’s literal. The sideyard Korean spot behind the Ocean on Northeast Glisan Street is half open-kitchen restaurant, half modernist loft where chef Peter Cho and his family actually live. Most of the ever-changing menagerie of plates hover around $10, and always seem to include a plate of thick-breaded and juicy Korean fried chicken. Elsewhere are delicate chive-pork dumplings, a beautifully salty and crispy blood sausage drenched in over-easy egg, and a Korean-Chinese jja jang myun handpulled noodle dish made with fermented black beans. On the right night, when those thickly al dente noodles come with butternut squash that melts into the bean sauce, that jja jang murders every other version in town.

> Matthew Korfhage

5:30-9:30 pm Friday-Monday