My spouse and I
dined at Her Name Is Han for lunch on a Saturday in early March 2019. The
restaurant is open daily 12 to 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm to at least 9:15 pm (later
until 10:15 pm on weekday nights and even later still until 11:15 pm on
weekends). You can (and should!) book a spot using the online Resy reservation
system. (The restaurant is very popular, and you may not get a table as a
walk-in.)
Her Name Is Han,
which opened in 2015 near Koreatown (NYC has the second-largest Korean-American
population after Los Angeles), is named after the owner’s mother.
Next-door-neighbor Take 31 is its sister restaurant. The restaurant offers
seating at half-booths and tables (some of the bases of which are made from old
sewing machine trundles); there is even one larger table in its own nook for
big groups, although other tables can be joined to accommodate larger parties.
In the center of the space, a counter made of vintage stoves serves as a
serving station/service bar. Brick walls, neon signs, filament bulbs complete
the décor for the comfortable, casual space.
Her Name Is Han serves Korean cuisine. We visited for
weekend lunch/brunch, and were happy to find that the menus contained not only
dish descriptions but also photos to help us in choosing the right items. To
start, we shared the corn croquettes and the dumplings. As entrees, we ordered
the seafood hot pot and the beef bulgogi; both main dishes arrived on their own
metal tray, surrounded by a series of banchan (small dishes) that rotate. On
the day that we dined, we received pickled radishes, mushrooms, and cucumbers,
as well bowls of potato salad, half of a hard-boiled deep-fried egg, kimchi,
and a green salad. The beef entrée also came with a bowl of soup (the
components of the hot pot were already served as part of a soup). We shared the
sesame panna cotta for dessert. Her Name Is Han serves alcohol, so you can
enjoy a beer or other drink with your meal.
We loved our lunch at Her Name Is Han; the food presentation
was memorable and everything was tasty.
