Elevated Korean Fare Is Back at Suum, a 16-Seat Restaurant From a Heston Blumenthal-Trained Chef

At the back of a small lobby off Charlotte Street is a heavy black door with a handle in the shape of the Korean symbol for suum, a verb which means to breathe. Inside, 16 diners sit shoulder-to-shoulder around a central concrete counter. Owner-operator Andy Choi and his team move around with spoons and tweezers, brushing sauces, garnishing plates and delivering dishes to guests.

Suum is Choi’s first Australian restaurant. Before arriving in Brisbane, he owned a casual restaurant in Daejeon, South Korea. The unexpected move from a bustling South Korean metropolis to Brisbane was sparked by a group of Brisbane City Council members and business owners who dined at his restaurant in Korea and encouraged him to follow them home.

In early 2023, he trialled his traditional Korean fine-dining concept (previously called Andy Pandy) through pop-ups at The Palace Lounge in Fortitude Valley. Then Suum was born.

Suum enters the Australian dining landscape at an apt time, as people begin to appreciate Korean food that looks beyond barbeque chains and family-operated seolleongtang soup spots. Melbourne’s Chae has become one of the most sought-after reservations in the country with its hyper-personal, produce and ferment-focused tasting menus. Sogumm, with its wine bar sensibility and modern Korean plates, has also built a steady following. Since the closure of Butterfly in 2022, Brisbane has been missing a true Korean fine diner – Suum fills that void.

Choi’s training includes time at the three Michelin-starred Disfrutar in Barcelona and Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in London. After these stints, he popped up at restaurants in Tokyo, the United States and Vancouver.

Suum’s menu observes tradition with a contemporary approach. One of his biggest influences is his mother, a well-known culinary teacher in Korea, who focuses on traditional cooking practices like jang (fermented sauces) and banchan (small dishes served with rice). Accordingly, dinner at Suum opens with three amuse bouche, anchored in house made jang: anjang (soy sauce), doenjang (fermented soybean paste) and gochujang (fermented chilli paste).

Courses move through sweet chestnut soup; tomato-shaped tofu kimchi with pork belly; Jeju-style dombe noodles; maesaengi (native Korean seaweed) steamed fish; striploin with galbi sauce; and abalone sotbap (pot rice). The meal finishes with banana gelato dessert and dagwa (tea sweets).

Choi says he’s reassessing the menu this month, moving towards a focus on molecular gastronomy, with all the gels, foams and broths that saturated the fine-dining world in the mid-2000s. For Choi, the change aligns better with his experience and vision. “I think I can execute those techniques better. It’s hard for foreign people to understand traditional Korean. It’ll be better for the presentation and flavour if I go that way.”

The highlight of the drinks program is the traditional pairing built around Choi’s makgeolli. He serves it in its original form. “Commercially made makgeolli is the original ferment diluted with water and sugar. At Suum, we serve the original ferment, so it’s kind of thick. It’s got flavours of banana and nutty notes. It’s 30 per cent alcohol.” He pairs the unsweetened makgeolli with dishes that go well with rice, like the striploin brushed with sweet galbi sauce and the abalone sotbap.

As Suum evolves, Choi plans to offer a traditional pairing exclusively centred on imported Korean wines instead of Australian and European drops.

Choi has observed a trend towards experiential fine dining and omakase, but he wants Suum to stay within reach. “A lot of people think that fine dining is very expensive, more than $250. I want to maintain the $180 price point because it seems like a reasonable price in Australia. I want everyone to come.”

Suum

119 Charlotte Street, Brisbane City

(07) 3865 8468

Hours:

Tue to Thu 5.30pm–10pm

Fri & Sat 5.30pm–11pm

suumrestaurant.com

@suum_brisbane