Nami Modern Korean Steakhouse

Every dish we ordered had a wonderfully delicate blend of Korean and American flavors. Our server, Jay, was fantastic, and his recommendation of white wine paired perfectly with our first dish, the tartare. This place deserves to be much more well-known!

We drove 5 hours from Chicago to Louisville, excited to try both of Chef Edward Lee's restaurants. Unfortunately, we encountered a recurring issue that left us feeling overlooked. We arrived at 8:30, thinking we could be seated earlier than our 9 PM reservation since an 8:30 slot was available online. However, we still had to wait, which wasn’t a huge deal at first. There was no host or manager in sight, and eventually, someone led us upstairs to a corner of a space that seemed reserved for large groups or private events. Given that I saw at least five empty tables in the main dining area, I assumed we’d be seated there. When I asked why we weren’t, I was told the main area was fully booked, even though it was almost 9:15 and their last reservation was at 9:30. After pointing out the empty tables and reminding them we had a reservation, they moved us downstairs, but we were placed near the hallway to the bathroom. It just felt like they were cramming guests into the least desirable spots, even though the main area was half-empty. It made us feel like our reservation wasn’t really a priority, which was disappointing. As for the food, we started with the rice cake appetizer, which had a unique flavor with its gochujang-based sauce. The beef galbi was incredibly tender, with a perfect balance of ginger and soy sauce, and the kimchi was a standout. However, the daeji galbi didn’t live up to expectations. It had an acrid soy sauce aroma, was overly salty, and the gochujang spice barely came through. On a brighter note, the pear shaved ice was an amazing finish to the meal—a refreshing, sweet contrast after all the savory and spicy dishes. The lava cake taiyaki, however, didn’t impress; it felt like a standard dessert in a different form. NOTE TO THE MANAGEMENT TEAM: I recently dined at both 610 Magnolia and Nami, and noticed a recurring issue that I felt compelled to share. On both occasions, despite having made reservations and seeing plenty of open tables in the main dining area, we were seated in a corner of upstairs, far from the primary space. This felt isolating and gave the impression that my reservation wasn’t valued. While I understand that seating arrangements might depend on staff assignments or other operational considerations, this experience happened consecutively at two of your locations, which left me questioning whether it was intentional or just a coincidence. I hope this feedback encourages a review of your seating policies to ensure all guests feel equally valued, regardless of party size or reservation type. Thank you for taking the time to consider my experience. I look forward to seeing improvements in the future.

After a four-hour journey and high expectations, this restaurant failed to impress. The dishes had overwhelming "gamchilmat", requiring constant water breaks. Despite beautiful interiors and great service, the menu felt too Americanized and siginificantly lacked authentic Korean touches. The dessert, barely resembling a traditional bungeo-ppang (or Taiyaki), was particularly underwhelming. While the staff were friendly, the high prices did not match the culinary quality.

My husband and I enjoyed a wonderful meal at Nami. Our waiter Will was excellent. We do not get to Louisville very often so we order lots of things to try at our possibly one time at Chef Lee’s place. It was all so good we ate every bite. The crispy chicken dumplings reminded me of the ones I got as street food in Korea. Perfect memory. We also had the zucchini mandus, the tuna tartar (gochujang butter!!!) , a tuna hand roll (YUM) and the skirt steak bbq entree with gochujang and the puff pastry dessert. It was all lovely. Bravo.

Great experience, food was SO GOOD. For the kbbq, you can choose to cook it yourself at the table or opt to have the kitchen cook some or all of it which is nice, especially for some of the nicer cuts of meats. Everything was really good, but the standouts for me were all of the kimbap rolls, the pork belly, and the duck breast. The shrimp mandu was really good too, just be ready for a little extra spice! Also, make sure to save some room for dessert, they are must-try! The sunset bingsu and the pineapple mochi are amazing

Honesly a huge disappointment. We ordered 4 dishes: shrimp mandu, tiger skin eggs, ja jang myun noodles, and grilled pork ribs. Only shrimp mandu was good, and the other ones are not even warm enough and underwhelming, even worse than some random food court food… we were really excited to visit chef Lee’s restaurant and are now super disappointed by the quality of food at Nami.

This restaurant met all my expectations for a complete dining experience. I’m a foodie and have been to some of the best restaurants in NY and Nami checked all my boxes: excellent food, ambiance, decor and exceptional service. Our server Anna was delightful. The crispy snapper with crab fried rice, and spicy tuna tartare with seaweed crisp were amazing, leaving a lighter feeling after consuming. There were so many menu options and this restaurant stands out in Louisville, amongst all the bar food places.

A Korean American fusión is a great concept. However, it’ll be great if the taste kind of stayed the same as in the jajangmyeon was a little bit of disappointment. It tasted like pasta with some black bean sauce, a little too dry in my opinion. The appetizers and the steak and eggs were great. I know it’s an upscale resto but the teok teok appetizer could be a little more shareable for $9. Love the mimosas btw. It went well for brunch there. Still worth the try! 🫶🏻