The story
Umami - La Cinquième Saveur is a Korean restaurant at 15 rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau in Montpellier, Recommended by the Michelin Guide in 2026. Chef Amélie Young Min built it around the idea of umami, the fifth flavor.
Amélie Young Min Deguine was a Master Chef Korea finalist in Seoul in 2016. In 2011 she took second prize in the professional category at the "Cuillère d'Or" competition. Her own description of the cooking is Korean origins, Japanese culinary culture and good French regional produce, all on one plate.
Le Fooding listed the restaurant in 2026 and singled out a tuna tartare with yuzu-ponzu, ginger purée and avocado-wasabi cream. It also praised a beef bibimbap served in a smoking hot marble bowl, next to homemade kimchi. The à la carte includes shrimp chawamushi, slow-cooked pork belly (sam) and a hand-cut Aubrac steak tartare with nashi pear. A mascarpone dessert with yuzu and plum granita closes the meal.
Celadon green walls give the dining room a luminous, calm look. Le Fooding called it elegant, which suits food built on precise, quiet seasoning.
The restaurant is temporarily closed for a relocation. Its site announces a reopening in June 2026 on rue de l'Ancien Courrier, under the name Umami La Dame de Seoul. Meanwhile the chef's bistrot, open for lunch, coffee and tapas, continues at 3 place de la Canourgue.
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In Montpellier, we now know where to go for a taste of the classics from the Land of the Morning Calm: rue de l’Écusson, where chef Amélie Young Min – runner-up on Master Chef Korea in 2016 – is attempting to define umami, the fifth flavor. In the luminous and elegant room with celadon green walls, the night we went, we had: a sublime tuna tartare with a yuzu-ponzu sauce, ginger purée, avocado-wasabi cream and crispy fried nori with sticky rice; a platter combining miso soup with bok choy, three banchans (grated salsify, fingerling potatoes in soy, cream of sweet potato and peanut) and an explosively flavorful beef bibimbap served in a smoking hot marble bowl, paired with some incredible homemade kimchi; plus a sweet mascarpone dessert with yuzu, plum granita and meringue. Also available à la carte: shrimp chawamushi ; an alluring sam , or slow-cooked sliced pork belly; hand-cut Aubrac steak tartare with nashi pear… But just beware, the umami blues are likely to strike after you take your final bite! FYI: Umami now boasts a takeaway shop at number 11 of the same street (from Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 2:30p and 5:30pm to 8:30pm): expect delicate salads, chic chirashis , kawaii sushi and traditional street food specialties (bibimbap, japchae, exquisite fresh kimchi sold in recycled glass containers, divine kimbap with fermented vegetables, the famous chimaek – spellbinding, freshly fried chicken, and French-Korean desserts). // M.Ra.
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