Momofuku Ko

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Momofuku Ko

posted by adam on March 23, 2010

Before deciding to visit Momofuku Ko, a diner is wise to ask how far he should go for good food.

To start, the restaurant only accepts reservations via their website. Starting from 10am, spots fill up in a matter of seconds. This got pretty frustrating after the first two weeks. I wrote a small python script to automatically find the next available reservation and to book it. Except it didn’t work. In some cases the day opened with no available tables. Other times availability lasted just an instant. In other words, people were clicking so quickly that even automated attempts were stressful and futile. I gave up after a few weeks of trying, until one day, I saw the green check of availability.

To further complicate things, the lower east side restaurant is easy to miss: it looks like a shop with the security gates permanently locked. The entrance is completely encased in a ragged metal mesh which blocks out most daylight, reminiscant of the eletromagnetic mesh cage in which Gene Hackman‘s extremely paranoid character worked in Enemy of the State. It’s fenced up like a prison. It’s very unwelcoming.

The service was laid-back yet distant. It seemed like the staff was playing out a more formal service than perhaps they were accustomed to. The interior was silent and scary. It was as if they secretly hated everyone there; but couldn’t decide just how much right away. The chefs, or at least the one working in front of me, were like David Chang robots. When I asked about the strict no-photo policy, I was hammered with a verbatim recitation of David Chang’s interview with Anthony Bourdain–complete with identical pauses and sighs. His trained response was “it’s just food … [pause to build suspense] … man.”

In spite of David Chang’s intense disdain, I wrote down notes about what I was eating. The maitre’d sneered at me throughout the meal. I felt like I was doing something wrong for wanting to remember my meal accurately. I didn’t even think about asking for a printed menu after seeing the intense dislike directed towards a guy a few seats down from me asking questions.

However, despite the serious service problems, and overwhelming feelings of coldness and discomfort, the 19-course tasting was overall delicious, filled with bursts of genius.

Crayfish arancino: a baked rice ball coated with breadcrumbs and filled with chunks of crayfish. This was served warm, like an Italian gougère. It could have used a pinch more salt. I was so worried this would burn my mouth, but it was just the right temperature.

Pomme soufflé, crème fraîche, hackleback caviar: a miniature cylindrical tube of pomme soufflé filled with crème fraîche and topped with caviar. The caviar acted as the salting element, combining earth and sea, making this a very balanced bite.

Greenmarket radish, salted butter: a mid-sized mild radish without much burn. The butter was on the sweeter side. In general I prefer saltier, stronger tasting butters like Beurre de Bordier served at l’Arpège or Manresa, so I wasn’t crazy about this one.

Island Creek oyster, hackleback caviar, lime, chive: this was served sashimi-style on a cube of packed ice in a wooden stand. Just like at Masa or Urasawa. The lime was generously applied, cutting through much of the brine. Overall this tasted exceptionally fresh and clean.

Kanpachi, lemon jam, white soy sauce, daikon sprout: the freshness of the amberjack was apparent immediately by the crunchy texture with a subtle sweetness. The lemon jam was used very sparingly adding just a hint of acidity and brightness to the fish.

Long Island fluke, tobanjyan, picked scallion, chive blossom, suba stem, two-year-aged soy sauce: at first this dish sounded overly complicated; but the combinations of sweet, salty, and spicy all came together really well with the fresh fish, providing a generous range of textures. The slightly fermeted chili sauce on here added a level of complexity.

Diver scallop, meyer lemon juice & zest, freeze-dried soy sauce, shiso, watermelon radish: a chunky diver scallop salted by coarse flakes of dehydrated soy sauce. The meyer lemon brightened the entire dish, particularly the crunchy slices of water-laden radish cubes. This provided an overall fantastic aroma and flavor making it my hands-down favorite dish of the afternoon. This was the last dish served on the block of compressed ice.

Uni, yuba, puffed black rice, horseradish, suba stems: the yuba had a smooth tannic quality that complimented the sweet creaminess of the sea urchin. Small puffs of black rice added textural contrast while a hint of horseradish lifted the sweetness.

Soft-shell crab hand roll, sugar snap peas, XO sauce, kewpie mayonnaise, dried shrimp: a very crunchy crab shell that crunched with each bite. It was pretty spicy. What killed this dish for me was that the hand roll was left sitting on the counter a little too long making the nori soggy. Seaweed surrounding a hand roll has a shelf-life of about 15 seconds. After that the dry seaweed crunch yields to wet sogginess.

Warm sliced octopus, mustard-cured cabbage, sea beans, lime, espelette aioli, buckwheat croquette: the octopus was sliced so thin that it melted on the buckwheat croquette. It developed a fatty texture not unlike lardo.

Puffed egg, Benton’s bacon dashi, kombu soaked in soy sauce, bagel stuffed with bacon-chive cream cheese: this was awful, the least enjoyable dish of the afternoon. It was kind of like a soft wet omelette dumped in a bowl of dashi. The fluffy egg began to disintegrate in the broth almost instantly, like the remnants of a breakfast buffet trolly.

Pea soup, housemade soft tofu, morels, bacon salt, radish sprouts: a very soft tofu sitting inside a thin broth of peas. Like the soggy puffed egg above, this was a mix of textures that I didn’t find appealing. The flavor of the pea soup was also bland.

Turbot poached in cherry blossom broth, hackleback caviar, hearts of palm, cucumber, lemongrass oil, swiss chard: a firm nugget of overcooked turbot served in strips that had been rolled before poaching. The fish was a bit under-salted despite the addition of hackleback caviar.

Cannelloni of rabbit leg & liver, rabbit bacon, fennel frond puree, minced fennel, pork cheek sauce: I liked how the licorice flavor from the fennel brought out the sweetness of the rabbit leg. However the pasta became spongy very quickly, perhaps from a second cooking in the fennel frond puree.

Shaved foie gras, lychee, pine nut brittle, riesling gelee: this was a brilliant dish, turning the foie gras into a creamy accompaniment that lasted as long as each bite on the plate. The frozen foie gras melted in my mouth like snow. The saltiness of the shaved liver with sweetness of the lychee swirled together in balance. This is a recipe I will certainly be trying at home, although the idea of shaving frozen foie gras gives me chills.

Long Island duck stuffed under the skin with vadouvan-spiced duck sausage, grilled rice & baby leeks, cassis & vadouvan sauce: this was excellent. The duck was uniformly soft and juicy crowned with a thin crispy layer of fat. The meat itself was somehow lean but not dry at all.

Manchester cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm, compressed pineapple, pistachio praliné, ground pistachio: the sweetness of the pineapple overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the cheese making the entire dish too sweet. I did like the crunch from the chunks of candied pistachio, but the cheese was almost an afterthought.

Parsnip ice cream, grapefruit, hazelnut nougat, fudge: the frozen nougat had an elastic texture that was both chewy and crunchy at once. It tasted like the grapefruit had been soaked in sugar water as it had no bitterness. Overall, a nice dessert.

Arnold Palmer sorbet, ice tea gelée, lemon cake crumble: A tart sorbet sitting atop a crunchy lemon cake. The ice tea gelée had a surprisingly crunchy texture as well.

My take-home gift was a small jar of pickled carrots and radish that made a surprisingly nice snack later that night.

Of all the Momofuku restaurants this is certainly the most refined, rife with bold and innovative flavors. A little tweaking of the menu could lift some of the roller coaster lows making the tasting even stronger. Based on food alone, this is probably the most interesting restaurant in the city right now. It sort of hurts to say that since the service and atmosphere is just terrible; but it’s the truth.

So while I probably won’t return, that doesn’t mean that Ko doesn’t warrant a first-time visit. Just leave your camera at home, and bring a lot of patience.

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Tags: david chang, michelin 2*, momofuku, sam gelman

Momofuku Noodle Bar

posted by adam on October 4, 2009

When I first discovered Momofuku Noodle Bar, the concept bewildered me. A New York ramen restaurant seemed misplaced. How could a low-key Asian street-stall dish be hawked to New York’s hipsters at high prices? Very readily, it turns out. And I believe the reason for the smashing (if not immediate) success of Noodle and its later brethren lies in chef/owner David Chang’s business savvy: small portions, bar seating, loud music, and food that seems at once exotic and comforting. And despite a well-documented hatred for food photography, which I strongly disagree with when done tactfully (no flash and no pictures of diners), Chang allows such gaucherie at the Noodle Bar which means I can share my most recent experience there.

The Noodle Bar is sneaky, offering slightly under-portioned dishes at reasonable prices. Designed to be shared, these small plates add up to cost more than a multi-course tasting menu at one of the city’s fancier restaurants. This low barrier of entry provides diners the comfort of being able to spend modestly, while the small-statured dishes create the illusion possibility of having “just a bite.” Chang is a polarizing figure, with ardent supporters and adamant enemies, but he is tuned in to what the dining public wants in a way many of his peers can only dream of. When one concept doesn’t work, he tries another. Noodle’s namesake items might be the least popular thing on the menu, and at Ssäm they aren’t even available anymore.

In their place is a formidable range of fare that juxtaposes Korean-influenced Asian exoticism and classic American comfort: pork belly sandwiches, fried chicken with a chili glaze, or roasted fingerling potatoes with miso broth to name a few. For the cultural pioneers, non-fusion dishes like Fukuoka’s yatai-influcenced Ramen and ChengDu’s cold spicy noodles are always on the menu. Noodle Bar is a highly customizable experience, working well for a quick snack, a full meal, or just a drink and appetizer with a friend… it’s always a good idea. Perhaps this is why the Noodle Bar is always so crowded, when other restaurants are struggling.

Aaron was kind enough to secure us a reservation for Momofuku’s recently-introduced fried chicken dinner. His efforts involved waking up daily at the crack of 10am and hitting Command+R like his life depended on it to grab a table through the online reservation system. The process is as maddening as that for Ko or the Bo Ssäm at, well, Ssäm. Tables disappear in just seconds. But one lucky morning, a green check popped up among the usual sea of red X’s. I’ve never seen the man move so fast, sprinting to find his credit card and secure the booking.

Ordering that night was fairly simple: fried chicken. In search for dietary equilibrium, however, we ordered a few extra dishes to share amongst the four of us. We started with steamed buns of shiitake mushroom and pork belly. The mushroom was squeaky and juicy, the moisture pouring into the bun with each bite. But I found its flavor a bit too subtle; my guess is its addition on the menu is solely to please vegetarians. The pork buns, however, were exceptional. Sweet hoisin sauce mixed with slightly salty pork, coating the crispy fat in flavor. The welcome addition of scallions helped break up the fatty mouthfeel from this rich cut of pork. The bun here acted like a sponge, soaking up every juice that escaped the meat. These were delicious.

Three additional appetizers made their way to our table, starting with roasted corn, fingerling potatoes, and miso broth. The thick-skinned corn was sweet and light, the scallions and potatoes added for textural contrast. The potatoes also helped to absorb the miso broth. This was my favorite of the three smaller plates. My only complaint is that I had to share it with three other people.

The rice cakes with roasted onions and red chili peppers had a really interesting texture somewhere in-between chewy and crispy, a result of an aggressive pan-frying to finish the cooking process. The first bite was the best because with it came the pronounced contrast between the crispy exterior and sticky-smooth inside. The surface had was slick with hot chili and sweet caramelized onions. I found the pieces to be a little too big, though, leaving the flavor dominated by the rice cake rather than the spicing. They were also quite filling. One piece was enough for me. Aaron seemed quite pleased by my lack of enthusiasm for the dish, however. This has always been one of his favorites here.

The last of the three appetizers was the lightest: heirloom tomatoes with melon, crisped ham, and mint leaves. A combination of sweet and fruity flavors salted by the smoky ham. The tomatoes were particularly sweet. I would have preferred more tomatoes and less melon as the dish only had three split cherry-sized tomatoes and about six times that quantity of melon. Contrary to what the menu promised, this was more of a melon salad with tomatoes.

The highlight of the evening, however, was what we’d all come for. The Momofuku fried chicken: two whole birds, one southern style and one Korean style. The mound of crispy is accompanied by a complete potpourri of fresh long spicy peppers, baby carrots, red ball radishes, bibb lettuce, opal basil and mint. There were also four sauces: ginger-scallion, jalapeño-garlic vinaigrette, hoisin, and chili sauce with a bit of sesame.

The fried chicken was just exceptional — the most memorable I’ve ever had. The Southern-style chicken is marinated in buttermilk and battered with Old Bay and cayenne pepper. The skin and seasoning fused together into a thin bread-like crust. The spices, meanwhile, only augmented the juicy flavor of the chicken without dominating it. Like an air-tight wrapping, the batter locked in the moisture, keeping every bite juicy and moist. I kept looking for excuses to eat just crispy exterior, a chicharrón of chicken.

The Korean-style chicken was equally excellent, triple fried and bathed in chili paste. The crust here is less cakey than the southern style; here, the thin crust forms a crackling paper-mâché like surface enveloping the skin. The flavor is mildly sweet and spicy, making a great contrast to the southern-style. Again, not oily in the slightest.

Aside from the well-cooked meat, this dish was incredibly fun to eat. The multiple sauces and herbs provide a near infinite number of possible flavor combinations. Between a table of four, eating this chicken developed into an interactive game of who could find the best way to combine the chicken with the herbs and fresh vegetables inside the most delicious wrapping. I personally liked making small wraps with a shiso leaf, hoisin sauce, and a nub of southern-style chicken. Aaron seemed to favor the Korean style bird, as evidenced by the bone graveyard left on his plate when he was done. I’m not sure what our two friends preferred, honestly; they stopped talking after the first bite.

This was a very special meal, and one I’d definitely like to repeat. The company was lovely and the conversation…. well, there was very little conversation once the crispy birds were on the table. But for fried chicken, this is definitely the place to go. Just click fast. Those green checks are fleeting.

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Tags: david chang, fried chicken, momofuku, noodle, ramen