The Momofukus

So when in New York, what do you do? You go David Chang / Momofuku crazy, that's what. I had planned a number of restaurants to visit in NYC but unfortunately I didn't get to them all. However, on the flip side, there were some places that I enjoyed so much I went back to multiple times - and Momofuku Noodle Bar, and the Milk Bar were two such places.

Momofuku Ssam Bar

Prior to even leaving Australia I had secured a group booking for the pork shoulder bo ssam at Momofuku Ssam Bar. This was something that I was eagerly awaiting, and I had been lucky to secure a booking even four weeks in advance. To be able to book at Momofuku, you have to register online at their website and check at 10am New York time daily for new releases. For the slow cooked pork shoulder ssam, it is recommended that there be a minimum of 6-8 people to partake, and I thought that it was incredibly great value at $200 + tax - and that included the pork shoulder, rice, lettuce to wrap, a dozen oysters and lots of different side dishes as is Korean custom.

 Fronting up to the restaurant on the evening of our reservation, I was excited but nervous as, instead of the 6-8 people the restaurant recommended to take on the pork shoulder, there were only 5 of us. Although we were armed with big appetites and were determined to conquer the meal, we all fell into a hushed silence when this descended upon us:

The behemoth

It was, without a doubt, enormous. The picture does not do it any justice. It rendered us all speechless and our bravado was immediately lost. Cutting through this though, I did note how tender the pork was, especially when our waiter speared the tongs into the top of it. Accompanying the pork were all of our sides, a huge bowl of rice, the oysters and of course, the buttery lettuce leaves that were to be our wraps.

Without further ado, we started shredding the pork - it was as tender as I suspected and shredded easily. The pork was a revelation - it was so tender and full of flavour. I've never been entirely comfortable with cooking large hunks of meat, so I was suitably impressed.

 

 

 

My first little wrap - and there were many more to come!

We all started off at a good pace, energetic as we passed around the sauces and the sides, chatting and laughing. Soon enough though, our energy levels sagged and conversation dimmed as we came to a realisation that we wouldn't be able to finish the pork. We struggled on though, taking our turns in giving inspirational words of encouragement, talking about how we only needed to eat four more... three more...

I admit that I was the first to call it quits. I waved the white flag and called it a day. I was so full that I was uncomfortable even sitting. The three boys exchanged glances, trying to rally for the final leg but they soon also realised that it could not be done. I thought we did very well though - if there were a sixth to our party, we would have definitely finished everything. Let's see what we left behind...

Practically nothing!

It was a good effort, and a great lot of fun. Fantastic food, a food challenge (and who doesn't love those?) in a very cool place for a bargain of a price.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

If you have read my post on the ramen wars, you will know already that I rate Momofuku Noodle Bar as having the best ramen in NYC. I was such a fan of the Noodle Bar that I ate there twice, and both times had a fantastic meal. Here is a snapshot of what we ordered and ate:

The famous pork buns

charred squid salad

Momofuku ramen

Beet & lime soft serve

Smoked chicken wings

kim chi stew

spicy chicken ramen

All delicious and very reasonably priced!

Momofuku Milk Bar

You may have seen from my earlier post that I became a fast fan of cereal milk and it's various concoctions: the milkshake, the soft serve, etc. I have attempted to recreate it at home and it is a faithful rendition, so it's nice to be able to have a piece of NYC at home in Sydney!

From the Milk Bar I also had a number of cookies: cornflake, marshmallow and chocolate, and the famous compost cookie. I found the cookies very very buttery and indulgent, but what won my heart over (apart from the cereal milk) were the cake truffles. Holy heaven they were good. I have no pictures of my Milk Bar indulgences (probably because I was so focussed on eating) but I do have happy memories.

The Milk Bars are spread all over NYC and serve not many things, but all of them sweet. I didn't try the crack pie as I heard that it was incredibly sweet, and as I was on the run, only grabbed things that I could stuff in my bag and eat later - the chocolate malt cake truffles were the best of the lot. I even went back to try the birthday cake truffles but no, chocolate malt still wins hands down. I still remember where I was when I was eating them - roaming through the back gardens of a church near Wall St, having a bite and knowing my eyes went wide with amazement. They were THAT good.

That statement stands for probably all of my Momofuku experiences in NYC. I was glad (and relieved) to see that it lived up to it's hype. I didn't get around to eating at Ko or Ma Peche, but I was very happy to be eating at the more casual eateries of the Noodle Bar and the Ssam Bar.

And I wish we had the Milk Bar here in Oz!
thesuzchef x