More Momofuku

Yes, you can call it an obsession.

The last few trips I've made to New York, I have insisted on dragging my friend, Dan, to Momofuku. My most recent trip was no exception, well, except that I insisted on taking him there twice, two nights in a row.

Tuesday Night, February 24, 2009
Dinner, Momofuku Ssam Bar
New York, New York

Dan and I arrived early, at about 6:45, and the restaurant was nearly empty. We sat side-by-side at the main long table running down the left side of the restaurant (I suppose you could think of it as a "bar," though half of table seats diners on both sides and looks more like a high table than a bar). The menu, which proclaims itself not at all "vegetarian friendly," looked as decadent as ever. The best way to describe the menu is as an unabashed homage to fat, rawness and strong, rich flavors. Pork is the dominant feature of most dishes, though the menu includes an impressive offering of raw oysters, fish, shrimp and sea urchin (I tasted the uni with tapicoa and whipped tofu on my first visit to the restaurant a year and a half ago).

We started with the steamed buns, which are unlike any other bun I've ever tried. Instead of what I think of as a traditional round, sealed-off Chinese bun, the Momofuku buns are crescent shaped and more like soft, thick tacos or pitas than anything else. Stuffed with slices of braised pork belly along with a layer of rich, salty hoisin sauce, cucumbers and scallions, each bite was a welcome reintroduction to David Chang's inventive and pleasurable cooking.

Next, we ordered a special dish of mussels steamed in a salty unfiltered sake broth with bok choy. Served with lamb sausage focaccia for dipping, the sauce made for one of the most unusual and flavorful versions of steamed mussels I've ever tasted. We also ordered a charred squid salad, dressed with ginger, scallions and mizuna (a Japanese mustard green). This was the weakest and least interesting dish. An order of lamb torolloni, however, turned out to be a beautiful pasta dish served with black garlic, pine nuts and rocotta cheese.

Our final plate was lamb sweetbreads, which were served with chestnuts, king oyster mushrooms and radishes. A truly amazing combination of flavors, the chestnuts and mushrooms combined with the sweetbreads to make a rich, thick, deep and dark sauce that coated the tender sweetbreads. The texture of the fresh radish contrasted nicely with the softness of the other ingredients. It was a superb dish. We drank a J. Christopher white wine from Oregon with the meal.

For dessert, we walked next door to the new Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, where we tried the Cereal Milk soft serve ice cream (yes, it tasted like the leftover cereal milk) and marshmallow cereal milk, which I preferred for its tartness and slightly green color.

Wednessday Night, February 25, 2009
Dinner, Momofuku Noodle Bar
New York, New York

The next night, I once again dragged Dan out to try the Momofuku Noodle Bar, which was the original Momofuku restaurant. It looks almost identical to the Ssam Bar, but the menu is smaller, more modest, and features primarily noodles and ramen. Like the Ssam Bar, pork is the favored meat at the Noodle Bar too. We could not resist ordering the pork buns again. They were identical to the ones we ate the night before, though no less pleasurable and tasty. We could have ordered chicken buns, made with the darker chicken leg and thigh meat and crispy chicken skin, but neither one of us could resist the pork belly a second time around.

We also tried the Momofuku Ramen, a bowl of hot ramen noodles served in a pork broth with shredded pork, pork belly, scallions and a poached egg. It was as rich and enjoyable as it sounds. Finally, we shared a braised beef shank, which was served with carrots and turnips and topped with freshly shaved horseradish. The beef was soft, tender and perfectly braised. I enjoyed the horseradish, but the dish was fairly predictable and not as inventive as I would have hoped for. We drank a bottle of Gruner Veltliner with the meal.

For dessert, we tried the only dessert option available on the menu, a swirl of vanilla wafer and banana soft serve ice cream. I loved the vanilla wafer flavor in particular. On the whole, it was a very good meal, though none of the dishes topped the creative mix of flavors from the night before.

Walking out of the Noodle Bar, we walked past Ko, which I would love to try some day soon. I peaked in the small porthole window in the front door and gazed in on the twelve lucky diners enjoying their meals. It was a sight to keep my Momofuku obsession alive until my next trip to New York.