(New York) – There must be something about a restaurant if people are cheerfully willing to wait for more than an hour to get seats for dinner. I was forewarned by some of my New Yorker friends about the notorious wait at Momofuku but such warning does not have any impact on me. It thrills me more, actually. So the day that I was scheduled to be strolling around the lower east side, I made sure that my last meal for the day will be at Momofuku.
The hour-long wait paid off. The food is extraordinarily delicious. The steamed bun with pork belly is perfection. The pork belly is super tender and it melts in my mouth together with the soft and flawlessly smooth white buns. The beef brisket is equally tender and tasty while the spicy noodle throws some explosive punches with its fiery flavors. And the candied cashew with the spiced sausage is just brilliant.
To top it all, the ramen is exceptional. The soup is deeply flavored and the noodle is prominently fresh. Watching the yolk glides slowly on the upper membrane of the soup as I subtly poke into the poached egg is mesmerizingly beautiful.
Pork Belly Steamed Buns
Slow Roasted Beef Brisket with pickled vegetables, cilantro on rice
Chilled Spicy Noodles with Sichuan spiced sausage, spinach, cashews
Momofuku Ramen with pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg
Brilliant chefs at work.
The elusive fried chicken. I was not stalking on anyone on the next table. They’re not my type, (kiddin!). I was trying to get a snap shot of the reservation-only southern and Korean-style fried chicken. Yes, it’s not on the menu and you have to call up to 4 weeks in advance to make it to the list. It drove me insane seeing and hearing the people from the other table enjoy their chicken. I shall return for this! 🙂
171 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003 (212) 777-7773 www.momofuku.com