March 8, 2008

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Momofuku Ssäm Bar (New York, NY)

Momofuku has been extensively hailed as the second coming of cuisine in America, and I think, after two visits, rightly so. It's an unpretentious, inexpensive, deliciousness-focused cuisine that is unique to my experience. Each time I've gone, my party has spent about $35 per person, and gotten a succession of dishes that have satisfied in a way many haute cuisine temples can't touch. It's not just that so many of the dishes contain crowd-pleasers like roasted pork belly, or Benton's ham and bacon (can you sense the theme developing?), it's that the entire concept seems to be built around giving you yummy, fresh things in quantities large enough to get fat on. And I mean that in a good way.

David Chang, the chef of Momofuku, does a number of things well, but chief among these is his knack for knowing when to keep piling on flavors, and when to stop. A selection of hams is served with minimal accountrements--mustard, and perhaps some bread. The quality of the hams he sources requires nothing more. Spicy pork sausage, on the other hand, had miniature rice cakes, Chinese broccoli, Bird's Eye chilis, crispy shallots, and much more, delivering a complex hit of flavors one might expect from a really stellar pan-Asian restaurant. But whereas other chefs of Chang's caliber might deconstruct it somewhat, spreading out the various components and sauces on a stark white plate roughly the size one might use to serve a Thanksgiving turkey, Chang unceremoniously dumps it all together in a bowl. This sort of unassuming presentation helps marry the flavors and convince any wary diners to try the full pairing, but it also makes the meal a lot less scary to those unaccustomed to being challenged when they dine. It's just a bowl full of deliciousness, just like you'd eat at your mother's table. You can eat a big bowl of something good at Momofuku while listening to indie rock. Eat it while wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Eat it, and be sated.

Here's what I had at Momofuku Ssäm Bar this time in NYC, followed by some general pictures of the dining experience going on around us.

1. Santa Barbara Sea Urchin

   Served with black tapioca pearls, scallions, and whipped tofu topped with various seasonings. The creamy, light flavor of the whipped tofu was a great foil for the briny sea urchin, putting the uni out front where it belonged. The amazing thing was, after all the sea urchin was gone, how much we enjoyed the whipped tofu and tapioca pearls with the seasonings. We weren't told precisely what the seasonings were, but they appeared to be simply ground crunchy snacks, with a salty but spiced flavor reminiscent of barbecue potato chips. I can't imagine that Chang made his own Asian crunchy snacks for it, so I'm guessing that he makes use, in this dish and others, of actual Asian snacks. It's a special sort of unpretentiousness that serves him well, recognizing that sometimes processed foods and condiments are onto something, and they enhance many of his dishes as they did here. Very good.

   

2. Roasted Mushroom Salad

   In addition to the roasted mushrooms, there were pistachios, radishes, something called "crosnes," and mushroom cream at the bottom. I couldn't identify which varieties of mushrooms were represented, but they were all quite delicious, roasted till they were just starting to brown a bit at the edges and tenderize in their centers, but still in a fairly unmolested state. The mushroom cream at the bottom would have been a pretty respectable sauce for a meat dish or something, but it worked really well in this salad, adding richness and dressing every bite with deep mushroom flavor. The radishes provided a snappy freshness, but the greens seemed mostly for color (or to give it proper salad credentials). I could have used more acidity. Also, this dish was about four times as large in October, for the same price. Oh, and it contained bacon back then (though it wasn't missed this time). Good.

   




3. Fuji Apple Kimchi

   One of their more well-known dishes, I've learned that it has evolved significantly in the last year or two. Apparently it used to be very strongly kimchi-flavored, to the point where the accoutrements were absolutely necessary for any non-lover of kimchi to stand it. Now the kimchi flavor is more mild, but still present in every bite. I don't love kimchi, but the kimchi-marinated apples here were delicious on their own, and I'd snack on them any time. In fact, I'm tempted to keep a tupperware full of something like this around for that very purpose.

   The crisp apples were served with arugula, crispy Burgers' Smokehouse smoked jowl, and maple "labne," which was a white, creamy, and slightly-maple flavored condiment. Everyone in my party of six had this (we ordered several), and every person loved it. Excellent.

   

4. Fried Brussels Sprouts

   I didn't get a picture of the fried brussels sprouts, but they were very heavily caramelized and served in a normal bowl with chilies, mint, and fish sauce. Last time at Momofuku, it was fried cauliflower. In both cases, the deep caramelization brings tons of flavor, and the extras also bring out the sweetness in the veggie. And although I could have eaten tons of these, and everyone at the table really liked them, they were vastly oversalted for me (which is tough to do). Good.

5. Spicy Pork Sausage

   As stated in the intro, this dish was phenomenal, and vastly exceeded its simple presentation. Into the bowl went shredded bits of pork sausage, little gnocchi-like rice cakes, dried chilies, crispy shallots, scallions, and several other unidentifiable things. All the flavors melded together in a chili oil sauce, and each bite had spicy, porky goodness, as per Chang's trademark. This is another dish that everyone at the table loved. The only complaints came when one of us accidentally bit into one of the dried chilies, chewing it up and sloshing it around in our mouths before we realized the three to five minutes of agonizing fire with which we were coating our mouths. To perfect the dish, I'd say the kitchen should remove the chilies once everything is sauteed, but I am guessing that some people really love them. Excellent.

   

6. Fried Poussin with Collard Greens and Sausage Gravy

   Trying to induce my friends to accompany Jeanette and I to Momofuku on this trip to New York, I described it as "Korean mixed with Southern Soul Food." This dish displayed those Southern influences more plainly than many. This was a special for the night, not on the normal menu, and we got it because we wanted to see Momofuku's take on the classics: Fried chicken, collard greens, and sausage gravy. It arrived in medallions of medium-rare deboned chicken (the rarest I've ever eaten). Each one was wrapped in (I am guessing) a wonton wrapper and fried. In addition, there was a leg with the thigh. The whole affair was sitting atop a bed of shredded, tender, crisp collard greens that tasted like they'd been cooked with bacon. And to the sides were some pools of sausage gravy with the ground up sausage still in it. This dish was as near to perfection as anything I've tried at Momofuku, and was easily one of the best dishes I've ever had. The medium-rare baby chicken was so juicy and tender that some of my friends said its texture was more like butter than chicken. I'm more accustomed to juicy, not-overcooked chicken than them, but indeed, this was the juiciest, most tender chicken I've ever had. The crispiness and depth of flavor in the fried exterior added a lot of appeal, and the collard greens were outstanding. They were brighter in color than Southern-style collard greens, and retained their crisp freshness, while nevertheless taking on slow-cooked, bacony flavor. And the sausage gravy could've been sausage bisque, it was so rich and sausagey. It all worked together very well, playing on familiar flavor combinations in new ways. Excellent.

   

So if you're in New York, or going to New York, make plans to come here. It's one of the best values in dining in the city. Despite the appearance of crowding, we've been seated as walk-ins on weekend nights in under thirty minutes twice now, even with a party of seven. So give it a shot. Try their house-carbonated sake. And don't bring your kosher or vegetarian friends.

Posted by Barzelay at March 8, 2008 1:12 AM | Comments (0) | Restaurants

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