Momofuku Ssäm Bar
I had the chance to eat at Momofuku Ssäm Bar last night with the Danimal. It was an absolutely incredible experience.
I had eaten at Momofuku Noodle Bar a little while before this, and for some time before that I had been reading snippets of interviews and profiles of Chef David Chang and his iconoclastic culinary style, so my appetite — for both food and adventure — had been pretty thoroughly whetted. I don’t think I did such a great job of conveying all the hype to Dan, but he was game anyway and we dug in with a pair of the pork buns.
They were fantastic. In such a simple dish it’s hard to pinpoint what makes it special. I think it was the sense of utter, yet casual, perfection. The bun was the perfect amount of fluffiness, the pork was perfectly succulent and fatty, and the sauce hit the exactly right note to top it off. We both remarked how good it was after the first bite, and then we kept on exclaiming throughout the meal, saying things like “Wow! That really is good.”
It was almost so good that it wasn’t believable. I would take a bite and remark about how good it was, and then I’d start talking about something and when I got around to taking another bite I wouldn’t expect that it could be as good on the next bite, since the taste was no longer novel. But each time I took a bite it was as good as the first one. “Wow, that really is that good.”
We also tried the Momofuku Ssäm. Excellent. And the Braised Rice Cakes which were unlike anything else I’d ever had. The best description I can come up with is that they have the chewiness and mouthfeel of the large, black Bubble Tea tapioca balls, but they are the same color and shape as Hearts of Palm.
Highly recommended. The Chef also does this really cool thing where he will randomly anoint some table to receive super-special VIP treatment, known as the soigné ticket. It makes eating there feel like you’re playing the lottery.
Update: I went to Momofuku again a week later and saw Owen Wilson exiting the building as I was coming in. Cool. (He looked short.)
