beef brisket "pho" at Momofuku Ssam Bar
If you follow the New York restaurant scene, you’d be forgiven for thinking that everybody loves David Chang and his Momofuku Ssam Bar: The New York Times, New York Magazine, New York bloggers, London bloggers . . . .
Well, I dropped by last Friday for a last-minute, family-reunion lunch, and I think I’ve finally found people who hate Momofuku Ssam Bar: Jon’s relatives.
Looking back, it was rather brain-dead of me to have suggested Momofuku to a group that included strict vegetarians, pork avoiders, and Italian-restaurants-only diners. Most tragic of my mistakes, the group I convened at Momofuku Ssam Bar understandably wanted to sit a while and catch up, and while Momofuku is a lot of wonderful things, it’s definitely not a place to linger (see e.g., the restaurant’s no-coffee-or-tea policy).
Still, as long as you eat fish, pork or Asian food and don’t mind an in-and-out vibe (I know, that’s a lot conditions to fulfill), you’ll really enjoy Momofuku Ssam Bar. I did, anyway.
Korean rice cakes with Chinese broccoli and sausage
I loved the flavors of spicy Korean rice cakes served with broccoli and sausage like a classic gnocchi dish. The rice cakes were beautifully crisped on the outside, chewy and comforting on the inside. And visually a lot of fun.
hoisin pork in a steamed bun
And the steamed pork buns were a pork-belly-lover’s dream. Crisp, pickled cucumber, sharp scallion and sweet hoisin to lighten the rich, fatty pork, all wrapped in a light, fluffy hot steamed bun. The perfect street food, except at $9 for two, you know Ssam Bar is no fast-food joint. Then again, a fast-food joint wouldn’t source from Newman Farm or Hudson Valley Foie Gras.
Definitely give the place a try the next time you’re in New York, unless, of course, you’re vegetarian, hate pork or want to linger at your table. Most plates are priced at $15-$20 each, so given the quality of ingredients and creativity of cooking, Momofuku Ssam Bar gets high scores for value.
Momofuku Ssam Bar, 207 2nd Avenue (at 13th Street); +1 212 254-3500; closest subway stations: 3rd Avenue (L) or 14th Street Union Square (4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W).
How was that “pho”? Looks fantastic!
I love love love the Ssam Bar! Did you try the new bakery while you were there?
yum! David Chang’s take on dduk bok kee (the rice cake dish). If you want a more traditional version, i’ll make it for you sometime!
I loved the pork buns when I tried them at the original Momofuku but thought the other dishes were generally too salty!
I write about my travels and food at local places from time to time too. You can check out my blog at amylynneadams.blogspot.com. Congradulations on 2009 best blog list!!
Amy
Their Momofuku noodle soup was the *best* – the perfect meal for a cold winter evening! I was back there about a year ago (after they had expanded from their 1st hole in the wall) and it was good but not as tasty as I’d remembered.
oh no! the chef is famously anti-vegetarian – their old meus were pretty unfriendly to the non meat eaters, so i’d never been. hope the family wasn’t too annoyed.
i’ve been on a dessert fix recently so i dragged russell to the momofuku milk bar one night recently. i’m not sure it lived up to the crazy hype it’s been getting, but i enjoyed my compost cookie.
haha, bummer! I know that feeling when you really love a restaurant, Then you bring friends and they’re at best indifferent… Plus I realized, there are a lot of fussy eaters in the worlds “food capital”. Love Momofuku btw.
have a nice weekend! alex
For a moment I thought momofuku came to London. And then I saw comma New York. Momofuku and Momofuku ssam are one of my favorites in NYC. They are also close to chikalicious one of other other NYC faves. While the fast in, fast out kind of bugs – I think momofuku is so good they are forgiven.
Su-Lin – the bakery (aka Momofuku Milk Bar) looked lovely, but for a variety of reasons that I won’t go into here on my blog, nobody in my group wanted to further patronize Momofuku after our meal, so I didn’t get a chance to try anything.
Jane – sign me up for homemade dduk bok kee anytime!
Rags – I’d be surprised if Momofuku can continue living up to all the hype and adulation it gets, so I can picture how you could remember meals there ben even “better” when the empire first began.
hanna – I think I took for granted that Jon’s vegetarian cousins would eat fish (bc many vegetarians we know do so), which would’ve made eating at Momofuku fine. But yeah, with fish sauce being a big ingredient at Momofuku, the place is definitely not-veg-friendly. What’s a compost cookie? The name alone isn’t promising. : )
Alex – you hit the nail on the head. Cheers.
gastroanthropologist – if Momofuku came to London, I’d be happy (bc I’d love to get my hands on those steamed pork buns again) but also sad (bc spin-offs are so rarely as good as the original), but I guess I don’t really have to worry about it, because, well, it’s not moving here. Also, I just checked out the chikalicious site, which looks great, so thanks for that tip.
Wow I would love to go there. I didn’t think you were allowed to take photos there though?
I am dying to try this place. How did you manage to get a reservation?
Gourmet Chick and A Girl Has to Eat: I think you’re both thinking of Momofuku Ko, which is David Chang’s high-end place that requires a lot of persistence on Ko’s website to snag a coveted spot (and where Ko has banned photography). Momofuku Ssam Bar is the mid-range part of Chang’s “empire,” and Momofuku Noodle Bar is, um, the noodle bar. There’s now also a Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar attached to Momofuku Ssam Bar . . . you do start to wonder where David Chang will strike next!
the compost cookies are choc chip cookies with a bunch of other stuff (compost) thrown in, like pretzles & potato chips. i’m not a fan of the potato chips, but liked the other stuff.
The day we wanted to try Momofuku, was the day we forgot our notebook / guidebook at the hotel. We totally walked around the area–First Ave, Second Ave, 13th street, 14th street, etc.–and couldn’t remember where the heck it was!
I’m so sorry (for myself) to have missed such fantastic-looking food!
I think I would LOVE the steamed pork buns. On my wishlist for when I next go to NYC, although I might have to wait a while!
Helen, you would *definitely* have loved those pork buns. Are you saying it’s not worth paying £350 to fly to NY to eat pork buns? : )
[...] April 2009: We were in New York to celebrate Jon’s grandma’s 95th birthday (95, and she still lives on her own!). Of course, while there, Jon and I couldn’t resist paying a visit to David Chang’s much-publicized Momofuku Ssam Bar. [...]