05.26.08

Review of Momofuku Ko, Saturday May 2008

Posted in American, Asian, East Village, eclectic, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 05:01 by Dominique

163 1st Ave. & 10th St., http://www.momofuku.com/ko/
Great for: impressing the hell out of a foodie, foie gras ecstasy, orgasmic food, oenophiles

As you may know, I managed to charm Mr. Ko into choosing me as his Saturday night date. It was a pretty tense few days for me – I met him Tuesday for a drink and waited until Thursday night to find out he’d picked me. I was so excited I was jumping up and down telling everyone within earshot. In April I tried every day for three weeks to get a reservation. I stopped a month ago because the Boyfriend and I broke up and I had no one to go with. Mr. Ko came along just in time.

Ko has this crazy Moorish prison look. It’s in the old Noodle Bar spot, covered entirely in grating. If the Alhambra only took up a storefront about five feet across and had some very dangerous prisoners, it might appear something like this. Yes, those are bars across every bit of glass except over the peach. It’s a very East Village-appropriate departure from the “welcome customers” school of restaurant design.

We were a little nervous going in, afraid we’d be told our reservation was canceled like the infamous Tom’s. Everything was fine, though, and a pretty hostess seated us; Mr. Ko, his friends J and S, and me. She put Moleskine notebooks in front of each of us, which turned out to contain a wine list glued to the first 15 pages or so. Bewildered – well, I was; the others are more advanced in matters oenological – I opted for the $50 wine pairing. Mr. Ko and J got the $85, and S splurged on the $150. Every course came with four plates. When there were two different dishes, we were given two of each to portion out amongst ourselves.

They started us off with two amuse-bouches. The house-made chicharrón, a crispy pork skin, with togerashi and salt was feather-light, odd and good. If Chef Chang ever wants to start a junk food line he could just package those and sell them as potato chip alternatives. The English muffin with whipped pork fat, bay leaf and chives was ridiculously tasty. It was a little bigger than a poker chip. I wish I could have one every morning. In fact, I wish I could eat them all day. Wine: rosé champagne.

Next up, a sliced diver scallop with pickled crosnes (a tuber, pronounced krones), chive oil, freeze-dried soy sauce and chive blossoms. It was the first time I’ve liked raw scallop. The whole combination was delicious. The Long Island fluke over buttermilk, white soy, chive and poppy seeds was even better. The slight tang of the buttermilk showcased the fish nicely. And chives just make everything better. Wine: sauvignon blanc.

The Georgia sweet pea soup with Louisiana crawfish and stewed morels wrapped in yuba (tofu skin) tasted strongly of peas, but the salty crawfish balanced that out. I liked it a lot, although it wasn’t a huge hit with the others. Mr. Ko made fun of me so I was brave and tried the morels, which were much less bad than I expected. I hate mushrooms and people are always making me try them again and I never like them any better. These were on the top 5 most tolerable list, though. We were united in our high opinion of the kimchi consommé, with two raw oysters, two slices of Berkshire pork belly and cabbage leaf. The broth is from pork stock and tastes smoky and amazing. The pork was life-changing. I avoid fat, for professional reasons, but I actually put the whole slice in my mouth. And I loved it. I can see I’ll have to step up my efforts at the gym. Wine: sake.

One of the best dishes was the lightly smoked hen egg over onion soubise, potato chips and hackleback caviar. I almost wanted to fake an orgasm like in When Harry Met Sally. Somehow the egg was “like its own hollandaise sauce,” as Mr. Ko said. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. I loved the flavor combinations in the chawanmushi, a kind of egg custard, with asparagus, ramp juice, braised cashews, more hackelback caviar and argan oil. It was subtle and light. I wish I knew how to make it myself. Wine: sauvignon blanc.

Next there was a very filling spring lasagna stuffed with mushroom, burgundy, escargot, ramps and garlic, sprinkled with broccoli rabe flowers and ricotta salata, along with some other stuff that I couldn’t type in fast enough. There were so many delicious flavors and textures, it was like a mouth orgy. It’s quite salty, I think from the ricotta. The escargot is a surprising addition that somehow works with everything else and wasn’t too chewy. Mr. Ko thought it too salty at first but grew to like it as he ate more of it. Wine: pinot noir.

The trout in caper brine and bacon purée with toasted almonds and yuzu-marinated breakfast radishes was love at first bite. The crunchy nuts contrasted very well with the flaky fish. I thought the sauce was interestingly tasty, especially the bacon notes. The sourpuss radishes are better eaten with everything else. We were not that impressed with the halibut in pepperoncini purée topped with diced radishes, bok choy and burnt onion. The fish was a bit tough and/or overcooked and the radishes didn’t taste so great. Neither was the startling bitterness of the pepperoncini masked by the other things. Usually when we tried a bit of every component of a dish all together we understood why Chef Chang did it that way, but this one was just weird. J and S said theirs was really good – unfortunately, they’d devoured it all before Mr. Ko and I had a chance to compare. Wine: spiced white ale. I never drink beer, so it was a high compliment that I tried this one and didn’t hate it. Although that may have had something to do with the five little glasses of wine I’d already had.

The next course was the high point of the entire meal. It may have been the high point of my life as a foodie. It was, of course, the torchon of foie gras on riesling gelée, pine nuts, peanut (?) brittle and lychee. They freeze the liver using liquid nitrogen into a small log, which they then abuse with a grater until the dish is covered in a foiedrift. It comes in an aptly gorgeous wave bowl. The teeth-sticking brittle, whatever it’s made of, is a touch of genius. I’d have to give it at least 12 out of 10, for sure – all of us wanted to start licking the bowls when we couldn’t get another drop with our spoons. It was so orgasmic, J and S went outside for cigarettes afterward. Wine: dessert sake Kamoizume Komekome.

Somehow the “main” course kept the meal at the same high pitch. The deep fried Montana Legend short ribs with pickled daikon, mustard seeds, pickled baby carrots and scallion was nothing short of incredible. I don’t know how they managed to get the outside of the ribs crispy while the insides were like “short rib pudding” (Mr. Ko again). Maybe it was sous vide first before deep frying? The weirdly good vegetables were a perfect tart contrast to the richness of the meat and sauce. The morel-stuffed chicken poulard with ramps, swiss chard, kolhrabi purée and greens was also fantastic. Somehow the chicken was tender and chewy at the same time with an outside skin like Peking duck. J, who’s a chef, said they probably cooked the meat separately and then wrapped it back up in the skin. Both dishes were so good I forgot to drink for quite a while. Wine: Domaine de Poujol rosé, a combination of sancerre and grenache.

Our pre-dessert was two sorbets; lychee on sesame sand, and kiwi on apricot purée with olive oil. The kiwi was pretty tangy and not on the level of the amazing lychee sorbet, which was refreshing and light and somehow perked me up from my impending food coma as though I’d had an espresso. Wine: none in my pairing, though I helped the others finish off their cava.

The long hedonistic journey came to an end with poached rhubarb over pea soil and peas accompanied by yellow cake ice cream over a bit of chocolate cake. The ice cream was incredible, the rhubarb tart but tasty and creative, and we all could have done without the peas. We forgot about them when we combined everything in one spoonful though. The cereal (grapenut soaked) panna cotta with chocolate slab, cornflakes and avocado was a sweet and savory delight. The chef who served us the course came over and replaced my chocolate because I didn’t eat it right away and it was starting to melt. She was almost scolding me so I obediently started hacking away at it. I was again blown away at Chef Chang’s inventiveness – who would think to steep panna cotta in grapenuts? Or put avocado under it? And it worked, which was the truly crazy part. Wine: muscatel.

We found the wine pairings thoughtful and complementary. I liked each one except the ale, and I was on the verge of not disliking that. If you’ve got the extra cash, definitely go for the $150 – the others are good too, but that one had some transcendental wines. (S was kind enough to pass her glasses around.) Initially I was worried about getting the pairing, because the last time I did that – Fleur de Sel – I was almost wasted when we left. I needn’t have worried. They pour about half glasses, and the hostess said no one’s ever stumbled out blind drunk. She was great. Really knowledgeable about wine and like a ray of sunshine compared to the very focused, busy chefs.

They’ve stopped saying that “for the lady/gentleman” thing that people were complaining about. However, they still put all the lighter dishes in front of me instead of Mr. Ko, and it is annoying. I know they are just giving us both options so there’s no reason to consciously make that choice every time. The four chefs were kind of friendly at first. They got surly toward the end, especially when we started asking questions and the restaurant filled up. Some of them explained the dishes super fast while glaring at me. I guess I could have typed under the table but I thought they’d be used to all the food bloggers coming in. They were great about giving us a leisurely meal, though – J asked them to try to slow it down, and the hostess said we had some time before the next 4-top so she’d tell the chefs. We ended up eating for 3.5 hours!

A meal of 10 courses here is comparatively cheap at $85 $100 (as of 6/07/2008). For instance, the 8-course tasting menu at Bar Milano is $85, while the 6 courses at Fleur de Sel and 7 courses at Tabla are both $89. And Ko is a much better restaurant, at least food-wise. So basically you get more courses and better food while sacrificing only service, ease of access and $15. A worthy trade-off, I’d say.

This was one of the most amazing meals of my life. I’m really happy that Mr. Ko picked me, and of course it’s always exciting to meet a good guy. (I mean, I’m hoping he’s a good guy. It’s only been two dates.) It was 10 courses of incredible creativity, and although a couple things didn’t work, the rest of the 18 dishes were a parade of “Mmmmm!”s. I ate so much I had a little Ko baby for about an hour afterward. Good thing I was wearing a deceptive black dress. If I can ever get a reservation in a few months when I’ve lost the weight I’ll be back in a heartbeat.

Rating: 9.5 / 10
Our cost: $940 (4 people with $85 food prix fixe: 2 $85 wine pairings, 1 each of $50 & $150)
Noise level: very quiet. Conducive to private foodie arguments.
Chance of walking in: if you try the reservation site every day at 10am Momofuku time, maybe you’ll get lucky. Or more likely not and you’ll curse the “Sorry someone nabbed this spot” screen and say “well momo, fuk u too.” Er – that might just be me.

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