It's Ko Time

After months of getting a reminder every day at 9:56am and clicking fruitlessly at what I assumed to be 10:00:01, I finally secured a reservation at the ever elusive Momofuku Ko for last night. Naturally expectations were quite high and my morning was spent researching all the blogs I could find that covered the experience as the financial markets collapsed around me.

The restaurant exterior certainly contributed to the mystique as the entire front is covered in what appears to be a cage with only the small orange that is the logo peeking out. When you enter you are sat at a stool at a long wooden bar right in front of the chefs as you watch them cook and are served directly by them.

The meal was absolutely, ridiculously, unbelievably spectacular. There were some items that I had read about while some items that were a complete surprise. The one drawback was there really wasnt that much interaction with the chefs. They answered any questions asked of them readily and explained each dish as it came, but any illusion of becoming best friends with the chefs and talking food all night didnt seem to be the case. I imagine in the early months they may have been more accessible but I can imagine a constant flow of customers such as myself who ask somewhat ignorant questions but think they know a lot may get slightly annoying after a long period.

Anyways, on to the meal. I didnt take any pictures but have attached any pictures I could find online of the items:

First came the Chicharron with Togarashi. This is a snack made from pork skin thats fried twice at different temperatures which balloons it into its puffy form. The togarashi is a hot japanese chili and is ground and sprinkled. This tasted somewhat like a shrimp chip if you've ever had one. I liked the taste of the spice and it had interesting texture, but not really a highlight.

The other two starters (or amusee bouche for the highbrow in you) were a small piece of grilled scallion with bacon, covered in a charred applesauce. After a tepid start with the pork skin, this began the real meal in my opinion as the applesauce had an amazing smokey, bbq flavor to it which complemented the bacon and grilled scallion perfectly. The other starter blew my mind as it was a House-made biscuit with black pepper butter and a mirin glaze. Essentially the blue state version of you'd find at any fried chicken joint, the black pepper butter was absolutely unreal; extremely creamy with a strong pepper flavor, this definitely struck me as something i need to get for my apartment.

Next came the sliced raw fluke over a pool of buttermilk and white soy, dusted with poppy seeds and chives. Another winner, as the fish was extremely tender, and the base was just creamy enough without being too thick. The hint of soy flavor along with the crunch of the poppy seeds and chives gave the dish even more depth.

We were then presented with a bowl full of sliced objects which turned out to be baby turnips, matsutake mushrooms and summer beans. They then poured over it from a sake container a soup-like mixture called Bacon Dashi. Dashi is a japanese soup stock, and this version was massively flavored with smoky bacon. The broth alone was amazing as it smelled like someone had put a fresh plate of bacon right under your nose. I liked the inclusion of the beans and the mushrooms, but the turnips were a little dry and maybe if they sat longer to absord the moisture would've had a better texture.

What came next was probably the most visually stunning of the dishes. It was a sous-vide egg with hackleback caviar, fingerling potato chips, soubisse onions, red vinegar and herbs. Cooking an egg sous-vide apparently means cooking for a long time at a very low temperature, producing what would normally be a soft-boiled egg, but the inside is still runny yolk rather than the solidified yolk that usually results. I began just eating the egg and caviar portion, but then realized the best bet was just mashing everything up like it was indian food and taking it spoon by spoon. Yet again, the number of tastes and textures that hit your mouth were unbelievable as each bite held liquid yolk, tender caviar, and finished off with a crunchy, tiny potato chip.

I was still a little nervous this might be one of those meals were you dont end up full and spend a ton, but this fear quickly dissipated with the next dish. Five pieces of sweet corn ravioli with charred corn, chorizo, lime zest, cojito cheese, and pickled red onions. The best part was probably the taste of the chorizo and the lime finish of each bite. The dish was definitely more mexican than any sort of asian but did not disappoint.

The service at the restaurant has definitely perfected the entire process, as they space the dishes at ideal times as there was a good lull before the next one. I did like the fact that the music playing included GNR, the Geto Boys, the Cure, and other extremely random music. After about 15 minutes came out a seared Diver Scallop over a pepperoncini puree, with bok choy and a burnt onion marmalade. The scallop was extremely sweet, charred on the outside and tender on the inside, while the puree was phenomenal. Each bite definitely left the aftertaste as if you'd just taken a bite out of the pepperoncini you get with a Greek Salad, while the burnt onion marmalade an interesting change on the smoky finish.

And then. It came. Sweet mary, mother of jesus. Good night nurse. Shaved foie gras torchon over lychees, riesling jelly, and pine nut brittle. Wow. While i'm a huge fan of seared foie gras, i've never had this preparation, as its placed in a towel (torchon is French for towel), poached and then frozen. They shave the flakes over the mixture in plain view and then you're served. While the foie gras appears flaky as you lift it towards your mouth, it instantly converts into that creamy, familiar taste as you bite, and then the next tastes to hit your mouth are chewy, sweet lychees, the soft riesling jelly, and finally a strong crunch from the pine nuts. My favorite part was when you put the spoon down, the remnants look like you just took a spoonful of pate even though you began with flakes. Damn.

We were given a fairly good break before what is effectively the main course was served. Out came about six pieces of Muscovy duck, with Chinese long beans, mung beans, dried cherry and small bits of water chestnuts. The duck was extremely solid as the cooking was to perfection as the meat was tender but the skin and fat was very crispy. I was entertained to read that this bad ass looking duck is apparently known for its meat as they never swim, somehow making the meat less greasy and more like veal than poultry.

After the meat came it was time for dessert. This was a two-part affair, and first was the palette cleanser, a pineapple sorbet over a piece of dried pineapple. The sorbet had a tremendous amount of flavor to it, while the dried pineapple was a little too chewy. And then. It came. The second coming of awesomeness. Yellowcake ice cream with strawberries and peanut butter brittle and peanut havla. I've had the cold stone and ben and jerry's versions of cake batter ice cream, but this took it to another level. Each bite seriously was strong enough that you truly felt you were biting into a piece of fresh-baked, buttery cake that had been thrown in the magical ice cream machine. The crunch from both the peanut butter and the peanut havla (which it turns out is a middle eastern dessert), and the inclusion of strawberries definitely made it an unbelievable dessert.

The meal definitely lived up to expectations, and my momofuku obsession continues. The road from that first bite into a momofuku pork bun, to birthday dinners with the Bo Ssam massive pork butt, to the climactic licking the plate of yellowcake ice cream clean has been a diner's dream journey and one that I'd recommend it to all.