Momofuku Ssam Bar

Just last week, Momofuku Ssam bar opened up, so on Friday night, we girls went to give it a try.  The original Momofuku featured ramen and bao; I haven’t yet tried it but have heard good things about it, though I don’t know anyone who claims it as their favorite place. 

This Momofuku is meant to be more casual, offering a Chipotle-like appeal: a counter where you order your food, watch them put a wrap together, and tables for you to sit and eat, ultra casual.  As you can see from the picture on the right, the decor is very dark wood, and super chic.  (If you look really carefully, you can see the chef/owner, sort of: I was trying to snap a shot of him, but he moved behind the wall on the left just as I took the picture.  Ah well- it’s not like he’s super-duper famous just yet ) 

They also offer bao, slightly different from the bao offered at Momofuku itself, from my understanding.  This is what we all opted to order, despite this place being known for the wraps (the wraps contained kimchee puree which none of us like- we were later told by a friend that it doesn’t taste like kimchee at all). 

On the left, you can see them making our bao.  I asked for permission to take their picture, so the guy was probably laughing at me. 

They took two ‘man-tao’ (the bread they use for Peking duck), opened them up, and placed a small mound of pulled Berkshire pork, pickled cucumbers, onions, and a squirt of hoisin sauce on each.  This cost $8.  One nice thing, though, is that there was a big water dispenser on the side so you could help yourself to cold water if you liked- they didn’t sell regular bottled water, so I opted for this. 

The really big downside we all noted was the excess oil.  When I tried to pick my bao up, the bottom was completely soaked through with oil from the pork, and very mushy as a result.  Otherwise, it was very tasty (a little on the salty side) and yum.  The pickled cucumbers complemented the pork very nicely. 

A funny thing: I was commenting to a friend, after we were talking about David Chang being the next up-and-coming chef in the northeast, that I wonder if he still cooks or spends any time in the kitchen, since he’s the owner and doing pretty well.  After I said this, he came out and we saw him putting on his apron, and a few minutes later he went back there and was messing around with stuff, so he definitely does still spend time in the kitchen, which I think is very cool. 

Final note: at least two of us got sick from all the oil.  Unpleasantly so, my stomach bothered me for a full two days (and still feels a little off, I ate this on Friday) afterwards.  Another friend wasn’t feeling well for the entire next day as well.  Drain some of the oil before you serve this next time, David, please.

Yvo says: Maybe I’d go back to try the ssam, though I will have to insist they do a better job draining off the oil.  Berkshire pork is always delicious, super soft and wonderful (though I’m a huge anti-pork person), but when this oily/greasy, my stomach just can’t tolerate that much oil and fat (if I wanted that much oil and fat in a sandwich, I’d go to McDonald’s, thanks).  Interesting concept but because it’s kind of expensive, I felt the counter service was a bit tacky; I’d pay an extra few dollars to have someone come to my table and take my order (a lot of people didn’t know it was counter service, as I noticed people coming in and sitting down, only to wonder 5 minutes later where the waiter was or the menus).  They need some time to smooth out the flaws (drain the oil!!!) and then maybe they’ll have a genuine hit on their hands. 
middle of the road