Momofuku Noodle Bar

Under food:



Momofuku Noodle Bar
East Village, New York



We had fun checking out Momofuku Ssam Bar some time ago, so we were game to try the sister restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar. The prices on the menu for MNB looked more reasonable.



We started off with some beer, chips and chicken wings.

Left: Ginka Kogen (Japan); middle: Lagunitas Censored Ale (California); right: seven spice potato chips. I really liked the Lagunitas ale. It had a very well-rounded, balanced flavor that went well with the food. DJKung said the same about his beer, although I detected a hint of bubble gum to it. (Be forewarned that the Ginka beer is $14!).

The potato chips were excellent. The spice blend was just right. The chips were cut rather coarsely, so they were nice and crispy.

Smoked chicken wings. DJKung liked this a lot, and in fact did not save some for Chibs. I tried the sauce and it was sweet, lots of little chili pieces; you could taste the smoke (hickory?) that went into it. DJKung said that this was falling-off-the-bone tender.

DJKung espied the tasting menu (four courses), so there went the budget. What's nice about their tasting menu is that each course has two options.

Tasting menu course #1: hamachi sashimi with carrot and celery puree. There were crunchy bits sprinkled all around; perhaps sea salt. The fish was fresh and yummy. We're of two minds about this; on one hand, good fish does not need anything else other than maybe a dab of wasabi. On the other, the play of textures and flavors was rather nice.





Course #2: Oxtail ragu. The noodles (garliani?) were thin sqaure strips of pasta rolled on it diagonal, rather chewy. This dish was gamy; DJKung felt that the beef was full of flavor.

I ordered the chicken ramen.

Chicken ramen. The chicken bits looked like they were broiled. The broth was pretty good.

Third course: broiled mackerel. I think we were expecting a whole fish, instead of just fillets, so we were disappointed. The fish did not taste fresh, but more like it was picked up from somewhere else and flown here. The sauce, a black olive puree, was excellent. So did the pieces of sweet fruity blood orange, pickles and the crunchy/chewy anise-flavored garbanzos. DJKung felt that the flavors were better individually and did not really gel well together.

Fourth course: quince and maple syrup ice cream, with crushed nuts and sugar crunch on top. This was excellent---salty, creamy, sweet and fruity.

Overall, we had a great time enjoying the food and the place. The restaurant was quite empty when we arrived around 6pm. It was quite nice just munching on our chips and admiring all that handsome blonde wood. Later on, it got pretty packed. Table-sharing seemed to be the norm here.