Momofuku Ko Bar Review 2018 a or La or Carte or or or March March
Recently, I came across a New York Times article about David Chang focusing on how the strength of his Momofuku empire lies in his willingness to let the chef running each of the restaurants with a distinct concept. I thought the article was quite on point regarding what makes Mr. Chang, despite my personal reservations at some of his restaurants, such an influential figure in the culinary earth. Among the at present vast portfolio of his restaurants, Momofuku Ko probably sits at the pinnacle in terms of the quality of food. While I stopped short of awarding 9.0 KenScale to the restaurant on my visit nearly three years agone, I still appreciated the range of inventiveness that the kitchen was displaying (see my review of Ko in 2015 hither: https://kenscale.com/2015/12/05/momofuku-ko/). When Ko decided to open a bar kitchen separately from the master dining space earlier this twelvemonth, it was an entirely dissimilar suggestion from Ko's rigorously structured tasting menu that now run $255 per person. The food at the bar kitchen is intended to reduce the pressure level (in terms of fourth dimension, coin, etc.) typically associated with a full tasting menu experience; everything is a la bill of fare, with the menu sketched on a notebook on a daily basis. Certain large-proper name fine dining restaurants like Eleven Madison Park and Le Bernardin accept already opened a more coincidental version side by side to the principal dining room. Could this be the next big thing? On a recent visit with my married woman Jun, we both appreciated the experimental spirit of the kitchen, but felt the execution was pretty uneven.
The central concept at Ko'south bar kitchen, co-ordinate to the restaurant'due south website, is to "create a infinite both for tasting bill of fare research and development as well equally a playground for our chefs to cook and serve what they love to eat". When I told her about what the kitchen is trying to do hither, Jun was perplexed and mildly offended at the same fourth dimension: "Look, are we and so lab rats for their food?" Well, I wouldn't mind as long as the nutrient is practiced, I responded. Unfortunately, a few starters we ordered did not inspire a lot of conviction. Sourdough crepe was warm and soft, merely it was a little too oily, and it was hard to find anything special nearly pickle sandwich. I had very high expectations well-nigh the cold fried chicken that everyone who has visited the bar for dining. The chicken is battered and fried multiple times before beingness served at cold temperature. We were both disappointed to find that the chicken (at $7 per piece) was non only not very crispy but had too much dough on the outside to truly savor the chicken's flesh.
Jun and I disagreed on our view regarding the striped bass belly. I thought the fish, which was capably cooked, worked surprisingly well with the skin coated in bluish berry based sauce, while Jun argued that the blueish berry has no identify for a savory dish like this. Nosotros both agreed, yet, that the dry aged striploin was underwhelming, with the meat's texture non particularly interesting. With a $31 cost tag, Jun thought nosotros could merely add $twenty more than to have a improve steak dish at a steakhouse. The side of rice with nori and smoked duck (at that place is actually no duck meat, it is only ground powder made of duck) was a decent dish but not enough to change our overall opinion of the food at the restaurant. For dessert, Japanese cheese cake had a delightfully smooth texture, particularly more so with the add-on of maple syrup on top, but I wouldn't put it under the "Dessert of the Year" considerations.
Ko'south bar doesn't accept reservations. When we showed upwardly on the early side of Saturday evening, we were initially quoted a 45-infinitesimal wait, merely to get seated two minutes afterwards nosotros were fix to order drinks at the standing area in the eye. The cocktail drinks and wine listing at the bar seem well idea-out equally would exist expected of a restaurant of Ko's caliber, although I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit to the red wine of the twenty-four hours (the bill of fare notebook too has daily changing offerings of wines by the glass) that was whopping $80 by the glass. The bar space was pretty sleek and modern, and I think it will really work great if yous want to have a coincidental date with a few drinks and some minor dishes to nibble on instead of committing to a full meal. Equally with all my experiences at Momofuku establishments, non all places take won me over and some places take more than misses than hits. Unfortunately, Ko's bar dining feel was one of those cases where I can empathise why critics are so excited about what is happening at the kitchen simply Jun and I couldn't buy into the flawed execution. Maybe Ko volition decide not to include these dishes we sampled for the regular tasting menu experience.
KenScale: vii.five/10 (Jun's Score: 7.25/10)
- Creativity: 8.v/ten
- Execution: seven.0/10
- Ingredients: seven.five/10
- Flavor: 8.0/10
- Texture: 7.0/x
- Value: 7.0/ten
Address: 8 Extra Place, New York, NY 10003
Telephone: (212) 203-8095
Website: https://ko.momofuku.com/bar/
40.724821 -73.991372
Source: https://kenscale.com/2018/09/15/momofuku-ko-bar/
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