Full Credit For Being Alive

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Last night, I had the EXTREME pleasure of having dinner at Momofuku Ko. How? Well, I went to Momofuku’s website to order a sandwich from Ma Peche, thought hey, might as well check the Ko reservations list, not that they ever have anything open anyway, saw that there was an opening for 2, and found myself compelled to snatch up the reservation. I really had no choice in the matter; when you see one of those little green checkmarks, you just have to take it. It’s the law. I’ve already eaten there once before, when I similarly stumbled upon a reservation about a year and a half ago. Here’s what they served back then. And just to show that my food blogging skills have in no way improved over the last 18 or so months, here’s my recap of what they served last night:  Amuse bouche: Maitake mushroom soup with shaved smoked beef heart. Yes, my friends, I said “shaved smoked beef heart.” Which was, you know, a strange thing to hear that you are about to eat. But my GOD was it worth it, because this little gulp of soup tasted like truffled, salty heaven.  Braised salsify with walnut puree and shishito peppers, with peppered chicharron on the side. The salsify was okay but nothing special, and the walnut puree was a little bland. But the chicharron, man. Host a Superbowl party where you just serve those chicharrones, and you will be the most popular person on Earth.  Seared tataki with fresh yuzu and rice cereal crumbles. Delicious, light, refreshing. Dry aged carpaccio with charred scallions and horseradish purée. I think this was basically the same carpaccio they served the last time we went to Ko, and it was fine. Again, not a standout, but fine.  Gruyere and Comté consommé  with brioche sauteed in cheese fat, topped with pearl onions and bone marrow. You guys, this dish was basically a grilled cheese sandwich — the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever had — in soup form. But not in like a heavy, Liz-Lemon-cheese-stew sort of way. It was light and smooth and just totally fucking on point.  Poached egg with caviar and fingerling potato chips. This is one of Ko’s standard dishes, I think, and once again, I loved it. Egg-averse Dude thought it was just okay, but, you know, David Chang has a boner for poached eggs so what are you gonna do.  Hand torn pasta with chicken and snail sausage, crispy chicken skin and pecorino. I take back what I said earlier. Host a Superbowl party where you serve nothing but bowls of chicharrones mixed with pieces of this crispy chicken skin, and THEN you will be the most popular person on Earth.  Trout with rutabaga mayonnaise, radish and pickled onion. Apparently the way to get me to like mayo is to give me rutabaga mayo, because this was pretty great. The trout was (obviously) perfectly cooked and the pickled onion was a really nice touch.  Shaved foie gras over lychee, riesling gelee and pine nut brittle. This is also one of Ko’s standards, and thank the fucking lord it is. Last time we had it, there was just an absolutely INSANE amount of foie gras on the plate. This time there wasn’t quite as much, which was actually nice because it made us feel a little less like totally disgusting gluttons. And I think the pine nut brittle was new too. If I’m going to get pine mouth again, this is absolutely the way I want to get it.  Duck breast with pomegranate glaze, turnips with shaved pumpernickel, and parsnip puree. Perfect duck, perfect sauce, perfect parnips. The turnips were a little weird though.  Calamansi sorbet with Earl Grey panna cotta. Calamansi is this awesome Asian citrus fruit that makes the perfect sorbet. I had for the first time at Kin Shop, and since then I get it wherever I see it. It is just so fucking good, especially for someone who doesn’t love overly sweet desserts. Also there were these little chopped pieces of nut on top of the panna cotta that made it taste like a Nestle Crunch bar, so that’s obviously a win.  Passion fruit meringue with frozen banana, chocolate crumbles and vanilla agar. This was basically a deconstructed fruity s’more, which, obviously, was amazing. The frozen banana was my favorite part, and not just because it opened the door for Arrested Development references.  Before you get too jealous of my life, though, keep in mind that even though this dinner ended at about 11:30, I had to fight off a food coma and keep working until around 4 a.m., and then I woke up again at like 6:30 and was answering a zillion work emails until 9. I’m deliriously tired and writing this review is the only thing keeping me going at the moment. As such, we didn’t get a beverage pairing. Wah wah.  Bottom line? Ko is awesome and don’t be scared of eating beef heart and OMG grilled cheese soup and someone should start selling crispy chicken skin by the bag and holy shit I want to take a nap. 

Last night, I had the EXTREME pleasure of having dinner at Momofuku Ko. How? Well, I went to Momofuku’s website to order a sandwich from Ma Peche, thought hey, might as well check the Ko reservations list, not that they ever have anything open anyway, saw that there was an opening for 2, and found myself compelled to snatch up the reservation. I really had no choice in the matter; when you see one of those little green checkmarks, you just have to take it. It’s the law.

I’ve already eaten there once before, when I similarly stumbled upon a reservation about a year and a half ago. Here’s what they served back then. And just to show that my food blogging skills have in no way improved over the last 18 or so months, here’s my recap of what they served last night: 

  • Amuse bouche: Maitake mushroom soup with shaved smoked beef heart. Yes, my friends, I said “shaved smoked beef heart.” Which was, you know, a strange thing to hear that you are about to eat. But my GOD was it worth it, because this little gulp of soup tasted like truffled, salty heaven. 
  • Braised salsify with walnut puree and shishito peppers, with peppered chicharron on the side. The salsify was okay but nothing special, and the walnut puree was a little bland. But the chicharron, man. Host a Superbowl party where you just serve those chicharrones, and you will be the most popular person on Earth. 
  • Seared tataki with fresh yuzu and rice cereal crumbles. Delicious, light, refreshing.
  • Dry aged carpaccio with charred scallions and horseradish purée. I think this was basically the same carpaccio they served the last time we went to Ko, and it was fine. Again, not a standout, but fine. 
  • Gruyere and Comté consommé  with brioche sauteed in cheese fat, topped with pearl onions and bone marrow. You guys, this dish was basically a grilled cheese sandwich — the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever had — in soup form. But not in like a heavy, Liz-Lemon-cheese-stew sort of way. It was light and smooth and just totally fucking on point. 
  • Poached egg with caviar and fingerling potato chips. This is one of Ko’s standard dishes, I think, and once again, I loved it. Egg-averse Dude thought it was just okay, but, you know, David Chang has a boner for poached eggs so what are you gonna do. 
  • Hand torn pasta with chicken and snail sausage, crispy chicken skin and pecorino. I take back what I said earlier. Host a Superbowl party where you serve nothing but bowls of chicharrones mixed with pieces of this crispy chicken skin, and THEN you will be the most popular person on Earth. 
  • Trout with rutabaga mayonnaise, radish and pickled onion. Apparently the way to get me to like mayo is to give me rutabaga mayo, because this was pretty great. The trout was (obviously) perfectly cooked and the pickled onion was a really nice touch. 
  • Shaved foie gras over lychee, riesling gelee and pine nut brittle. This is also one of Ko’s standards, and thank the fucking lord it is. Last time we had it, there was just an absolutely INSANE amount of foie gras on the plate. This time there wasn’t quite as much, which was actually nice because it made us feel a little less like totally disgusting gluttons. And I think the pine nut brittle was new too. If I’m going to get pine mouth again, this is absolutely the way I want to get it. 
  • Duck breast with pomegranate glaze, turnips with shaved pumpernickel, and parsnip puree. Perfect duck, perfect sauce, perfect parnips. The turnips were a little weird though. 
  • Calamansi sorbet with Earl Grey panna cotta. Calamansi is this awesome Asian citrus fruit that makes the perfect sorbet. I had for the first time at Kin Shop, and since then I get it wherever I see it. It is just so fucking good, especially for someone who doesn’t love overly sweet desserts. Also there were these little chopped pieces of nut on top of the panna cotta that made it taste like a Nestle Crunch bar, so that’s obviously a win. 
  • Passion fruit meringue with frozen banana, chocolate crumbles and vanilla agar. This was basically a deconstructed fruity s’more, which, obviously, was amazing. The frozen banana was my favorite part, and not just because it opened the door for Arrested Development references. 

Before you get too jealous of my life, though, keep in mind that even though this dinner ended at about 11:30, I had to fight off a food coma and keep working until around 4 a.m., and then I woke up again at like 6:30 and was answering a zillion work emails until 9. I’m deliriously tired and writing this review is the only thing keeping me going at the moment. As such, we didn’t get a beverage pairing. Wah wah. 

Bottom line? Ko is awesome and don’t be scared of eating beef heart and OMG grilled cheese soup and someone should start selling crispy chicken skin by the bag and holy shit I want to take a nap. 

  1. boggle- said: christ on a crutch.
  2. mar-see-ah said: so jealous! I need to get myself there at some point. Did I ever tell you my college roommate got engaged there? Nothing cheesy, just, you know, he gave her the ring there. No presentation by waiters or anything.
  3. vneckandacardigan said: stop, i can’t.