207 2nd Ave
(between 12th St & 13th St)
New York, NY 10003(212) 254-3500
Momo Fuku is Fuken Great!
During a trip to NYC this past spring I had a chance to have dinner here at Ssam bar. I found out about this place from an epsiode of Antony Bourdain's No Reservations.
The place is trendy, and appears to be a place that the suits go to unwind after a long day of being stuck in an office. It's dark with hardwood floors, and wood paneling. The tables are setup big, and girthy with wood blocks as your seats.
The steamed pork buns is like pork heaven between a soft Chinese bun folded like a taco shell. I could these a dozen at a time. The special that we had was a grilled sword fish collar that was cooked with finesse with lots of flavor and texture.
We had the Grilled Hanger Steak! Another meat orgasm in your mouth. Tender doesn't begin to describe how well the meat was cooked, it was like beef flavored butter, at the same time no traces of blood. It's a damn hard thing to do to cook beef this well! Steak houses could take a lesson from the chef's in this place.
The other two dishes I don't recall as it has been month's since I've eaten there, but this restaurant gave me a few realizations. First it made me appreciate why New Yorkers love New York. I'm a Washingtonian and have been most of my life, and as interesting and progressive as my hometown is, the food at this little corner restaurant embodies the uniqueness of New York while defining the diversity of the people of NYC. Second I realized how far the Washington DC restaurant scene has to grow and develop.
David Chang is almost the Alan Moore of the culinary world. He's producing phenomenal cutting edge food but isn't known by the general public, and like Alan Moore he could probably give a "s&*t". Because the food is what matters. For those people in the know they know they have tasted greatness. It is rare to find someone who can take tired Asian dishes and reinvent them in a way with a deeper soul, yet maintain the integrity of it's origin. At the same time some of his dishes are redefining what is American cuisine. American food isn't just hot dogs, and hamburgers, as a matter of fact it's not only the stuff presented as new American cuisine. David Chang has given people of Asian American descent who are of 2nd generation on a culinary identity in American Culture. It's a shame that his food is only in NYC. Who else could make Asian Food, American?
By the way David Chang gets everything right with Asian food, where that douche bag Spike from Top Chef goes wrong with Vietnamese food.
This place gets a SUMO 5 Stars.
My new rating system:
BELLY FAT = 1 Star = It's only good to fill your stomach in the event of a nuclear fall out.
FAT ASS = 2 Stars = It's good enough that you can sit hear and add some junk to the trunk.
MAN BOOBS = 3 Stars = It's good, so be prepared to develop man boobs.
FAT
HEAD = 4 Stars = It's really good so after the fat is packed onto your
gut, rump, and boobs, it will have to find a release in your big fat
head.
SUMO = 5 Stars = It's
good enough that you should use this as a primary source of consumption
to become a professional sumo wrestler.
