Let the Courses Never End at Momofuku

Momofuku Seiobo brought to Sydney by chef David Chang is fast becoming one of the most sought after places to eat for Sydney siders. Unlike other restaurants in its category, you can easily book online as they only have 20 day cycles so the chances of you booking a table is a lot higher than say, Quay (you'll have to book a year in advance). This week marks the one year anniversary of Mr Jules and I so we decided to try out Momofuku. 

Situated inside The Star, it's located opposite Adriano Zumbo's store (another place I must remember to try in the future). The restaurant is divided into a dining area and a bar with the chefs cooking your food while you watch. The menu is seasonal and at $185 for 10 courses it is a bit pricey but hey it's all for the experience right. We were seated at the bar and Jules chose the non-alcoholic pairing which includes a mixture of juices and teas. They played a mixture of rap, rock and old school songs which at times was a bit loud. The service was very prompt and attentive, and on with the food!

This was a snack and not a part of the 10 courses. Served in little crunchy cups were:
- Mud crab, chickpea puree
- Zucchini balls, black garlic puree
- Sea urchins and Furikake

The crab was firm and sweet, you can tell it's very fresh and the chickpea puree is mild and creamy. I've had bad sea urchins before so my impression of it wasn't great, the sea urchins served here were so fresh you can taste the ocean from which it came from. The zucchini balls and black garlic puree one took me by surprise as the garlic was very pungent but not in a negative way. The zucchini balls added a very nice crunch factor. 

This is chicken tails fried and served with fish roe. It's very refreshing to see restaurants serving cuts of meat that is otherwise considered garbage, like chicken tails.The tails are fried golden and crispy with no oily aftertaste, the fish roe is refreshing and pops in your mouth. This would be great as a side dish to beer.

Next up is Cep mushroom and hazelnuts on toast. The toasted hazelnuts are hidden underneath the mushroom fuzz so you get a nice crunchy surprise when you bite in. The taste and aroma of hazelnuts and mushrooms fills your entire mouth, it's smooth and creamy but overpowering either. The taste and texture of this is very earthy and we both enjoyed it very much. There's about a 10 - 15 minutes wait between each course, I thought It'd take a lot longer but maybe it's because we're the first ones there. I also really enjoyed watching the chefs preparing the food, certainly have gotten some ideas for my next dinner party. 

Scallop wonton, duck and kombu broth. When you bite into the wonton, there's actually some kind of puree or sauce inside the scallop. I can't tell exactly what but I think it tasted a bit like seaweed. The broth is heavenly! I would think that the duck was stewed in the broth for days with kombu. With a hint of sweetness, it goes perfectly with the noodles that still has a bit of bite to them. 


You can't see it but it is seared Wagyu beef cut into bite sized chunks under all those petal like radish slices. The beef is cooked to medium, served with fermented black bean sauce and covered in fresh and marinated radish slices. It's so pretty to look at, like a blooming flower. The beef is very tender and juicy, it went very well with the salty black bean sauce. The radish was crunchy and refreshing which is what this dish needs otherwise it'd be too dense. 

This is marron with pea and pistachio puree. Marron is like a small lobster essentially, one of the chefs actually brought a live one out to show one of the diners. The Marron is so tender, the flesh is silky and sweet. The peas are quite crunchy, the whole dish is very mild in taste, which after the previous course of the beef is quite suiting in my opinion. I would say this is my second favourite course out of the ten. 


 
Here we have John Dory, broccoli, lemon and almonds. The fish is steamed if I remember correctly, the green puree is made with avocado. The broccoli is very tender, I normally don't like eating broccoli but this was delicious. The fish itself was sweet and not a touch overdone but I think the hero of this dish would have to be the lemon puree. I loved it so much! Full of flavour, the puree is slightly salty and goes so well with the fish. I want to try to replicate this puree at home now haha. My favourite dish of the night goes to the John Dory.


This is Partridge with truffles and endive. I've never had partridge meat before so I was pretty excited when I heard it was partridge. The meat is slightly pink, the skin is very golden and crispy. The flesh is very tender with a little bite, however I found it lacking any flavour. The other elements on the dish didn't really have much flavour either so it wasn't as memorable to me especially after the previous course of the John Dory, it was quite disappointing.





Next up is Duck with swede and rye. The duck on my plate was a bit tough, the skin however was awesome. I didn't really get the point of the swede, it just tasted like boiled cabbage and seemed a bit useless on the plate. Probably my least favourite dish of the night.




Time for dessert yay! First up is something called Ewe's curd, choux, rose. The pastry reminds me of a profiterole but a lot more crunchier. The curd inside is very creamy and sweet, the rose syrup is also very nice and refreshing, I can imagine eating a dozen of these by myself.  

Next is corn, chervil, anise. I had to break apart the meringue on the top to show what's underneath. The yellow and green creams are the corn and chervil. The chervil tastes extremely weird, like some kind of grass or tree bark. I think my mind was expecting some kind of green tea taste. The meringue was very nicely done though, sweet (thank god) and light, which helped with the weird aftertaste. This would have to be my least favourite dish of the night.

This pretty little thing is called artichoke, pear, sunflower. The pear is really soft and delicate, almost melts in your mouth. The sunflower seeds offer a nice crunch and texture. The artichoke is also very soft and a bit gooey, the whole dessert was very light and not too sweet.





The last treat was these, caneles. The pastry chef told us that these were made with a beeswax coating. I actually looked up the recipe afterwards and they take a lot of effort to make. The outside is very crunchy and looks a bit burnt from the caramalisation, the inside is soft and a bit spongy. We really enjoyed these little things and was very sad the night had come to an end.

I would highly recommend Momofuku, every course was a delight although I personally did not enjoy some courses. But in the end it was a great night, Jules' non-alcoholic pairing was also awesome. You also get to take samples of their tea home as a gift. Would definitely come here again, perhaps when the menu changes according to the season.