19 Dec 2009, Posted by admin in L'Epicurien, 0 Comments

supper club #2: momofuku ssam bar

For my supper club dinner I chose to take everyone to the Momofuku Ssam Bar for their signature bo ssam dinner (it’s an entire pork butt that comes with side condiments). It should be noted that the only way to make a reservation at the Momofuku Ssam Bar is to reserve a table for the bo ssam, which costs $200 dollars and is intended for groups between six to ten people. Of course this provided even more incentive to choose this restaurant for my supper club experience.

Momofuku has been a favorite of mine ever since I tried their pork buns a few years ago. Every one of their branches has its own distinct twist–for noodle lovers there is the original Noodle Bar, for foodies there is the exclusive Ko and for dessert lovers there is the new Milk Bar. In the past few years, chef David Chang has become a cult favorite among epicureans all over the city for his innovative Asian infused cuisine that won’t break the bank.

I am not sure I knew what to expect when I booked the dinner but my fears were assuaged when I saw a giant platter of suckling roast pork coming my way. The pork butt had been marinated for a day before the dinner and came with rice, a variety of kimichi sauces, a ginger scallion sauce, and oysters. Ssam means “wrapped” in Korean, and we learned that the proper way to eat bo ssam is to take a piece of the pork, kimchi sauce, rice and one of the oysters and add it to the lettuce to be eaten like a taco. The meat was perfectly tender, moist and flavored. The oysters were an unexpected ingredient, but it made the dish more decadent and added a nice texture.

Not everyone in the supper club eats pork, so we also ordered some really yummy side dishes. A stand out was the cured hamachi, which comes with edamame, horseradish and pea leaves. The hamachi has a light flavor and a nice texture, but the crunchiness of the dried seaweed and the tanginess of the horseradish rounded out the flavors and completed the dish. All in all, we enjoyed the dinner and I am pretty sure some of us will be going back for an encore.

Momofuku Ssam Bar

207 2nd Avnue

212-254-3500

–Margaret Livits