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| - Torontonians have welcomed Momofuku with open arms and with satisfied stomachs. Last month, David Chang, founder of Momofuku and internationally renowned chef, was in Toronto to play host in an unexpected arena: The TIFF Food on Film series. He joined a sold-out theatre of fellow foodies (including us) to watch his favourite culinary film, Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman", and then engaged the audience in an informal Q&A session that spanned topics ranging from film to the trappings of celebrity chef-hood.
Three hours of salivating over delectable Chinese food on the screen left us craving more than popcorn, so we decided to check out Chang's Momofuku Daisho shortly after...
Momofuku Daisho's ambience is definitely the highlight of the experience. It's open concept and top to bottom glass gives it a simplistic, modern feel. After a successful debut in NYC & Sydney, Chang was lured to Toronto by what he says was a 'perfect and unique' opportunity presented by the Shangrila Hotel: to house three, different takes on his cooking in 1, single building.
With the accessible Noodle Bar already a favourite of ours and a recent lacklustre (and wallet-busting) venture to the top-rated Shoto, we were eager to try our hand at Momofuku Daisho a mid-level offering that centers the menu around pre-ordered, 'family-style' dishes.
As you can probably imagine, it can be challenging enough to pick options in the moment, let alone coordinate an order for our group of 7 a week in advance (of which we were), but eager to get the full experience, we pre-ordered the much hyped about fried chicken and beef short ribs. The waitress kindly cautioned us to tread lightly when considering the rest of our order, on account of the deluge of food on the way. (Warning: Consider your wallet and alternative menu opportunities prior to committing to the pre-order. On a do-over, we would have banked one family style dish and ordered the rest off the menu.
First we enjoyed two dishes of lightly pickled, chilli-infused cucumbers. If these cucumbers are the Asian take on 'bread and butter' the West is in more trouble than economists predict!
Next came the Spicy Sausage and Rice Cake dish, inspired by Chinese Szechuan cuisine: these melt-in-your-mouth rice cakes punctuated by spiced sausage and Asian greens are a quintessential menu creation, packing flavour of Momofukian proportions!
We then indulged in a Momofuku classic: a pork-style bun, this time of the deboned chicken wing variety, coupled with dill, a glazey hot sauce and crudité; a real crowd pleaser for our group of 7.
And then, the massive plate of fried chicken arrived in all of its glory. Included with vegetables, scallion pancakes (oily and delicious) and a fancy soya type sauce.
Lastly, we tried the beef ribeye shortribs flanked by white Kimchi, bean sprouts and some sticky white rice. In our not-so-humble opinion, the ribs were a tad on the fatty side,
We decided to end the night right and order the chocolate - five different textures of it. A healthy spectrum of liquid to solidity; an interesting experience, but we'd suggest the more intimate smaller size, even for a larger group like ours.
All in all, we were blissfully overfed at Momofuku Daisho. It was lovely dining with David Chang in town and we luckily caught him at the restaurant to snap a pic. Good friends and good food - what could be better?
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