| rev:text
| - If you're a New Yorker who happens to be reading this review and you're thinking to yourself, "why the hell would I go to Momofuku in Toronto when there are 800 of them in New York City?", you're not alone. I thought the same exact thing and scoffed at the idea of getting anything but poutine while on a recent visit to Ontario, but boy was I thrown for a loop when I discovered the Momofuku in the Great White North trumps anything you'll find in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Call it the terroir of a North American city not located in the United States, but hot damn did this experience blow away anything I've experienced here on David Chang's home turf.
Everything that came our way - from the pork buns to the noodles to the Japanese yams - made me wish I could lift this restaurant and each of their cooks/servers up and bring them home with me to the city. The pork buns were flavorful, plump, and had more pork than any Momofukus here, the jaja noodles were equally as impressive, and the okonomiyaki (Japense yams) were absolutely perfect. The only miss was the fried chicken and caviar which was entirely too sweet and quite expensive ($80 for 1/2 chicken), but I can't say we weren't warned as our server made more than a subtle hint that we should order the roasted pig head instead. We'll take that on the chin as he was 100% correct - it was quite forgettable.
Speaking of servers, our guy Gobin was an absolute rockstar and should set the standard for servers everywhere. Amazingly attentive, kind, prompt, and knowledgable... it was an absolute pleasure spending our evening with him.
For those locals reading this - you're getting a far superior version of Momofuku than we've got here. Perhaps that's par for the course as our meats are all factory farmed and full of hormones and diseases, but I'm already looking forward to a return trip to your fair city for another romp with this ubiquitous staple in the NYC culinary scene.
|