Overpriced, unbalanced flavors, and awkward experience is the best way I can describe Momofuku.
First of all, this place is waaay overpriced for the food that it offers. I ordered one shrimp bun (bao) and the price for one is $7. I didn't think it was anything special really. It tasted good, but then I realized I can get a whole tray of bao for $7 somewhere else... Now for two soft boiled eggs, we were charged $15. TWO EGGS cut in half to make four pieces. We also ordered the kimchi stew for $24. If my mom found out I paid $24 for kimchi stew, she probably would have killed me and told me to eat it at her home. I'm not sure what makes the stew so expensive because the only ingredients in it were kimchi, radish, pork, and one measly rice cake.
I wouldn't be complaining about the price if the food was delicious, but unfortunately it was very lackluster, unbalanced, and strange. The shrimp bun was probably one of the better things we ordered that night, but it wasn't anything spectacular. The soft boiled eggs were very dense and heavy. The flavors on it were not balanced at all. The kimchi stew tasted as if they had to add MSG to make it taste better. There was literally one rice cake in my dish with some small portions of pork in it. Didn't taste authentic at all. Lastly, the chilled spicy noodles were probably the strangest dish we had. It was very basil-y and had this strange spiciness to it (it is very spicy by the way, and I love spicy foods). I feel like they added the extra heat to cover up for the lack of flavor.
Now my experience at Momofuku was very strange to me. I understand that it's Asian fusion, but it was not done very well. It always boggles my mind to see people try to make upscale Asian food because honestly, Asian (especially Korean) food is not generally high end. Korean food was created to be very strategic - to preserve and be able to survive long winters. Korean food is a mixture of a lot of scraps put together because for a long time the country was poor. Unless it was food served in the royal courts, Korean food is not necessarily fancy. Because I know this information, it was an awkward experience for me to eat at Momofuku, especially knowing that David Chang, who is the creator of the restaurant, is Korean. The food was not presented in an extraordinary way nor did the flavors blow me away. It was almost like I was ordering street food for the price of a nicer restaurant.
Overall, I probably will not come here again. It was a waste of money and the service was just average (the server forgot our drink order). Nothing at this restaurant made me want to come back again.