At a Loss for Words... Well, Not Really.

The front door of the elusive Ko

Momofuku Ko
163 First Ave. (btwn 10th and 11th)

What can I say about Sunday night? Clearly I had to digest it all before I could give a write up. Words like surreal, intense, overwhelming run through my head. This meal went above and beyond my comfort zone- but in the most incredible and passionate way. At one point Mr. Broad said to me, I’ve never even heard of half of these items- they are completely off my radar.

Not knowing how to approach this write up I’m just going to do my best to recreate the entire evening. And I can tell you this much. Mr. Broad and I may never have an experience like this again.

The day started off like a normal day as if a sports team was preparing for a big game. Errands. Check! Gym. Check! Nap. Check! We were ready.

We clearly allotted ourselves enough time to get there (oops, one hour early) and eventually ventured to restaurant. Ohso obscure besides the signature momofuku peach on the door it is easily unrecognizable. The entire restaurant looks like a sushi bar (an ‘L’ shape) with everyone sitting on a counter with stools. But make no mistake, this was not sushi.

After we got seated at what I thought was the best table in the house (really, there is no bad table). I took out the camera and that’s when it happened. One of the waitresses came up to me and said ever so nicely, “I see your camera there, we don’t allow pictures anymore.”

Say Whaaaat?

Yeah. So I will do my best to TELL you what it was like and try and scam a picture from the world wide web.

As we knew what to expect, they only serve one thing here- a 10 course tasting. We went with the “cheaper” of the three wine pairings. And luckily they only give you a half glass of wine or sake for most all of the tastings. We fell for the whole, “Most people like the pairing because it compliments the dishes and gives you the full experience” speech. Whatever.

Don’t get me wrong the wines were very good. Some even stood out as ah.mazing. But let’s be honest. We didn’t come here for wine. Or even the sake. Somewhere around the last course when I sniffed a glass full of sherry I pronounced to Mr. Broad, “I’m done”.

So let us begin. The meal.

Cicharron with Togarashi (Japanese 7-spice powder).
This was a teaser really. Just a pork rind really with fun spices on top.

Biscuit with Mirin and Black Pepper Butter
My friends, I have scoured the internet to try to find this picture. It does not look like your normal biscuit, was a dense soft, MOIST small biscuit of goodness. One of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Matsutake Mushroom Soup with fresh matsutake mushrooms
Anyone who knows me knows that I don't do the fungi. I had a mental talk with myself beforehand that I will TRY EVERYTHING. And then this came out. I worked up the courage and had the soup but I could not eat the wrinkly mushrooms. The soup was good considering I am not normally a fan. I can't really comment on it however can tell you Mr. Broad got was happy he got an extra helping of the mushrooms.

Diver scallops with sea urchin (uni), yuzu, burnt apple sauce, and burnt rice krispies
The scallops were raw and marinated in yuzu which has a tart taste to it. They had that nice fresh taste to it and Mr. Broad was salivating over the sea urchin. Uni is his favorite and I have to say if all sea urchin tastes like this, I am now a convert. And the odd pairing of the burnt apple sauce with the fish pulled it all together. Oddly, but it worked.

Lamp belly spiced with Madras curry and celery seed, Smoked brussel sprouts, daikon soup, fried lily bulbs
Hello, my new favorite meat. Mr. Broad and I are fans of the pork belly, but now welcome a new meat to our family. Lamb belly with seasoning that tasted similar to Old Bay (?!). The whole thing really came together well and again. And can we say, BRUSSEL SPROUTS?!

Smoked egg, hackleback caviar, onion souvious, fingerling potato chips, sweet potato vinegar
I posted a picture of this the other day. Watching them make this is so innovative. How do you smoke an egg?! The Caviar was incredible and provided a nice salty taste with the sweet potato chips.



Hand torn Handkerchief pasta, gribenes, lardons, pecorino and snail sausage
Yes. That's right. Snail sausage. These were white cubed gelatin-like sausages that looked like a mold between snail and sausage, I guess?? I hesitated big time. And the result? Tastes an awful lot like breakfast sausage! Move over Jimmy Dean! But no really, the pasta was incredible and gribenes are fried chicken skins (aka Jewish soul food). This dish had a lot of components to it and it all worked.

Sea Bass, Basil seeds, Marigold Stew, and Artichokes

Oh how I wish I had a picture of this one. And not for the marigold stew, although it did provide a beautiful yellow/orange color. What you NEED to see a picture of is basil seeds. I did a little online research afterwards (thanks Wikipedia!) and if you combine basil seeds with water they become gelatinous. This is NOT a picture of the dish but of what basil seeds look like. And it covered the sea bass. Was a very interesting taste that all worked out. And the marigold stew? Not sweet, just a nice earthy flavor (err, duh).

Basil Seeds- Note this was not the dish, but what basil seeds look like

Shaved Foie Gras with Pine Nut brittle, lychee, and Riesling Gelee
This one and the egg dish are the only two dishes that are consistently on the menu. No shit. They put this in front of us, and the chef explained what we were eating and Mr. Broad goes in disbelief, "Come ON!" Apparently they freeze foie gras and then use a grater to shave it. It is paired with all of the flavors with the most exquisite taste. Genius, Mr. Chang, just genius. One of my favorite dishes of the tasting. I think lychee is often a forgotten food item. Was rather trendy a couple of years ago (lychee martinis anyone?) has gone the way of the flannel shirts and become yester-years fad. However, living in NYC I see flannel shirts are back IN again. So there's HOPE for lychees!!

Oh ye are so beautiful

Underneath was the lychee, the pine nut brittle the reisling gelee. Brilliance.

14 day Dry Aged Sirloin Beef, Sunchokes, and Horseradish Sauce
WHAT is a sunchoke? As it was served (and because the wine was now talking) I astutely observed that a sunchoke is the same thing as a potato! Oh Mrs. Broad and your naivety. Err, nope, not exactly! Apparently close to a rutabaga it was served with 2 or 3 slices of sirloin with that nice red color of "NOW THIS IS HOW MEAT SHOULD TASTE" look. Yeah it rocked. Note about the horseradish sauce. Not exactly the Passover variety you normally get. Much more creamier, and unlike Passover, this I did not skip over.

Mandarin Sorbet, Bitter Oranges, and Juniper
I don't know if it was the sake talking but Mr. Broad declared the oranges were too bitter for his taste. Oh really? Why is the plate cleared then?? It was a nice sorbet that you knew was just there to clear your palette for the last course. Sigh.

Pretzel ice cream, granny smith apple syrup, yogurt, and fried cheddar balls
The final course, however, I have to say Mr. Broad and I were ready for it. Not that we wanted to get out of there, just the complexity and the amazingness was overwhelming. Pretzel ice cream was subtle and cut the tartness of the granny smith apple syrup nicely. The fried cheddar balls were just a random touch but at this point, nothing surprised us anymore.

Review
This is going to be the restaurant that makes me redo my grading scale. Mr. Broad and I went to this restaurant with extreme high expectations. I was almost so afraid that it wouldn't live up to our standards because well, they were up there. The do not give you a menu (arg), create iems on the spot, with the simplicity of the night being all part of the experience.

The tasting was all a culinary treat. While most all of them wowed us, paired with the overall experience was a sure showcase of talent. Watching the chefs prepare your dishes, interacting with them and the waitresses, it was almost like a dance being performed. Cheaper than Per Se, some out in blog world have mentioned that this is better. Never been, but I can tell you it's cheaper! However, we'll sit out from Ko for awhile. Mainly because we can't get a reservation. And we're still recovering.

Rating: 10
Yes. I will be going back and redoing all of the grades to numbers where there is more variance.