Dana Cowin of Food and Wine magazine munches on a humble slice of Famiglia's pizza and discusses, in front of a group of eager foodies at our school's lunch-and-learn, her career, her travels, and her top picks for restaurants in the city. She has reviewed, critqued, and recommended hundreds of restaurants on the island alone, yet she insisted that given one choice for her favorite restaurant, she'd have to go with Momofuku Noodle Bar. She praised it for its authenticity, the quality of ingredients, and its budget-friendly prices. Of course we had to honor the request of our idol sitting before us; we have been watching her regularly as a guest judge on Top Chef and have consistently marveled her work as editor-in-chief of our favorite publication.
We ordered one bowl of Momofuku Ramen ($16), one bowl of Chilled Spicy Noodles ($12) and an order of Steamed Pork Buns ($9). We were initially disappointed that the nine dollar dish only consisted of 2 finger sandwich-sized portions, but that opinion soon changed. The steamed bun is a white, fluffy, folded dough. Sandwiched inside are crispy-on-the outside-tender-on-the-inside pork belly and cool refreshing cucumber slices. The sauce on the pork was savory, just a tad sweet, reminiscent of hoisin sauce.
Lastly came the Momofuku Ramen, the supposed highlight. The dish was ramen in a dashi broth with hints of miso, a duo of pork belly and shoulder, a poached egg, garnished with nori, scallions, and fishcake. We all found the broth too salty with a distinct (and to us unpleasant) taste. The ramen was soft, not al dente like the chilled noodles, though to be fair we did try this dish last.
Overall, we left Momofuku's satisfied. The space was modern and simple. Our waitress was friendly and responsive. Slightly expensive but worth the experience.
