Elliot's View

Official site: https://noodlebar-ny.momofuku.com/

I have been to a number of David Chang Momofuku restaurants and it is clear that you can safely expect two things at these establishments. Firstly, you can expect some pretty tasty east meets west, fusion-y thing that hipsters will be all over. Secondly, you will likely be uncomfortable.

Momofuku noodle bar confirms these two expectations. The food is good while the seating is crowded and uncomfortable.

In regards to the seating… man was the comfort level bad here. We were crammed into a tiny table with like fifteen other people on these wooden stools with no backs. Many might argue that the most important thing about a restaurant is the food, but I disagree. I’d prefer to not have back pains after a meal is over or get elbowed in the face from a neighboring customer. Jeez it was a trash environment.

In regards to the food, the food was fine. We all had the Momofuku ramen and the only noteworthy thing about this ramen (in comparison to Ippudo, Totto, Hide, etc.) was that the pork belly that came with it was really good and fatty. We also ordered the brisket and shrimp buns. Those were really good, but kind of pricey. The waitress would not let us order an odd number of them from some reason. It was interesting how adamant she was in not deviating from the the listed serving size… like David Chang himself told her not to do this.

Score: 5.3/10 Came here because of the Momofuku name. It was just all right. Unlike Bo Ssam, the food did not overcome breaking my ass on a stool. Not ever coming back because eating here feels like eating out of a back alley over a trash can, with slightly better wood renovations and lighting.