David Chang likes a challenge.
The gung-ho American culinary virtuoso enjoys challenging himself, his staff, and his diners, much to the joy or chagrin of everyone. Every foodie knows his story and every man and his tastebuds wants a slice of the Momofuku pie, but his restaurants have been hitherto a strictly New York affair, until now. Chang has rolled the dice with his first non-Big-Apple venture, and his gambit has landed him outside his comfort zone at - appropriately enough - a casino, and Sydney is the lucky recipient. The newly rebranded (and still refurbishing) The Star has attracted a coterie of big chef names to its redevelopment, but the brightest star (pun intended) in the food constellation is clearly Chang and his Momofuku brand. It has been barely open a month and it has already been called the "new" Tetsuya's, Sydney's longstanding fine-dining champion of Asian-French cuisine. Let's take the challenge at Momofuku Seiobo.
Challenge One - The Reservation System
Even before one gets a whiff of the much tauted food, the biggest hurdle begins with the dreaded reservation system. Momofuku Seiobo's online-only reservation system may be equitable in Chang's eyes, but is draconian and limiting in almost everyone else's.
Firstly, no internet-capable device means no possibility of a reservation. Sure, it's 2011, but not everyone has internet access. Then again, those are probably not the people who would dine at Momofuku anyway. But to not have a listed phone number (even on the website or business card) is beyond the pale. What next? Reservations by mental telepathy?
Secondly, one must be registered to be able to make a reservation.
Thirdly, the reservation lottery starts at 10a.m. daily and ends at midnight. Considering reservations for the 42-seater go faster than Speedy Gonzales on crack, the fourteen-hour window is redundant. In fact, I estimate one has roughly a second to secure a reservation once it opens at 10a.m. The only logic to having such a large window is in the event of a cancellation, so one could be lucky and happen across a vacancy later in the day, but with spots as rare as a Ricky Ponting century, that is unlikely.
Fourthly, reservations can only be procured for one, two, or four persons, so tough titties if one wants to dine with a number of others outside those limited configurations.
Fifthly, there is a fifthly? Yes indeedy. Reservations taken on a particular day are for the day exactly ten days ahead, so if one placed a reservation on a Sunday, it would be for a Tuesday for example. Ugh.
In summary, this very limited system - while not as bad as that for The Fat Duck in England or for the former El Bulli in Spain - is none the less challenging to the point of utter despair and frustration. So if one manages to snag a reservation, hold that golden ticket close to the chest, or sell it on Ebay. Totes.
Challenge Two - The Location
The casino formerly known as Star City has long been an afterthought in the Sydney restaurant scene, and the previous jewel in its crown (Astral) has moved on. Star City was a garish and noisy monstrosity not conducive to fine dining, but the change has boosted its appeal with a dedicated section of Level G devoted to food offerings, both low- and high-end. Momofuku is away from the main food court area (dubbed Cafe Court) in a neat position next to the street, directly opposite Adriano Zumbo Patissier. Parking is still an expensive exercise though, with a charge of $20 for weekday evenings and $25 for weekend evenings.
Challenge Three - The Hours
Only dinner is available at Seiobo, Mondays to Saturdays, and the seating times are restricted to 7p.m., 7.30p.m., and 8p.m. The hours are staggered to enable the kitchen to serve food in a timely manner, but a 6p.m. or 6.30p.m. option would have been welcome. The three seating times means there is a limit to the number of diners that can be served in a night (we estimated 42), because the length of the degustation does not allow for turnover diners.
Challenge Four - The Seating
Reservations for one or two people will gift a position at the coveted chef's-table-like bench, where one is privy to (almost) every kitchen machination, whether it be steaming the pork buns, filleting the fish, saucing a dish, or plating a dessert. Each move made by the kitchen is open to curious and wandering eyes, and this can be an enjoyable or awkward experience depending on one's disposition. The kitchen staff preparing the food are also responsible for serving the food, so any questions relating to the food, preparation, and their minutiae can be answered immediately. I enjoyed this interactive side as there was always something happening to pique my interest (certain chefs wearing disposable gloves while others did not, some shelf space above the kitchen being empty, the tasting of sauces by the chefs, etcetera), and this made the time go quickly.
For reservations of four however, there are standard tables to accommodate quartets, but these are away from the kitchen. These tables also suffer from dimmer lighting as opposed to the bench's downlighting, but enjoy the advantage of normal dining chairs instead of uncomfortable bar stools. My convive found he was cramping sitting on a bar stool for two-and-a-half hours.
Challenge Five - The Food and Menu
A degustation comprising fifteen courses is not for the faint-hearted or for the unhungry, but it is spread evenly over two to two-and-a-half hours. There is no pre-meal menu, and each dish is supposedly determined on the morning of each day and can change daily subject to produce variations and availability.
Our degustation's progression was in this order: snacks, pork, kingfish, marron, beef, eel, crab, egg, pasta, blue eye, lamb, pecorino, wattle seed, miso, and pork again as the final course; unconventional but something to be expected from Chang. The order of the food vacillates with no discernible pattern, whereas most degustations normally follow a lightest to heaviest order where savoury dishes are concerned, with cold and/or vegetable dishes to start and meaty hot dishes to finish. Here, we got pork as a second course and egg and pasta courses (eighth and ninth respectively) sandwiched between the mud crab and blue eye.
The first course of "snacks" introduced us immediately to the whimsy and creativity of the kitchen, with a quartet of differing textures, colours, and flavours. Crunchy, crispy, gooey, and gluey, not every item appealed, but we applauded the effort and boldness. The smoked potato was the star, a tube of crispy potato shell encasing a delicately smooth potato mash which exploded in the mouth.
Course number two of the "steamed pork bun" is the most talked and twittered about dish in Chang's repertoire, and while great it falls short of amazing. The pork belly is beautifully tender but it owes its lofty status to the phenomenal bun, which is a revelation in doughy softness. The texture is difficult to describe but it is like a light, pliable duvet folded over the pork. Flavoured with hoisin sauce, it is subtly balanced towards the sweet side but a bottle of sriracha chilli sauce is there for an extra dimension.
Courses three and four of the "kingfish" and "white asparagus" did not leave much impression on us, with the traces of blood orange on the kingfish too subtle, while the marron served with the white asparagus had a wonderfully rich flavour but little else. Kudos to the kitchen for replacing the white asparaguses on K's plate with witlof because of his dislike for all things asparagus (including the resulting pungent urine post-ingestion).
Course number five - "beef" - was a bowl with diced cubes of beef hidden beneath a lily pad of overlapping tranches of radish. Watching the painstakingly tedious task of creating the radish lily pad in front of our eyes made it heartbreaking when we were told to mix the beef and radishes together before eating. The nice textural contrast between the tender beef and crunchy radishes was undermined by the unusual fermented black bean flavour and the visual repellant of the oil-slick-like sauce.
Course six was one of my favourites, the "smoked eel" being wonderfully nuanced in its smokiness and flavour, while the dabs of pink grapefruit lent a tangy moreishness complemented by the earthy chunks of slightly charred artichokes and a cup of dashi.
Course number seven of the "mud crab" was equally stunning in execution and was the most flavoursome dish of the degustation. The crab meat was superbly cooked to a juicy tenderness and its freshness accented by a richly intense jus of butter and pepper. The Yorkshire pudding was moist and light with a batter-y crust ideal for soaking up the jus.
The "egg" was the eighth course and its lightness was a brief respite from the flavour explosions of the previous three, but the custard did little to win us over. It was dainty and velvety and that was about it.
Course number nine however was a simple yet spectacular winner, probably because we were craving a substantial carbohydrate hit. Folds of "hand torn pasta" were silkily smooth and satisfying with goat cheese, mint, a strong hint of chilli, and crispy basil leaves, while the petite cherry tomatoes burst with an acidity and vibrancy that complemented the dish extremely well.
The final two savoury courses were the more traditional one-two punch of the sea and land proteins. Course ten was the "blue eye" paired with wakame, fennel, and squid ink. Wakame is usually a boring, watery mess found in Japanese or Korean soups but this was a textural and flavoursome delight that made us forget about the slightly overcooked fish.
The eleventh course of "lamb neck" featured the most incredible disc of meat one is likely to consume anywhere. Uber-tender and ambrosial, we were taken aback when told it was cooked in the pan and finished in the oven. As simple as that. Pickled pink turnips were a bit tough and crunchy but added an acidity to the dish, while the daikon puree provided a grainy smoothness. But it was all about the lamb.
Course number twelve was cheese, something neither of us usually order, so this was a significant challenge and one which we failed. Delightful presentation and creativity aside, the salty and pungent hillock of grated "pecorino" was distractingly overpowering, even with a shard of crispy honey lattice and globules of sticky honey licorice scattered amongst the cheese. Definitely one for the cheese lover only.
Number thirteen is the first dessert, a weirdly alluring concoction of malt ice cream surrounded by "wattle seed" meringue and covered by flabelliform pieces of crispy milk. The meringue was sweet and crunchy, while the ice cream was lusciously rich and chocolatey. The crispy milk added a unique snappy texture but tasted of nothing in particular.
The fourteenth course jolts the tastebuds back towards the savoury with a combo of "miso" and mustard. The dominant component of the miso ice cream was slightly overpowering in its lack of sweetness, and when the sugariness came in the form of pickled strawberries and diced fruit, it was mild. Even the rice pudding was more textural than a counterbalance to the cold miso flavour. Such a strange choice to tickle the tastebuds, but the fifteenth and final course showed why this dessert leant towards the savoury spectrum.
Instead of the usual cute selection of chocolates, jellies, or macarons as petit fours, the meal ends with a surprisingly strange flourish of slow roasted pork shoulder with salt and sugar. Those like us with a view of the kitchen already had a portent as the sizeable chunk of devilishly fragrant pork shoulder had been resting on an island bench for some time. The dish is as simple as it sounds: pieces of pulled pork from the shoulder sprinkled with sugar and salt to bring out the aroma and drizzled with pan juices; nothing more, nothing less. Delicious? Yes. As a final dish? Polarising, just the way Chang wants it. And as memorable as it is discussion-worthy.
Challenge Six - The Music
Much has been said about the choice of music played at Seiobo, but we found the brouhaha unwarranted. The music was unintrusive during our dinner, in part because the volume was reasonably low and in part because we were transfixed in conversation and by the view of the kitchen's activities. When we did pay attention to the music during the rare dull moments, we noticed the playlist flittered between various musical genres from country to pop to hip-hop. Yes, we were treated to a rousing version of Acca Dacca's TNT, but the buzz in the kitchen and dining room rendered it effete to the point of it being elevator music, so those averse to loud restaurant music need not fear.
Challenge Seven - The Lavatory
The lavatory/toilet/water closet/restroom/bathroom is correct, as there is only one for both diners and the staff. A single toilet for roughly sixty people? Both inadequate and infuriating. And there's no fancy hallway to walk through to the toilet either, as diners must pass through the uninteresting part of the kitchen (viz. storage and dishwashing area) to get there. Once there, the room is typically unprepossessing: dark, lit by a variety of candles, and with rolled white hand towels on a shelf. The toilet while functional is clearly glossed over when it comes to the Momofuku experience.
Challenge Eight - The Service
A fifteen-course degustation over two to two-and-a-half hours requires a dedicated and skilled team of floor staff, and that is what Seiobo has. The amount of cutlery and crockery used during each night is staggering, and the staff steathily and unobtrusively sets up and removes every piece with precision and timing. Within minutes of each course being finished, everything is taken away and replaced, ready for the next course, and every member of the floor team does his or her part; on one occasion during the evening the sommelier-at-large Charles Leong removed our plates and cutlery.
David Chang's first foreign foray has certainly rocked the Sydney epicurean scene. Even before the doors opened, people were clamouring to see what he would come up with, and what he has delivered is a challenge on multiple levels. From the exasperatingly strict reservation system to the size of the degustation to the use of local and often unheralded produce, he has confronted and awoken us from our insular haven with a mighty uppercut. By dropping all pretence and doing as he pleases with Momofuku Seiobo, Chang has pulled out his full deck of cards, shown us a straight flush, then flashed us his Jokers.
The good: fifteen courses of mainly great and exciting food; service efficiency; excellent value compared to some degustations; chef's-table-like bench
The bad: one toilet for the whole restaurant; parking at The Star is expensive; kitchen staff could use more amiability when serving the courses; bar stools are uncomfortable for long periods
What the?: the f**king reservation system
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