‘Lishin at Momofuku Noodle Bar

When my friend and I were trying to decide where to go for Winterlicious, we quickly agreed that we had to try to get a reservation at Momofuku. This particular location in Toronto is one of the several award-winning restaurants founded by Chef David Chang in New York. It is just a noodle bar, according to Hubby, what could be so special about it? Well, my friend and I just had to see for ourselves what the fuss was about.

First impression was not so great. The place was packed and we arrived about 15 minutes early for our reservation. There were some walk-ins who were getting seated so we were wondering if the reservation was absolutely necessary. But it was better to be safe. Anyway, about 5 minutes into the wait, we saw that a table for two was empty. When we asked if we could get seated, the hostess said it was too early for our reservation and that she will call us as soon as something was available. 10 minutes later, she called us to be seated—at that same empty table we saw 10 minutes ago! Inhale. Exhale.

We were hungry so we decided to give the place a chance to redeem itself with some fantastic food. We already knew what we wanted to get and the food came pretty fast—only, the main course was served ahead of the appetizer. Anyway, I will go with the order in which I ate my meal.

The pork buns looked very unappetizing. I would not recommend this at all. Half each slice of pork was fat. It was actually yucky. I sliced off all the fat before biting into the buns. The actual buns were good. They were moist and had some sweetness to it. The hoisin sauce and scallions also complemented what was left of my meat. The pork itself was flavourful and was very tender—if it had bones, I would say it was falling off the bones!

Pork Buns @ Momofuku

Now, my Chicken Ramen was absolutely delish! The miso broth which had a dollop of hoisin was lovely and the noodles had a good bite. The egg was poached, not the usual hard boiled ones in ramen—yummmm. The menma (bamboo shoots) was tender and not stringy. And the chicken…perfect! The skin was crunchy, the meat was juicy and beautifully seasoned. A couple of decent-sized pieces came with the dish. Now, the bowl was only 2/3 full which made me think they adjusted the portions for Winterlicious. Not a good idea if you wanted to communicate value you wouldn’t normally get outside of this event. Nevertheless, I was quite full and did not have the space to finish my compost cookie dessert.

Chicken Ramen @ Momofuki

This compost cookie is one of the specialties of Momofuku’s Milk Bar. We had a little bite and proclaimed it was moist, chewy and yummy!

Compost Cookie @ Momofuku

My friend ordered the Shiitake bun (which looked so much yummier than my pork buns!),

Shiitake Bun @ Momofuku

Ginger Scallion noodles,

Ginger Scallion Noodles @ Momofuku

and rice pudding from the Milk Bar. And she claims these were absolutely delicious. I trust her food taste!

Rice Pudding @ Momofuku Milk Bar

As for service, some of the servers were not too pleasant—like they were not happy to be there. I was taking some photos and one of the servers kept saying, “excuse me” in a very impatient manner so she could dump our pork and shiitake buns on the table! Well, despite that we said we would return. So much for demanding great service! The food was so good, we tried to look past the not so awesome service. Plus, having great company makes you a little bit more patient. Until the next Winterlicious!