Momofuku Ssam Bar

01/11/09

What?

by MK0905

The hype has nothing to do with the reality of the dining experience here. If being fabulous and keeping up with "cutting edge cuisine" is your goal then this is your place. If another goal is telling everyone you know how wonderful it was to eat exotic ham all the way from Kentucky, Tennessee or Virginia, then this is also your place. If you actually want to eat some food, I wouldn't recommend it. The menu is utterly confusing, the place was filthy and the "laissez faire" attitude of the inappropriately attired wait staff was just too cool for me. I have eaten ham and steamed buns and "oh, so exotic" beef brisket in my life, and nothing here was so out of the ordinary that it warranted the miniature servings for ridiculous prices. Yes, it is NY and food is expensive, but if I pay over $20 for a bowl with five noodles and a Lilliputian chunk of beef brisket, it better be as good as the ham I might get at a roadside bar-b-que in Tennessee or Kentucky. (Yes, the pigs there do play the banjo.) Is the irony of this whole endeavor evident yet? (And I don't mean the good kind of irony.)

12/27/08

Great flavors worth the trip

by marchandrews

As I looked through the menu and tasted the cured hamachi on top of an edamame and wasabi paste, the fried brussel sprouts in a fish sauce, the pig's head prepared like a crab cake on top of collard greens and aduzuki beans, and the pork shoulder with a ramp ranch dressing, which all went together incredibly well, I said to my wife, "how do they think of these things?" And her apt response was, "I guess that's why the chef won a James Beard award." Everything we tried had truly great flavors. We sat at the bar, and the bartender/waiter was great. Definitely take all their recommendations, including the wine and sake suggestions. And definitely have the pork bun...juicy (although fatty) pork and the freshest, fluffiest bun you'll get anywhere.

• Pros: Great flavors, unique combinations

11/14/08

AMAZING!!!! Loved every bite of my lunch. Friendly staff, prices right and I'm a foodie!!!

by SFields41

AMAZING!!!! Loved every bite of my lunch. Friendly staff, prices right and I'm a foodie!!! Must try the dumplings... fluffy bites of heaven!!

• Pros: AMAZING!!!! Loved every bite of my lunch. Friendly staff, prices right and I'm a foodie!!!
• Cons: On the small side... I imagine it gets crowded at night.

10/19/08

Leaves a lot to be desired and I will not be going back. Avoid yourself a bad experience.

by labuonaforchetta

Momofuku seems to have bet all its cards on trendiness and regrettably they appear not to care at all about those vital factors that are decisive when it comes to turning an "eatery" into a "great restaurant" where patrons can't wait to return. The food is overly salted, unimpressive and unreasonably priced. The service is terribly unprofessional and overbearing, the ambiance is below average. [There should be line breaks here but citysearch make each posting a big blob of text!]

Note: Because of the standard limitation applied to the length of reviews on citysearch, I can't write and extended review. Dear citysearch team if you are reading this, please consider extending the limit. That's the least you can do since you will own the rights for each review, why impose a 2000 characters limit? If someone is taking the time to write an "article" for you and they are doing it for free, at least give those users enough space so you can get a more detailed review, not just a quick complain or praise about a place (restaurant or other commercial services). Additionally no line-breaks are honored by your posting system making reviews hard to read, you should fix that. This will be my first and last review until posting limits will be removed and line-breaks will be respected. Thank you.

• Pros: None I can think of... Maybe the location?
• Cons: Food and Service leave a lot to be desired. Ambience is just average

10/12/08

Overrated and pretentious

by TimGourmand

Starting with the very uncomfortable seating, then moving to the over-salted ham, then having the waitress dismiss your opinion of the salt level, and finally having being topped off by the entree of bronzini which was literally a half of a small fish. By comparison, if you go to Ethos in NYC, you'll get a full grilled bronzini for the same price (I know, it's not Asian Fusion, but we're talking bang-for-the-buck here). Very disappointing.

• Pros: none
• Cons: Overpriced, pretentious

06/02/08

You Get What You Pay For

by huskyduck

Ssam Bar is pricey but it is very clear from each dish I sampled that they use the highest quality ingredients available. The hamachi appetizer was ultra fresh and silky and melted in my mouth. The chawan mushi was amazingly authentic in smell and taste, it reminded me of my childhood. The spicy pork sausage with rice cake was asian comfort food at it's best. A very good sake and soju list is featured which goes perfectly with the diverse Asian flavors featured throughout the menu. I have read some knocks on the service at Ssam bar but my experience was nothing but spectacular. I sat at the bar and it seemed as though I had a team of servers, not just one, I was never left waiting. The music is loud but I found this energizing and it also goes with the owner's personality I think.

• Pros: Chawan Mushi, Spicy Pork Sausage, Hamachi appetizer

05/13/08

Vegetarians beware

by Jennifer550

This restaurant is not vegetarian-friendly. I went on a Saturday night (after waiting 1.5 hours), and although the online menu had a few vegetarian options, when I finally sat down and looked at the menu there were no vegetarian options, except for bread and butter. I ordered the bread and butter and paid $10 for it. Obviously, I left hungry. In addition, the back of the menu says "absolutely NO substitutions" and "This is not a vegetarian friendly restaurant." I actually found that to be a little insulting and it was clear that I was not welcome there. To top it off, the employees were very snotty, with an attitude that I should be thankful for being in their restaurant. This place is overrated....I would rather go to a tiny, unknown, unpretentious restaurant to enjoy great food.

• Pros: Nice atmosphere
• Cons: snotty waitstaff, no vegetarian options

05/13/08

BEWARE OF BAD SERVICE AND $10 BREAD AND BUTTER

by l_scully

I went to dinner at Momofuku this past weekend. I waited an hour and a half with my party to be seated and when we finally were, I noticed that although there were a few vegetarian dishes on the online menu, the only thing I could order from that night's menu (being vegetarian) was bread and butter. I noticed only after we were seated that the menu states there are no substitutions or subtractions from any dish listed. Since I waited an hour and a half, and was with five other people, I decided to stay, but could only order bread and butter. I was charged $10 for this. On top of this, the staff was not friendly and seemed rather uptight, even for a so-called "trendy" restaurant (and we all know there are a dime a dozen self-proclaimed "trendy" restaurants in NYC.) You know what would be really cool and trendy? Having good food that caters to everyone, having vegetarian meals at the restaurant (not just the online menu), and having a wait-staff that treats its customers with respect. This place is all hype with nothing living up to it.

05/05/08

Great food, crowded atmosphere

by desieclipse

This restaurant has a minimalist ambiance, but don't let that fool you - the exotic & inventive dishes are delicious here. This is one of my favorite places to eat in NYC. Try the lightly carbonated Nigori sake and the sweetbreads. Yum!

I had a great experience with the service and don't understand these other reviews. Apparently hundreds of other people feel the same way because there are always crowds of people waiting outside for a seat, even in the dead of winter! The service was really good to me & my date the last time I was there and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience. I highly recommend this place.

• Pros: delicious and exotic food, great drinks
• Cons: crowded, potential long wait for table

04/18/08

Disgusting service - how they get 4.5 stars above with over half 1 or 2 stars user reviews I DONT KNOW.

by DumpyBumpy

Momofuku (any restaurants of that chain) = arrogant, ill-mannered, horribly rude service. That particular server I encountered had NO "HOME EDUCATION" or any education at all. (well, maybe they are well-trained by the equally arrogant ill-mannered chef....).

I understand that famous restaurants with great food tend to have grumpy servers. But, really, there is no food so good that I cannot get from other decent elegant places without that arrogant S from momofuku. The food at momofuku is not that good anyway. I dont mind waiting for a long time for a table. I dont mind paying more for good food. I wont be so resentful if my food is bad but service excellent. I've paid more of bad/average food without being so upset. I've experienced bad service, but the service at Momofuku was SO HORRIBLE that I would never ever go back to any of his restaurants. This is one pretentious restaurant with cocky servers who think they are the kings and queens of the world. How they managed to create so many resentful customers (see reviews below, you'll see), I dont know.

At his restaurants, it is all about marketing. And marketing is, a lot of times, about lying and packaging. I've read so many reviews of resentful customers from his place.... funny how many more still get tricked into this place. It is just disgusting. What a scam...

With over half of the user reviews at 1 or 2 stars, how they get overall 4.5 stars here in citysearch (see above) I Dont know!

• Pros: marketing
• Cons: horrible service, bad food, cocky servers, lineup, everything.