[New York] Momofuku Noodle Bar

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Momofuku Noodle Bar | momofuku.com/new-york/noodle-bar/ | Yelp
Address: 171 1st Ave (East Village), New York, NY 10003
Date visited: 2013.06
Total bill: $28 + tax and tip for two people
Will return: Yes but only for pork buns
What to get: Pork Buns

Momofuku Noodle Bar is David Chang’s first baby where his legendary pork buns made their debut. Verdict? Same story as Ippudo: pork buns live completely up to the hype while the ramen does not. I don’t think any of these places’ ramen is worth the typical 1-2 hour wait. I should really stop having ramen at these places and just get plates on plate on plates of pork buns.

Pork Buns ($10 for two buns) with hoisin, scallion, cucumber
Recommend: definitely get lots of them
These are pretty bomb. The pork belly was so tender and fatty; better than Ippudo’s pork. The hoisin sauce was not as good as Ippudo’s house sauce (plus mayo) but it tasted fine. The scallion and cucumber garnish actually made more contributions to the pork bun than Ippudo’s tasteless iceberg lettuce. Momofuku’s pork belly definitely makes this pork bun what it is whereas Ippudo’s sauce makes its pork bun. Although I am a fan of Ippudo’s sauce, I like Momofuku pork buns more overall because the pork is cooked so much better and the other ingredients complement and showcase the pork well.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Momofuku Noodle Bar


Soy Sauce Egg ($2) with crispy shallot, chive, maldon
Recommend: no
The eggs were too salty. The crispy shallots made me feel like I was about to bite into a green bean casserole instead. Weird.

Momofuku Noodle Bar


Momofuku Ramen ($16) with pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg
Recommend: just okay
Not a game changer. To be fair, I have yet to eat ramen anywhere that I really wanted to go back for. There was nothing wrong with this but the broth just didn’t have that deep special flavor I was looking for. Next please.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

The egg was surprisingly cooked most of the way even though it looked like it had #yolkporn potential from the outside. I did like that they used curly (as opposed to straight) noodles.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

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