What is it about fine dining that brings out the most obtuse of Times readers? The great thing about our city is that we can experience any art or performance to it's highest degree.
6
For those of you who want regular reviews of more affordable restaurants in the New York Times, I encourage you to read Ligaya Mishan's excellent Hungry City column on Thursdays.
6
My lunch in the original space was one of the most wonderful dining experiences and meals that I have ever had.
But anyway, contrary to what our writer describes, the chefs were very conversational and engaging when I was there (including Sean Gray and Jonathan Ory). No doubt, this was due to my charm, but still!
But anyway, contrary to what our writer describes, the chefs were very conversational and engaging when I was there (including Sean Gray and Jonathan Ory). No doubt, this was due to my charm, but still!
3
What's with all the backlash over the cost of fine dining? This is New York for God's sake. Don't read the reviews then.
18
I find these reviews make for interesting reading even though I don't live in New York and rarely get there, and would never dream of spending this kind of money on a "tasting menu," something that has been too precious and too disappointing no matter where I've tried it. There are ample good places in Washington where you can have a very good dinner with wine for $50 or so. Don't do that often but it's nice for special occasions. Our local "restaurant critic" has become so self-absorbed and snarky I just avoid him and most of the rest of his paper, now part of the Bezos empire.
5
Can I get a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich? Big deal, you get a bunch of fancy dishes that no one can pronounce and you go home probably $500 or so cheaper. What else is new in NYC? I'm wating for the next crash and it will come, you can count on it. Go around and look around at all the vacant stores that closed because of the incredible high rents. I keep thinking of the Weimar
republic in the Twenties in germany. We all know where that ended up. Depression, Depression.
republic in the Twenties in germany. We all know where that ended up. Depression, Depression.
2
Easily one of the most obnoxiously elitist paragraphs I've ever read:
"Quills of trofie dressed with Tasso ham, poblano peppers and Mimolette cheese make an odd traveling companion for the mackerel sushi. Elysian Farms lamb with green tomatoes and Calabrian chiles might turn up in any number of restaurants, and so could the excellent sourdough bread. Nobody would say that about the daring chickpea and sea urchin duet."
"Quills of trofie dressed with Tasso ham, poblano peppers and Mimolette cheese make an odd traveling companion for the mackerel sushi. Elysian Farms lamb with green tomatoes and Calabrian chiles might turn up in any number of restaurants, and so could the excellent sourdough bread. Nobody would say that about the daring chickpea and sea urchin duet."
7
Believe it or not, the first thing that jumps out at me when reading this review is how much New York, or the Bowery in particular, has changed. This restaurant sits on the alley (Extra Place) right behind where CBGB was. In fact, there is a famous picture of the Ramones in this alley when it was a mid-70s, garbage-strewn, wonderfully decrepit mess. The evolution (and juxtaposition) is odd, to say the least.
5
And sad.
Look at that awful banal building. No character. Could be in Milwaukee. That whole stretch of the Bowery/E Village is just awful. People like to say that yearning for the NYC of 30, 40, 50 years ago is crazy because it's now clean and safe, but what a high cost it has come at, ending up with a soulless, homogeneous capitalist playground. Sad.
Look at that awful banal building. No character. Could be in Milwaukee. That whole stretch of the Bowery/E Village is just awful. People like to say that yearning for the NYC of 30, 40, 50 years ago is crazy because it's now clean and safe, but what a high cost it has come at, ending up with a soulless, homogeneous capitalist playground. Sad.
7
Move to Detroit or Atlantic City if you so want the New York of 30, 40 or 50 years ago.
4
Those who want to eat out well and pay $10, $20, $30 or even $40 for a meal need to look into the kitchen and not at the hole their wallet. Behind every cheap meal is an army of immigrants, mostly central and South Americans, who earn minimum wages with no benefits or families working together to survive by opening a restaurant. Please don't try to live well or being a foodie by the hard labor of others.
Anyone with a decent salary should be able to spend now and then $175 for a 15 courses meal. This is what living is all about. This is what decadently pleasure means. If one cannot spend $175 for a 15 courses meal, one just has too much debt. And too much debt makes people callously cheap toward people who work in the service industry.
Anyone with a decent salary should be able to spend now and then $175 for a 15 courses meal. This is what living is all about. This is what decadently pleasure means. If one cannot spend $175 for a 15 courses meal, one just has too much debt. And too much debt makes people callously cheap toward people who work in the service industry.
14
Well said!
1
"Anyone with a decent salary should be able to spend now and then $175 for a 15 courses meal."
I'm curious what you consider a decent salary, that would enable one to have an occasional $175 meal. Below what salary would you consider it imprudent (or whatever word you prefer) to spend that amount occasionally on a meal? And what is occasional - once a year? Twice a year? More often?
I'm curious what you consider a decent salary, that would enable one to have an occasional $175 meal. Below what salary would you consider it imprudent (or whatever word you prefer) to spend that amount occasionally on a meal? And what is occasional - once a year? Twice a year? More often?
6
"Recommended dishes no choices."
Kiss my foie gras!!
Kiss my foie gras!!
7
um, because it is a single tasting menu only? Just guessing.
8
Part of the reason to review a restaurant like this is not to tell you, the reader, where to eat tonight, but to to inform you, the diner, of what trailblazers in NYC are doing, which informs other restauranteurs and chefs and ultimately reflects on your next dining experience, no matter where you live or what you eat.
31
Au contraire. You don't have to eat the food or review the restaurant to do that, you can just write a news story. The only purpose of a review is to tell the reader where to eat tonight.
2
All that money for "tiny balloons of sourness." Probably not worth it.
7
A fabulously twee review which reinforces my decision not to bother even trying for a reservation here.
Not that they need or will miss me, I know. I'm happy spending a quarter of that amount on wonderful food at great restaurants here in New Jersey. (Yes, we do have some, and if you don't believe me, that's fine. Makes it easier for me to get a reservation.)
I can't imagine a lifestyle where $600 foie gras shavings are an inherent part of the landscape, but hey, to each his or her own.
Not that they need or will miss me, I know. I'm happy spending a quarter of that amount on wonderful food at great restaurants here in New Jersey. (Yes, we do have some, and if you don't believe me, that's fine. Makes it easier for me to get a reservation.)
I can't imagine a lifestyle where $600 foie gras shavings are an inherent part of the landscape, but hey, to each his or her own.
18
There is no trick to eating well in NYC by spending hundreds of dollars on a meal. The trick is to eat well by spending $40 or less. If only the Times would spend more time reviewing those restaurants.
26
ate here in 2011. unimpressed. the porkbuns were ok. everything else was greasy. also, didn't like the picnic table type seating. but take my opinion with a grain of salt. i like balthazar and gotham.
1
You ate at Ssam bar, not at Ko.
4
You ate at Ko? Sounds like you ate at Noodle Bar or Ssam Bar.
4
Dear Mr. Chang,
Do you offer discounts to middle school teachers?
Salivatingly,
Do you offer discounts to middle school teachers?
Salivatingly,
17
I've recommended this comment. And would like to add the further question: is a tasting menu really as easy as it seemed?
1
This review sounds, well, a bit . . . craven. It really does not concern the rest of us mortals who will never see the inside of a $$$$ restaurant, let alone taste, the delicacies hereby described (most of which are totally alien to the common man's taste). I'll stick to homemade rice and beans!
11
As a food adventurer myself, I find your position as sad as mmofuku ko's; why would you not try other foods at all?
2
Is anyone else irritated by these reviews for the 0.01 percenters or is it just me?
Is Panda Express in Manhattan yet?
Is Panda Express in Manhattan yet?
37
Reviews like this present as a way for the 1% to not have buyer's remorse and get 3rd-party confirmation that they really are au courant in a good way.
6
Not sure about this iteration, but at other Momofuku restaurants, there are less expensive a la carte options if the tasting menu is not for you. I am definitely not the 1% (much less the 0.01%) but I like food and cook at home most of the time so I can enjoy a culinary treat from time to time. I would have to spend twice as much to go see Book of Mormon, and plenty of people in less expensive locales spend that much in a month imbibing at their neighborhood bar (or arguably worse, on a daily caloric coffee drink). It's fine if this is not your "thing" but many of us enjoy food enough that a trip to an excellent restaurant is as transcendent an experience as a visit to Broadway.
7
Yes! Absolutely!
3
Been to Ko three times, twice to the original and once to the new place. All among the best dining experiences I have ever had. I have never even tried to select a wine to go with the various courses and always opted for the beverage pairings. True, you won't ever get an exceptional wine experience that you will remember, but it will pair nicely with the course. Ko would be my go to for a special occasion, but the reservation system can be frustrating. I had no idea I have been competing with bots. But I have found that if you are patient and willing to take an odd-time seating, you can get in. Can't wait to go back.
12
Sort of interesting. But, honestly, a 12 seat restaurant where a couple could easily spend $600 or $700 for dinner. It is so irrelevant for real life.
29
nobody spends that much. they treat it like a normal thai place. split three 24 dollar dishes.
1
Good strategy, but Ko only offers the $175.00 tasting menu.
1
There's something for everyone. If you want to take a bank loan to go to dinner, then by all means, you are a fan of extraordinary food. The Times does a fine job of writing about the extremes in food and also the local fare.
8
You are exactly right. People seem overly eager to comment every time a review for an aspiration restaurant is posted, but fail to celebrate all the times more establishments that may have more approachable price points for the masses are included. Dinner at Momofuku is not something I've enjoyed, but the $175 experience seems like it would last as long, be as if not more enjoyable, and provide just as many memories as a Broadway show, many of which have the exact same cost.
10
That's probably not even close to being true. If you compare the number of people who would take delight at eating raw sea urchin mixed with fermented chickpeas to the number who would be thrilled by a song from "The Book of Mormon," I'd wager the latter outdoes the former by at least 1,000 to one. And that's to say nothing of comparing a "failure" in the mouth to one in the ear or eye, and the review indicates this place has several.
Have you read Ligaya Mishan's reviews?
1
Good lord. So hedgefunders and their ilk. Go to greenmarket tomorrow qnd bring home food beyond delicious....Pawlet Farms cheese. great bread, almonds, cherry tomatoes,
10
Enough is enough! How about a review of good diners in the city Where you can fill your face for ten bucks. The money saved can go to less fortunate people than me.
19
Precious. In so many ways.
Let us not forget: Food, even extremely superlative food, is just food.
Even with good optics and whatnot.
Let us not forget: Food, even extremely superlative food, is just food.
Even with good optics and whatnot.
9
These sampling restaurants offer food theater, not a dining experience. What needs to be addressed, aside from the fact that they are easy to mock, is the cost verses quantity factor. 15 bites, including a spoonful of soupy mashed potato, a whorl of spaghetti squash, a dab of chickpea paste, has an inventory cost that amounts to very little. Potatoes, spaghetti squash, and chickpeas are 3 of the least expensive things anybody can buy, including an unimaginative star chef. The mark-up to the customer on the food served at M-K is appalling. A minimum of $175 is forked over without the classic line: "give me your wallet." Meanwhile, millions of humans are starving, and that's in the United States alone. A hungry child might weep for a meal of potato, spaghetti squash, and chickpeas. The obscenity of pampering the well-off continues.
33
It didn't take long for the sackcloth and ashes scolds to be heard. At least this time there was a new spin - potatoes, spaghetti squash and chickpeas are cheap, so why $175? Interesting point, but then falling back on the "millions are starving" line? Well foie gras (oh the horror) and caviar (1%er catnip) ain't cheap, and how many covers a night can they do? Not your cup of barley tea? Fine, but some of us are interested in this even if we may never go.
I do agree with famdoc that I'd like to see more reviews of neighborhood places, but the NYT is a national, even world newspaper so it should highlight the best of New York, even if that makes a reservation harder for someone who wants a splurge.
I do agree with famdoc that I'd like to see more reviews of neighborhood places, but the NYT is a national, even world newspaper so it should highlight the best of New York, even if that makes a reservation harder for someone who wants a splurge.
27
So any time I spend disposable income on something I enjoy, I should feel bad because it means I'm depriving someone who needs it more? Where exactly do you draw the line with that?
5
No diners at M-K are getting chunks of foie gras or a full ramekin of caviar. As noted in the review, they are receiving shavings of foie gras drifting down from the rafters, which is laughable. One piece of foie gras, perhaps at a cost of $50 to the owner, can go a long way in that place. Caviar is an idea at M-K, a concept, not a course. As for M-K's costs, with no full-on waitstaff, the poor cooks have to double as servers. Not only are the silly rich being exploited, but so are the employees. Meanwhile, children go to bed hungry all over New York City, including in Manhattan, that gilded bastion of excess and greed. Manhattan, which looks more and more like a suburban shopping mall with each passing day. Chain stores shove out mom and pop, and the rich squeal with delight because they can tell their friends they went to the Bowery to eat. "Oh no, Muffins, did you really? What was it like?"
4
We tried the sister restaurant in Sydney and enjoyed a seriously great meal. Price is always an issue but for a special occasion I would return without hesitation. The Sydney meal was certainly amazingly creative and dominantly successful blend of interesting, arcane and bold ingredients. You have to bool well in advance there too though. Highly recommended.
6
I suppose there are plenty of New Yorkers who can part with $500+ per couple for a memorable meal, many of whom can, and do, spend that kind of money on a regular basis.
We're probably due for re-visits of some of the other high-priced restaurants reviewed by Frank Bruni (Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, Masa, Per Se), but then I'd like to see a streak of review of neighborhood, under $50 per person restaurants the rest of us can enjoy.
We're probably due for re-visits of some of the other high-priced restaurants reviewed by Frank Bruni (Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, Masa, Per Se), but then I'd like to see a streak of review of neighborhood, under $50 per person restaurants the rest of us can enjoy.
55
Surely the move, along with the time elapsed, justifies a re-review?
It would be a pity for the Times to ignore ambitious restaurants just because they're expensive. Many people in New York who don't spend $500+ on a regular basis may still do so for a special occasion. I ate at the first incarnation of Ko twice; both memorable meals.
It would be a pity for the Times to ignore ambitious restaurants just because they're expensive. Many people in New York who don't spend $500+ on a regular basis may still do so for a special occasion. I ate at the first incarnation of Ko twice; both memorable meals.
30
There is a passage in a book called 'A year in Provence' where a janitor saves money each month so he can eat at a Michelin starred restaurant in his nicest wardrobe. Not everyone who spends $500 is rich...including myself.
22
But a good deal cheaper.
1