Momofuku

I visited Momofuku recently to see what the hype is about. I had not yet read Taisho's review, but came away with a similar impression. I rate it 1/5.

The Food: The rameni served at Momofuku is uneven. Their eponymous ramen is the same as their shoyui ramen offering, but has a "poached egg" on top. Let's go through the elements of their ramen offering to see why it is, at best, mediocre.

Starting with the presentation. The presentation was good. The toppings were colorfully organized around the edge of the bowl and a square of norii was placed behind the spoon. It was clear they were trying to do a good job.
Turning to the "poached egg", we should first note that traditional ramen will generally be served with a hard bioled egg, if any. The poached egg is a cute idea, but will bleed into the soup and noodles. This change to the consistency of the soup may be desirable to some, and undesirable to others. I do not count the concept of including a poached egg for or against Momofuku. I was troubled by the fact that the eggs are not really poached. Instead, they are semi-hard boiled and then left to stand in a container filled with water near the stove. The person preparing a ramen order cracks the egg, drains the entirely uncooked portion of the egg white from the egg, and places the semi-cooked portion of the egg white, which is sufficiently cooked to hold the soft yolk, on top of the soup, in the middle. What one is left with is a soft yolk with a very thin layer of translucent egg white around it. I was not terribly impressed.
The other topings were mixed. The menmai was good (although I am a sucker for any menma). The negii was fine. Momofuku included some pickled vegetables that were flavorless and had the shape of celery. They had a nice red color, though. Something resembling steamed chard also was present, which was fine.
The pork was quite good. Instead of traditional slices of chashui, Momofuku provided something similar to small heap of a mildly spiced carnitas from a boutique farm. It was well prepared and had good flavor.
So far, this ramen sounds pretty decent, if not traditional, right? Unfortunately, the heart of the soup, namely the broth and the noodles, were very weak. The broth tasted like chicken stock darkened with soy and (maybe) some pork-based broth that one would normally find in shoyu ramen. In addition, the broth was not very warm. The noodles were significantly overcooked. As Taisho pointed out in his review, there were no people of Japanese decent at the restaurant. This is not necessarily bad (though Oyajii clearly prefer to avoid places that are not managed and staffed by Japanese), but the absence of people who know what the broth should taste like and how important not overcooking the noodles may have contributed to these shocking oversights.

Aside from ramen, Momofuku did not appear to offer the traditional side dishes. I would have liked a little karei-raisu or gyoza, but saw neither of these. I checked the Momofuku menu on menupages before posting this, and discovered they DO have gyoza, it is just not called gyoza, but is called "Steamed or Pan-Fried Pork Dumplings". As an oyaji, I skip over anything starting with "steamed" at a ramen shop. Momofuku should be ashamed! So, if you decide to go here (why you would do so is not clear), learn from my mistake and order the pan fried pork dumplings.

The Service: Service was utilitarian and performed with a pleasant disposition.

The Space: The space is dominated by a long bar that is crowded with people who obviously don't know much about ramen. There is a small room in the front with more seating. A fitting space in which to eat ramen. The decor was minimalist. Were an oyaji to have designed the place, there would be more red. Beer and sake were mediocre offerings. The only Japanese beer they carried was Orion. I would have liked to see them replace Tecate (yes, Tecate) with at least your plain vanilla Asahi or Kirin.