It's all Momofuku in The East Village NY

On my last day in NY I decided I had to go to Momofuku Noodle Bar, so we get there just around lunch time and it's full full full! There are no reservations, so there's a wait, and wait we did. It's bustling with the sound of chatter, chopsticks and a few slurps here and there (it must be the ramen). There are mostly Asian patrons which I take as a good sign, feel free to excuse me for my generalising. So fingers crossed that it's good food.

When we're seated it's tightly packed, not unlike tinned sardines, but like I've said before how much room do I need to manouvre chopsticks?!

First up are the shiitake buns. The buns are soft filled with salty, smoky earthy, shiitake mushrooms topped with a sweetish sauce. I did also get a hint of bacon flavour, maybe spill over from the pork buns but I don't mind. So as you can see I tucked into one of the shiitake buns before taking a picture, that's how great they looked and smelt.

Next up was the slow roasted beef brisket with rice, pickled vegetables, cilantro. The brisket is salty-ish and soft with crispy edges, it's corned beef right? The pickled vegetables go so well with it especially the bitter radish and the vinegar-esque pickled baby carrots.

Finally, what I came there for, the momofuku ramen – pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg. I asked the waitress if the portion is a one person portion, to which she said Yes! I beg to differ but maybe I'm just smaller than your average person. It's noodles in a pork flavoured broth with shredded pork, pork belly slices and a poached egg.

Honestly I did not know how I was going to tackle this bowl. The noodles are great, asian style al dente, not too soft considering they're sitting in broth. The broth itself is just salty enough, not over salty and so flavourful, i could taste ginger, soy, rice wine, nori. It was jam packed with flavour. The pork was soft and super tasty! I went at it with all I've got, spoon and chopsticks in hand!

I walked out of there full and satisfied wondering where I could get Ramen in Jozi? If you know of a place let me know, otherwise it's Cyrildene "chinatown" exploring for me.
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