Comeback Dinner at Momofuku

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Well, it's been a while. First, let me apologize for our disappearing act. Amanda has been busy at grad school in Atlanta. The separation has been challenging, primarily for the blog! While grad school has been keeping Amanda busy, I switched jobs several months ago. Our goal is to get back to business starting with this post!

During our hiatus, when we haven't been busy with networking and working, we've been holding our breath waiting for David Chang to appear in DC. I have personally been peering in the windows at City Center for months waiting for Momofuku to open. We lucked out on Halloween by dropping by the new space that happened to have a table for 4 available.  

 

The menu at Momofuku is incredibly unique - blending traditional David Chang-style Ramen and pork buns with some unique DC elements, like Virginia ham and Shrimp Louis. We tried a wide variety of dishes from the menu, but stuck to traditional Japanese dishes for our dinner.

There are about 4 different types of steamed buns on the menu.  For appetizers, we tried the shrimp buns and the pork buns - the pork buns being the clear winner. 

                     

Reviews on the shrimp buns were mixed.  Instead of whole shrimp, the buns were filled with a shrimp patty, pickled red onion, shredded lettuce, and a Russian style dressing. Honestly, we weren't crazy about the patty and instead would have loved to have seen jumbo shrimp inside.  

The pork buns, however, were amazing. Despite being filled with rich pork belly, it tasted light and fresh. The crunch of the cucumber and bite of scallions perfectly complemented the sweet pork and fluffy bun.  

My boyfriend ordered the Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup as his main entree. This was definitely a group favorite. It was set up like a ramen, but had a rich beefstock broth with heat on the back end. Generous slices of rare brisket and shredded beef topped the bowl. 

Amanda and I sprung for the Momomfuku ramen. The broth flavor was different than most of the other ramens we've tried in DC.  Chang uses bacon to flavor his ramen, and the smoky flavor definitely came through. The bowl was topped with both pork belly and shredded pork as well as small fish cakes. We liked the meat, but the fish cakes were off putting to us.  The fishy smell was a bit overpowering. We did love, however, the perfectly runny egg and chewy ramen noodles.  

 

One of the best entrees was the cold noodles with spicy Szechuan sausage and candied cashews. The spicy and sweet balance was amazing, and the cold noodles somehow balanced the heat. We would totally come back for this noodle bowl.  

The meal would not have been complete without dessert from the famous Milk Bar. While people lined up outside to get into the bakery, as a diner at Momofuku you can get their whimsical and delicious desserts delivered table side. That is perfection. 

I ordered the cereal milk soft serve ice cream topped with crunchy corn flakes. The flavor was both rich and subtle and perfectly reminded me of that sweet sip of milk at the end of your childhood cereal bowl. 

 

Amanda went for the birthday cake flavored milkshake - bits of crumbled birthday cake truffles were blended with vanilla soft serve. It was so rich and delicious, but we had a lot of leftovers. 

Finally, our fellow diners got the Compost cookie, which our waiter aptly described as "containing every kind of chip (chocolate, toffee, and potato)" and the birthday cake truffles - akin to cake balls. All in all, amazingly rich and fun desserts that perfectly balanced the spicy and complex flavor of our dinner. 

Tsujita: Tsukamen-style ramen

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If you are a loyal reader of this blog, you may have picked up on our ramen obsession. Naturally, I had to seek out ramen for my last meal out in LA. This was probably one of my favorite meals all week just due to the uniqueness of the flavors and style of ramen. The coolest part was that this was Tsukamen-style ramen with the noodles served on the side for dipping. 

The layout of the restaurant is tiny. There are only a few seats at the counter and two other tables. When you arrive, you put your name on the list and hang out outside till seats open up. Thankfully at lunch time we didn't have to wait more than 15-20 minutes.  

There are only two options on the menu: Ramen with the noodles mixed in the broth or Tsukamen with the noodles on the side. Since I had never tried it before, I went with the Tsukamen and added an extra egg and char siu pork. Honestly the  portion was so generous that the add-ins were unnecessary. 

My favorite part of the dish was the noodles. They were perfectly chewy and balanced the heat and spice of the ramen broth. I was surprised that they were served slightly chilled, but I am told that is the thing. I alternated between dipping then in the broth and spooning the broth over the noodle bowl. It was so fun to play with my food! 

Compared to the picture above, the broth took on a deep red color once I stirred in all of the ingredients. This is largely due to the generous portion of chili powder that I incorporated into the broth. Thankfully the heat was mild to medium, and I never felt overwhelmed by the spice level. For heat lovers, there was extra chili powder served on the side. And if you are spice-averse I recommend stirring in little bits at a time. Also, if the broth gets too spicy you can just spoon it over the noodles to temper the heat.  

The flavor of this broth was increasingly complex with each bite. The eggs were perfectly cooked to a soft-boiled consistency. I felt like I experienced new flavors with each bite.

What I love about ramen is the multitude of variations I have tried and how each one seems to surpass the others.  Tsujita was a fun foray into the world of Tsukamen, and I can't wait to find more places to try it out. If any readers know of a place to get Tsukamen in the DC-area, we would appreciate the suggestions!

Liz

Chaplin: Den of Ramen

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Chaplin popped up on the food scene several months ago, taking over the space formerly held by Burma on 9th & P NW. Like the name suggests, Chaplin is designed in celebration of the silent film star Charlie Chaplin. The restaurant reminded me of a trendy French space with tons of red and black and huge murals on the walls. They also had Charlie Chaplin films projected on the wall, silently of course.

 I arrived late and by the time I joined my friends had all ordered drinks. The drink menu has an extensive array of cocktails, ranging from classics like mules and old fashioneds to more creative and unique offerings. I sampled a few of my friends' choices and settled on a ginger-inspired cocktail. We all found the drinks tasty, but a bit heavy on the ice.

We started with a broad sampling of the appetizers, including edamame, steamed buns- both chashu pork and tofu, tori karagae- Japanese fried chicken, and the beef gyoza. Edamame is pretty hard to mess up and it did not disappoint.

 

The steamed buns were served with a sweet barbecue sauce and crunchy slaw. They were delicious, but coming with only one large bun per order, they were difficult to share.

 

 

The dumplings seemed to be a highlight of the menu, but they seemed a little generic to me. There was a whole list of dumpling options, including "dumpling shooters" to chase a shot of whiskey. I personally would love to see more creative dumpling flavors or sauces. My fellow diners seemed to enjoy them more than me. 

 

 

The star of the night, and what Chaplin is quickly becoming known for, was the ramen. The menu has 9 ramen options, including 3 vegetarian options. This is, by far, the widest ramen selection I have ever seen. While there is something to be said for specializing in a particular style of ramen broth or noodle, I have to say we all loved the broths we tried. Between the group we tried three different ramen options. 

 

 

I was immediately enticed by the Thai inspired ramen, the Chaplin A.S.S. I don't know exactly what that stands for, but I do know this ramen was delicious. It featured a coconut milk broth and chicken as the meat. It was less like a traditional ramen, and more like drinking the delicious broth of a Thai curry. My only gripe: it was missing the classic egg. How can you have ramen without egg? I was slightly annoyed that I had to pay extra for this add-on, but it was worth it. 

 

 

One of my friends opted for the Miso. As the name suggests this broth was miso based and had pork belly as the star meat. She described it as light, flavorful, and not too salty. Liz has since returned and has become a huge fan of this broth. She recommends adding butter corn and an egg. 

 

 

The last ramen we sampled was the Tan Tan Men. This was closest to a tokotsu-style ramen - a rich milky broth with complex depth of flavor and a comfortable level of heat for those who can't handle a ton of spice. The richness comes from the two types of pork- ground and pork belly- making this one a meat lovers dream. 

 

Overall, we loved Chaplin and have each returned many times since our first meal here. Another added plus, they are one of the few ramen spots that takes reservations in the area!