Last week I discovered Chef David Chang’s PBS show The Mind of a Chef on Netflix. What intended to be a 30 minute chill out session before bed became my late night (until the early morn) addiction; I devoured all 16 episodes of the first season in one sitting. The next day had me shuffling along with an exhausted zombie stare and noodles on the brain. To cure this ravenous ramen craving, I knew I would have to go straight to the source.
Acclaimed Chef David Chang had already established his success with a group of restaurants and Milk Bars in New York and Sydney before launching Momofuku in Toronto in September of 2012. Momofuku Toronto, 190 University Avenue, is made up of three restaurants: Noodle Bar, Daishō and Shōtō. Noodle Bar specializes in ramen, Daishō is fine dining and Shōtō is an intimate tasting experience where the local ingredients are prepared and served to you directly by a Chang appointed chef. Chang’s appreciation for traditional techniques with modern flair has earned the stack of restaurants rave reviews from both the critics and the general food scene of the city. Now, slurping up that signature Momofuku ramen bowl for myself was suddenly priority #1 (preceded by about 10 of the ridiculously delicious signature steamed pork buns.)
The secret door, gateway to character in Toronto’s financial district.
A steady lunch crowd by 11:30 am.
Decisions. Decisions.
The unsuspected brilliance of the Momofuku steamed pork bun.
The succulent slow cooked pork belly, wrapped into a soft blanket of steamed white bread slathered with hoisen, with added crunch and sour from pickled cucumber. The PERFECT snack.
Now for the main attraction: pork belly & shoulder, fish cake, egg, kimchi and Momofuku’s signature broth.
Possibly the most beautiful egg of my entire life.
In Japanese culture, it is considered disrespectful to the Chef to not finish your meal. I would never disrespect David Chang or his crew, no matter how close my stomach may be to exploding.
The wisdom extends beyond the noodle bowl – dessert to go. This is my first taste of Milk Bar but certainly won’t be my last. As of last week, Milk Bar Toronto opened above the noodle bar. Crack Pie, here I come!
I recommend the Momofuku noodle bar to all. 4.5 dangling alkaline noodles out of 5. The staff is hip & friendly, the flavours are outstanding and for a reasonable $18, the amount of food coming with that prix fix meal will have your stomach & soul fed for days. Now, if anyone is wondering what to gift me for my birthday this year, the answer is a meal at Shōtō. Pretty please.
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