momofuku noodle bar

Well, it's long overdue. The post on my Momofuku Noodle Bar experience. I'm bringing it to the forefront of my blogging backlog, because Robyn recently shared the news with me that David Chang is bringing Momofuku to Toronto!! Very exciting, and a perfect opportunity to segue back to my family's evening at Noodle Bar.

So here goes! For some context, you may want to start at the beginning of my NYC food adventure here.

After walking around and doing the tourist thing, taking pics at the Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty, etc. and even witnessing a Columbus Day Parade, it was dinner time and we were finally hungry again. Despite feeling that it might be a little too trendy for my parents, I decided, what the hell, we're in New York City, let's try to have dinner at Momofuku Noodle Bar! As we approached the address, I got more and more nervous - "what if it's too busy?" I thought. "What if they snub us cuz we're obviously tourists? What if we wait forever and then my parents don't even like it? What if we wait forever and then *I* don't even like it?" I didn't want to be disappointed by my hero A.Bourdain! (He raves about MNB in Medium Raw.) But when we got to the door and I saw that there didn't seem to be too many people waiting (shorter than the queue at Red Lobster in NJ, where we ate the night before... wtf!) all my nerves disappeared and I found my resolve. I went up to the friendly hostess and she told me it would be a 30-35 minute wait... challenge accepted!!

We ended up waiting exactly 30 minutes and got a pretty sweet spot at one of the communal tables. We shared it with 2 Asian dudes who ended up being really REALLY into their noodle bowls... they weren't even talking or looking at each other, so it was almost like we had the table to ourselves. Anyway, the place was beautiful, all blonde wood, and I was so ecstatic to be there for my Thanksgiving dinner, I ordered a 34 oz. Asahi (I was ID'd of course... haha).

Japan's no. 1 beer!

The first thing to come was my cured arctic char, with ponzu, umeboshi and lychee. This dish was the stuff of Iron Chef America judging criteria. Perfectly balanced in flavour and texture - the sweetness and soft silkiness of the char and lychee, the almost pungent saltiness of the peppercorns (although I'm honestly not sure they were peppercorns, they almost look like little blossoms, hmm), the crispness of whatever the heck the garnish was and the toasted coconut. Also, I usually don't like lychee but it was really subtle here and perfect for the dish.

anyone know whether or not those little black blossoms are some kind of peppercorn?

Then came the steamed pork buns. These live up to the hype!! The fatty pork belly melts in your mouth... not like when you get lechon and it can be tough and chewy. The buns were fluffy with a sort of al dente bite to them and the cucumber gave it some contrasting crispness. The hoisin sauce also cut through the richness of the pork belly. SO YUM!! I must have these again some day!

hellz yeah!!

Next was the roasted foie gras with almond, pear and smoked tea. Now I have to tell you that the best thing I've ever eaten so far in life is the foie grass on toasted brioche with bacon and onion compote at the Black Hoof in Toronto. Every foie gras experience I've had outside of the Black Hoof has *just* crossed the line of being too rich for me. I know foie is *supposed* to be rich, but for some reason at BH I didn't find it overly so, and I easily ate it with gusto. Maybe they slice it a little thinner there or something. Anyway, the foie at MNB was good for the first few bites, and the rest I sort of had to force myself through. I was glad to have the pear there to offset it - and my brother to help me eat it. It was here that the "duck" flavour of foie became really clear to me - I realized it tasted like a super-rich version of balut, a.k.a. fermented duck egg, the infamous delicacy of the Philippines.

check out those thick lobes of foie!

Next up came my brother's order of smoked chicken wings with pickled chili, garlic and scallions. Very "Asian" flavoured and cooked SO perfectly. Really tender with just a gentle pull plucking the meat right off the bone. Nice!

ain't no thing but a chicken wing

Then my mom's order of slow-roasted beef brisket with rice, pickled vegetables and cilantro. Well my mom didn't end up eating much of it cuz it was cooked medium rare, in other words, BEAUTIFULLY, but my mom can't handle the slightest sign of pink in her beef. Even though I've tried to convince her multiple times that this is the way beef should be eaten, she won't have any of it. The rest of us happily ate it for her and it was very tasty (there ain't nothin' like well-prepared beef), although the spice rub on it was a little much for me after a few bites, and I had to scrape it off.

lovely vibrant colours

Next up was my dad's dish, basically the restaurant's namesake - the Momofuku Ramen. I never get noodles when I go for Asian, they're just not something I crave. But my dad is definitely a noodles guy, he loves pho. And he did enjoy the ramen, which featured pork belly, pork shoulder, and a poached egg. I had a taste and it was good. A nice, straightforward, you-know-what-you're-in-for-and-that's-why-you-ordered-it, satisfying kind of dish.

dad started mixing it up before I could stop him and take this snap

Finally, there was my brother's dish, which was the special that night and another highlight of our meal. It was a noodle bowl also, but not in a broth, and I think that's one reason I enjoyed it so much vs. other noodle dishes. They were "cold" noodles (room temperature actually) dressed in chili oil with crumbled sausage, candied cashews, and baby spinach. Our server had warned us that it was "really spicy" which scared me a little, but my brother was all for it. I've built up my heat tolerance in the past year or so, and I am learning to like the burn, but it still freaks me out sometimes. Anyway, it was actually REALLY good. It was the kind of chili oil used for Szechuan hot pot. It's a heat that doesn't blow your face off the moment it touches your tongue, but is instead a slow-building, intense tingle that eventually has you sweating by the end of the meal. How sexy is that?! LOL

sexy heat in a bowl


We were too full for dessert at the restaurant but by the time we got back to our hotel, our sweet tooths kicked in and we dipped into our stash of cookies from Milk Bar, which tied up our Momofuku evening nicely. Overall, it was a special, unconventional Thanksgiving dinner that I was glad to experience with my parents and brother :)

happy shpanksgiving!

holmes on homes

It's certainly been awhile since I've posted anything under the "belly" category of yummy belly. But with spring around the corner, our studio's gig calendar is starting to fill up. We kicked off this year again with the Burlington Women's Show, where local businesses geared towards women set up booths and tables at the Tansley Woods Community Centre for a day of shopping, beauty secrets, fitness tips, and best of all, free food and cocktails! Last year's show was my first ever performance as part of a BellyUp troupe. At the time, I was still part of the student troupe, and I can't believe how much I've progressed in just one year... to the point where I've taught classes at the studio, do gigs on my own, and sometimes get paid for them too! I still have a long way to go in honing my technique and style, but I feel great about where I'm at so far.

goofing off at the BellyUp booth

The show was just as fun as it was last year. Besides getting to dance for a receptive crowd of fellow women, my favourite part of course was wandering around between sets and booth duty to try out all the food and drink! (I know this was supposed to be a "belly" post but the "yummy" part of yummy belly simply can't be ignored!) I nibbled on sliders, pad thai, grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon, lobster & crab cakes, caramel corn, and chocolate cake just to name a few things. They were all sample-sized servings but with so many things to try, it was easy to get full! I also tried martinis, Caesars, wine and other cocktails... all sample-sized too of course, so there was no getting inebriated :P

we do our little turns on the catwalk

There were also onstage recipe and mixology demonstrations by Jeremy Parsons (who apparently does segments on tv as CHCH Morning Live's "Entertaiment Guru"). As he demo'd, servers went among the audience with trays of samples. I was able to try his ginger-cranberry jam on pork, a yummy smoothie with banana and Kahlua, and an easy but decadent dessert that was simply slices of puff pastry topped with chocolate ganache and slivered almonds. Mmm!

Ninang Marion is in the crowd!

All in all, it was a fun day. The show is always great promotion for the studio too, with many women who take our brochures and flyers and end up enrolling for classes!

We did another event with good exposure just this past weekend. It was a fundraiser at Philthy McNasty's for an Oakville girl with a genetic connective tissue disorder. She could only receive specialized treatment in the States, so the event was to raise money for her treatment and for awareness of children with chronic pain disorders. We do a lot of fundraising events like this (like the breast cancer and WELNepal events I posted about before), but this one got quite a bit of local media attention because of special guest Mike Holmes of Holmes on Homes! LOL.

c'mon, who wouldn't want to be Mike Holmes at that moment?

After doing our numbers we got him up and dancing with us, he was quite a good sport about it. He may or may not have gravitated towards me and told me I was the best dancer. LOL! Of course, he told me not to tell the others, so keep it a secret k... *Mike Holmes sooo has a crush on me* hahaha! Obviously I'm more likely to have an eye on his son (he was there also), he was pretty darn cute but was accompanied by what appeared to be a girlfriend :P

his tool belt would have accentuated his shimmy!

Anyway, fun event! CHCH cameras were there, and there was another "celebrity appearance" after we left by Pinball Clemons. More importantly, Montfort was passing around samples of babaganoush and hummus with pita (there goes the "yummy" again)!

love our costume colours together!

So far, a good kickoff to bellydance in 2011, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year! We've been working on some really great choreographies in class and I can't wait til they're ready to perform :)