Momofuku Ssäm Bar
(Korean?)
207 Second Avenue at 13th Street (East Village)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-3500
Subway: 4/5/6/N/Q/R/W to 14th Street (Union Square); L to 3rd Avenue or 1st Avenue
Bus: M15/101/102/103 to 14th Street; M14A/14D to 2nd Avenue


I’ve been wanting to try David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar for what feels like ages, but since my husband is has an aversion to Asian food, I’ve limited my consumption since we’ve been married (coincidentally, his aversion began AFTER we were married; prior to saying “I do”, my husband would eagerly accompany me on my Asian food forays). Now that he and I are bicoastal, my goal is to eat everything that he wouldn’t eat whenever I possibly can.

That said, a girlfriend and I made plans to meet at Momofuku Noodle Bar one blustery Saturday evening; on my arrival, a crowd had already formed around the narrow front, and I was told the wait would be anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. She and I were both famished, so when the hostess suggested the newly opened Momofuku Ssäm Bar around the corner (and also told us there would be no wait), we started walking.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar sits on a great corner, with a much more contemporary Asian feel than the rest of the block. The restaurant opens up to the street with no doors or windows, and was refreshing, perhaps slightly chilly. A long bar runs the length of the room, but it seemed no one was serving at the bar that night. It looked deserted besides a few lone diners. I looked around, hoping to be seated, but then I realized the place was entirely cafeteria-style. We walked to the steam bar kitchen, and I perused the limited menu of ssäm, which is Korean for “wrap”. The options include a flour wrap (which I’ve never seen before on a Korean menu), lettuce wrap, nori (seaweed) wrap or just a plain old rice bowl or chap chae (Korean glass noodles) bowl. A list of addable items are both written out and shown to you; as you walk down the line, you choose which items you’d like to include in your ssäm (options include a form of protein (pork, chicken, beef brisket and/or braised tofu) and a number of veggies (bacon black beans, red azuki beans, edamame, roasted onions, pickled shiitakes, marinated cucumbers, slaw, bean sprouts, red kimchee puree, white kimchee puree and whipped tofu)). Basically, it felt like a choose-your-own-adventure bibimbap (Korean rice mixed with vegetables and beef). There is one pre-planned “original” Momofuku Ssäm that is rice wrapped in a flour pancake with the pork, onions, edamame, shiitake and red kimchi puree. Also, an item from the Noodle Bar menu, the steamed buns, were also included on this menu.

I went simple with the Bibb lettuce Ssäm with beef, red kimchee puree, shiitakes, cucumbers, bean sprouts and whipped tofu. The other additions just didn’t seem to sound as though they’d mix well together. We also chose an order of the steamed pork buns, since they were carryover from Momofuku Noodle Bar.

I find it curious when a chef leaves the diners’ fate in their own hands. A wrong combination and a meal can go completely awry. In my case, it was fine, but I felt that the beef could’ve been shredded or cut smaller to be easier to wrap in the lettuce. I loved the whipped tofu, but it required a healthy dose squirt of Sriracha. The pork buns were delicious and perfectly balanced, and I know now why people rave about them. But everything else was just fine, and unfortunately, nothing was memorable.

I’ll definitely try to get into Momofuku Noodle Bar again sometime, and perhaps even stop at the Ssäm Bar again, as they have grand plans to extend their hours, and I hope change or add to their menu. But for now, I’ll stick with good ol’ Koreatown for my ssäm cravings.