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Home > Restaurants > Momofuku Ssäm Bar

Momofuku Ssäm Bar

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

207 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003
at 13th St.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-254-3500 Send to Phone

  • Price Range: $$

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Critics' Rating: ***

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Reader Rating:

    5.9 out of 10

      |  

    18 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: Eclectic/Global, Korean, Southern/Soul
View Slide Show
Photo by Jeremy Liebman

Official Website

momofuku.com

Hours

Sun-Wed, 11:30am-3:30pm and 5pm-midnight; Fri-Sat, 11:30am-3:30pm and 5pm-2am

Nearby Subway Stops

L at Third Ave.; L at First Ave.

Prices

$8-$15

Payment Methods

American Express, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

  • Dine at the Bar
  • Hot Spot
  • Late-Night Dining
  • Lunch
  • Notable Chef
  • Take-Out

Alcohol

  • Beer and Wine Only
  • Sake and Sojou

Reservations

Not Accepted

Profile

Like Mario Batali and the great British chef Fergus Henderson, David Chang is a card-carrying member of the “Refined Meathead” school of cooking. Meathead chefs have a fondness for pork products and for offal (“We do not serve vegetarian-friendly items,” says the menu at Momofuku Ssäm Bar), and the best of them, including Chang, have a knack for creating big, addictive flavor combinations that get under your skin. Like Batali, Chang—a Korean-American, raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.—mines his own ethnic background for inspiration. The past couple of years, he has been demonstrating his talents on a more modest scale at his madly popular original restaurant. But the newest Momofuku (the word means “lucky peach” in Japanese) is larger and more ambitious than the original, and after a period of bumbling experimentation (at first Chang insisted on selling only a form of Asian burrito called a ssäm), it has grown into a showplace for the chef’s unique brand of earthy, Asian-accented Meathead cuisine. — Adam Platt

Ssäm Bar's Bar

Despite the presence of Don Lee, the bar is not a cocktail lounge: it’s a curated selection of 40 brown spirits, ranging from $9 to $50 a pop, and served neat, on the rocks, in a Manhattan, or in an old-fashioned. The focus is on the food, not the booze; the only way you’re getting a drink is if you’re there to eat.

Ideal Meal

Fried Brussels sprouts, three-terrine sandwich, spicy tripe, warm veal-head terrine, Momofuku Ssäm

Related Stories

Best of New York Awards

Featured In

Recipes at Momofuku Ssäm Bar

5.9 "Mixed Reviews"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
55% Would you go back?
61% Would you take a date?
5% Would you take kids?
33% Would you go on business?
22% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 7.3
Service: 5.3
Décor: 6.4
Value: 5.1

Ssam old Korean, Bo-low Average Experience

VictualVoyeur from 10021 | Posted on 11/21/09

Overall Rating: 4 (Not Recommended)
Food: 7
Service: 1
Décor: 5
Value: 3

The Bo was unimpressive given the hype, but good compared to standard Korean. At Korean spots, the table is peppered with side dishes- here, there are only four "toppings," two are kimchi, lettuce, and 12 oysters. The only delight came with the dessert, which was creative and delicious. With 7 people, we left wishing we ordered more food. Unfortunately, we weren't given the opportunity to as the service was miserable and insulting. Servers quickly came and left our table barely uttering a word. When we needed something, we had difficulty identifying the inattentive staff who blended in dress with the diners. Questions were met with smugness and unhelpful terse answers. We felt we were an unwanted burden, the food was not incredible; we're not going back.

Wonderful

suckatash from 11238 | Posted on 10/29/09

Overall Rating: (NA) (Not Rated)
Food: 10
Service: 8
Décor: 8
Value: 6

I went with 3 of my guy friends and we we all very happy with the experience. The show stoppers were the steamed pork buns and the duck. It was very busy but we were seated quickly and the staff was very attentive without being intrusive.

Read All 18 Reviews >>

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