Sunday Night Family Dinner: Streetfood at the Noodlebar
In my world, and as Iâm sure in everyoneâs, the work week can get pretty hectic. At the moment, Iâm working three jobs and in the home stretch of completing my Interior Decorating Certificate at George Brown College, which as you can imagine leaves little time for socializing these daysâŚbut, obviously, a girlâs gottaâ eat! and well, I love to spend Sunday night dinner with my fam which includes both friends and loved ones at restaurants old / new. I believe that as long as the company is excellent, you can't possibly have that bad of a time ... and last night was no exception!Â
As you saw in my previous post, Iâve been anticipating last nightâs meal at Momofuku Noodlebar all week, where the team from King West hotspot, Valdez, participated in the Noodlebar & Friends series. The restaurant was busy when we arrived and according to Exec. Chef Steve Gonzalez (Valdez), there was a steady flow of people all evening. It was nice to see some familiar faces from around the King West neighbourhood, out to show their support.
In standard Noodlebar fashion, there were tons of servers bustling around but no complaints here about the service. After hugs & kisses "hello", a bowl of Valdez' guacamole was sent out with "Noritos", ramen chips and shrimp chips to dip (PS. Loved the little play on the "Dorito" name...) while we waited for our 4th to arrive and it gave us time to review the menu and order some drinks - I ordered the Momo-Verde (cilantro infused tequila, yuzu, sencha). Delicious.
Getting down to business, a few classic Momofuku items were on the menu, alongside some great renditions of Latin street food dishes like Sopa de Caracol (conch, king crab, smoked pumpkin, plantain, coconut) and larger sharing plates âplancha/binchoâ: El Jefeâs Family Meal (arepa, rice, beans, pork, guacamole, fried egg), Grilled Octopus Ssam (whiskey tare, ânduja, sweet pickles) and Oysters Escobar (black kale, cream cheese, miso royale). We ordered the Ceviche (albacore, leche de tigre, cilantro, citrus, scallion) and two orders of the Chicken Meatball Bao (ssam sauce, pickles, thai basil) to start.Â
I regrettably skipped out on the sopa and bao, but the ceviche was smooooth like butter. Normally I hesitate with ceviches because of the overwhelming amounts of citrus, but this time around there was a perfect ratio of citrus-to-seafood ... Fresh. To. Death. WIN! I do have to point out here, the starters involving raw/smoked fish are excellent at Momofuku (at brunch just last weekend, we had the Everything Bao with smoked whitefish â to die for - so much that we had to order two. Check my instagram for a real good closeup). Definite must try the next time you find this on the menu.
One of my all-time favourite people to share a meal with is my girlfriend, Houston, who decidedly calls herself a "bottomless pit". I can definitely relate ... and so naturally we ordered all of the planchas/binchos with a side dish of Very Extremely Spicy Noodles (sichuan chili, zha chi, scallion). This dish could have been a tad spicier, but according to my friends, my apparent tolerance to hot and spicy foods is next level, so I'm sure it did the trick for most.
The noodles came out at the same time as El Jefeâs Family Meal. Momofuku noodles have that perfect wiggly noodly texture that I just love so much in my ramen, so mix that with some extremely hot fire as they say, and you have yourself a winning side dish. The hot hot heat from the noodles sets the stage nicely for the Family Meal, comprised of rice & beans (a little undercooked, "but that's how you know they're not from a can"), Valdez guacamole and topped with a fried egg. I couldn't help myself and took one of the two arepas to soak up some of the leftover sichuan chili sauce from the noodles â MAJOR YUM. Unfortunately, the Family Meal was  one which needed to be consumed quickly. I found this out the hard way when the fried egg exploded onto my helping and quickly became an impromptu bowl of soup. Kind of a drag.
What made up for this though, was the Oysters Escobar â a little fusion piece from the kitchen. I found the combination of the toppings super tasty and original and the flavors from the kale and cream cheese were definitely well-balanced - not too bitter, rich or creamy.Â
Our last main was the Octopus Ssam which was a fun little interactive part of the meal - Boston lettuce wraps are always a hit. The octopus however was a tad overcooked, therefore chewy but that didnât deter us from eating it. What was definitely enjoyable here were the generous chunks of ânduja sausage and the sweet pickles â flavor central.
Finally, a trip to Momofuku isn't complete without a visit to the Milkbar on the 2nd level. I have an open addiction to the infamous Crack Pie, so had to snag myself a piece and last night I tried the B'Day Truffles for the first time. I can't tell you how pleased my sweet tooth was. Although one truffle is enough, the package comes with three - perfect for sharing and just enough to leave you wanting more. I will definitely be stopping in again just for this.Â
All in all, a high level of beached whale status was achieved and surrounded by great company. Check out the pics below and let me know your favourite dish!
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