Sydney’s rockstar: Momofuku Seiōbo

Momofuku Seiōbo, Pyrmont, Sydney.
September 15, 2012

Momofuku Seiōbo is everything I love about modern fine dining. It cuts out of the fuss, doesn’t take itself too seriously, delivers something different than every other restaurant and, of course, has amazing food. Yes the system to get a reservation is like trying to get tickets to the most popular gig in town and they’ve only decided to release 30 tickets, but it’s best not to let it ruin the experience. Basically Momofuku is the rockstar of Sydney dining.

The space is dark, sleek and sexy with a few tables dotted on the main floor, a handful of seats at the bar (you can often grab seats here without a reservation and enjoy the bar menu), but the grand event are the stools around the kitchen. Open kitchens have been around for a while, but this is an evolution of the chef’s table; eating whilst you gaze at the theatre of a working kitchen (Chin Chin, Baby and 4Fourteen, amongst others, have similar kitchen seating). There’s no awkward lulls in conversation, or checking your phone when a dining partner goes to the bathroom, when you can watch the chefs flow around the kitchen, prepping and cooking, and swooping in to help each other plate up. There’s also the added enjoyment of trying to predict which dish is next, the plates down the line with curls of sashimi or the small deep bowls right in front of you being dotted with crab and sprinkled with crumbs.

The service also takes a novel turn with the chefs presenting and explaining all of the dishes, mostly with enthusiasm. The wait staff themselves can focus on delivering outstanding service and attention to detail; you never need to wait or ask for anything and often notice that your glass is miraculously full again. The menu is set, numerous courses for dinner and an abridged version for lunch, with wine (including sake) matches or a short but varied wine list; for those wanting to veer away from alcohol there’s a unique juice matching option. The pacing of the meal is timed to perfection, just enough time to get lost in the view before the next dish is presented.

The food at David Chang’s first restaurant outside New York City (his Toronto outfit has recently opened) has dashes of Asian influence but mostly focuses on seasonal Australian produce and ‘global’ cuisine. The kitchen is led by Benjamin Greeno, who has worked with Sat Bains in the UK and the New York Momofuku restaurants, before heading to Sydney to open Seiōbo.  The dishes are inventive and fresh, making the most of the produce and pushing boundaries with sweet-savoury combinations, seen best in the petit four of pork fat caramel doughnut. Most exciting to me is the simplicity of the dishes and that razor-sharp focus of delivering perfection on each element, while balancing delicate and strong flavours and textures on the same plate.

My lunch visit began with nori, blood and chicharone snacks; a punch to begin the meal with the rich metallic, yet almost fruity, pig’s blood. The first course is elegant, although not the most memorable dish, with curls of delicate striped trumpeter playing off the crunch of celery and the heady notes of mustard essence.  Next is the signature Momofuku pork bun; it is as good as they say, the only disappointment being that you only get one. It is a perfect combination of flavours and texture: soft bun, juicy pork, the gentle salt and acid hit from the pickled cucumber, fragrant hoisin and the kick of heat from the Sriracha. You can imagine being perched at a bar, drink in hand, polishing off a plate of them.

Balls of potato arrive, cooked in beef fat, accompanied by the sweet muskiness of bottarga, and peppery watercress. The potato treads that textural line between soft and undercooked, and the dish is heightened with a falling snow of citrus zest. At this point in service, the chefs are gliding in unison, moving from station to station, and it is addictive viewing. The bowls that have been sitting at the station directly in front of us start being plated up with soft downy crab, miso emulsion and panko crumbs. The miso is smooth and creamy, with a gentle flavour that does not overpower the delicate crab, and the fried panko adds a much needed textural element. This was my favourite dish, simple but perfectly executed, and shows the restraint of the chefs when balancing flavours.

Zucchini is presented in various forms and preparations: raw paper-thin slices, chargrilled chunks, flower and stem; each perfectly prepared. It is served with earthy black garlic and soft unctuous egg yolk that retains texture rather than spilling across the plate. This is another dish that lives on its plays on texture and balancing the subtle zucchini with the strong black garlic. Following is mulloway, with chargrilled lettuce, kohlrabi shavings and young garlic emulsion. The mulloway is perfectly cooked, caramelised yet flaking, and its meaty texture ties well with the young garlic, the char from the lettuce,  and the subtle notes of smoked roe in the sauce.

You know there is some serious meat coming when presented with a chunky knife that could be used for hunting. The pork neck is full of delicious pork flavour and works perfectly with the soft sweet cabbage and the notes of oyster coming from the sauce. It is nice to see a hunk of meat served that is tender but has not lost its thick meaty nature. Too often we are given cuts of meat that have been slow-cooked and sous-vided within an inch of its life, and you lose that wonderful feel of cutting and biting through it.

The playful cheese course has cider jelly (on a previous visit it was a sweet piccalilli) showered in light shavings of Bruny Island’s unpasteurised C2 cheese topped with a crisp of rye bread. Dessert is shimmering coins of translucent pear along with native Australian muntries, which have a slightly floral, mildly bitter, apple-esque flavour, laced with glorious honey cream and nutty crumbs. It is a gentle and comforting way to end the meal, despite feeling like you could eat a bowl of the honey cream on its own, but the true finale is the pork fat caramel doughnut. A warm pillowy doughnut, drenched in sugar, and filled with a dark caramel caught reminiscing about bacon.

Most restaurants would not attempt, let alone pull off, ending a meal with a sweet-savoury punch, but it sums up Momofuku perfectly. Rockstars do as they please, invert the rules and constantly surprise. Momofuku has arrived.

Momofuku Seiōbo
The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, Sydney
http://momofuku.com/sydney/seiobo/

Weekend in Sydney: Billy Kwong

September 14, 2012 Billy Kwong, Surry Hills, Sydney.

I have to admit that one of my favourite places to eat in Sydney is Kylie Kwong’s Surry Hills restaurant, Billy Kwong.

It’s a small room, tables are quite tightly packed in (no wild gesticulations here), and most of the diners sit on stools. After that description you might feel turned off, but at Billy Kwong the hustle of the dining room actually makes the whole experience better. Like you’re tucked away in a  neighbourhood eating house in the backstreets of Shanghai or Hong Kong. Except this is in the middle of Surry Hills, and the room is decorated with stylish lacquered wooden walls (actually cupboards).

The place is always busy when I go, but it’s one of those places where you pop your name on the waiting list, go have a few drinks down the road, and your table will be ready before you know it. The turnover here is quick; you’ll be full before you know it and on to your next destination. The staff are always friendly, welcoming, and efficient. Top of the list, is that the food is fresh and tasty, and designed to share.

Over the past few visits I’ve noticed that the food has begun to include more native Australian ingredients such as saltbush leaves, warrigal greens and quandong. These native foods bring new life to Kylie’s dishes, which sing of her Chinese-Australian heritage. The stir-fried Old Man Salt Bush Leaves with Young Ginger were simple, yet delicious and moreish (especially as a counterpart to the richness of the pork belly main).

(I should say that the photos below, in no way to justice to the food. That’s the downside of a softly lit dining room, and I’m not one to whip out a camera and flash to disrupt everyone’s meal.)

Crispy Organic Salt Bush & Tatsoi Cakes with Homemade Chilli Sauce

A perfect change from the ordinary spring rolls that you often find littering menus. These were crispy and light, with the slightly nutty tatsoi leaves wrapped up inside. On the side was a wonderful  housemade chilli sauce, which had a subtle heat to it, but a well-developed, almost slightly fermented flavour coming through. After noticing how fast the chilli sauce disappeared, our waiter kept us well supplied all night.

Wok-Fried Rice Noodle Rolls with Braised Biodynamic Beef & Black Beans

These were possibly my favourite dish of the night (and my last visit also). Normally you see rice noodle rolls steamed, with that gelatinous texture that you love or hate, but here they’re fried to give a crisp texture on the outside, that melts into the comforting softness of slow-braised brisket inside. The spring onions and micro-herbs give an element of sweetness and freshness to cut through the beef. Despite being so full at the end of the meal, I was so close to ordering another serve.

Sung Choi Bao of Certified Free-Range Pork, Ginger & Mushrooms

Sung choi bao is one of those classic dishes that can never go out of style, because they’re far too enjoyable. A brimming bowl of pork, ginger and mushrooms, accompanied with a stack of lettuce leaves and a selection of herbs like mint and coriander. It’s DIY style, which is far better than them coming out with the lettuce wilting under the heat of the filling, and it’s best to embrace the reality that there’s no way to eat them without getting messy. There’s something so perfect about that crisp, refreshing lettuce (this is what iceberg lettuce does best) that yields to the juicy, dripping, gingery pork inside, with a zap of herbaceous freshness.

Red-Braised, Caramelised Black Berkshire Pork Belly with Malfroy’s Organic Yellow Box Honeycomb, Organic Fish Sauce, Organic Meyer Lemon & Sichuan Pepper

The biggest shame is that the photo of this dish does absolutely nothing to convey how great this was.
The pork belly was crispy and caramelised on the outside, yet moist on the inside, that great balance between rendering the fat out but retaining enough to give it an amazing flavour. Served with a scoop of gorgeous honeycomb on top to stir through the pork, and lemon to squeeze on for acidity, this was essentially an elevated sweet and sour pork. To balance it out, we had Old Man Salt Bush Leaves with Young Ginger on the side, the beautiful tender leaves with generous slices of zingy ginger.

Billy Kwong
355 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010
http://www.kyliekwong.org/BillyKwongs.aspx

Weekend in Sydney: 4fourteen

September 14, 2012

4fourteen, Surry Hills

I often travel to the major centres for work, and when I do, I “tack on” a weekend for myself to explore, enjoy and dine out. This time I was in Sydney, with some time to kill while waiting for the hotel room. With 4fourteen just around the corner, it seemed like a perfect opportunity for a casual Friday lunch. A few beers and some great food seemed like a great way to kick off the weekend.

4fourteen opened in Surry Hills earlier this year, a more casual and laidback alternative to chef Colin Fassnidge’s Four in Hand. Living by the same nose-to-nail, meat-centric philosophy as Four in Hand, 4fourteen, however, is stripped-back, with its raw warehouse dining room and food designed to share. The menu starts off with individual serves of nibbles and rolls, leading into small, large and larger plates for sharing; as well as ‘salads and starches’ to accompany and ‘pastry’ to end.

Put simply, this is traditional food (with the occasional twist), done perfectly, served with a playful family-style approach and friendly, warm service. I know if I lived in Sydney this would become one of those favourite neighbourhood eateries to visit with friends and share a great meal and good times.

(On a slight tangent, when did the word ‘traditional’ become a euphemism for old-fashioned, bordering on boring? To me, traditional is the food of family, soul and love; it’s the kind of food that you turn to when you need comfort and that brings back memories. Traditional to me is never going to be boring or old-fashioned, it’s who we are and where we came from.)

Chicken Wing, Parfait, Crispy Tortilla and Apple Chutney.

A moreish treat of a deboned chicken wing, sitting atop rich, smooth chicken liver parfait. Apple chutney cuts through the richness of the dish, and a crispy tortilla adds that element of crunch and texture. This is one of the best snacks I’ve had for a long time, I could have eaten a plate of them with a few ales.

Beef Brisket, Smoked Mayonnaise Roll.

What eatery worth their salt doesn’t have some kind of dude food roll/slider/bun these days. The menu features five different options from crab to pork belly, we went for beef brisket, knowing we’d be having pork as a main dish. The bun was soft and fresh, and the meat was tender and delicious, yet the smoked mayonnaise didn’t come through as strong as I thought it might have, and I did wonder if a more flavour-packed relish/chutney or chili-laced mayonnaise might have set off the rich brisket better. The roll was tasty and welcoming, but just needed a small tweak.

Roast Pork with Apple and Pickled Cabbage (served with Colcannon, see below).

On the ‘larger plates’ area of the menu, this dish was filled with generosity (especially as it came with its own side of colcannon), and was served ‘family-style’ in a blue cast iron casserole dish. Slices of juicy, perfectly seasoned, well-flavoured roast pork, with fantastic crunchy crackling, served with a whole baked apple and cabbage that still had a lovely bite to it. This was a wonderful, homely dish, designed to share and bring back memories of family Sunday roasts.

Colcannon.

A traditional Irish side dish, a creamy mashed potato with parsley (amongst other ingredients) cutting through the richness. I love when you have something so simple, yet so delicious, and it reminds you never to write off something as simple as the potato!

Orange and Ginger Carrots, Cumin and Yoghurt.

Roasted carrots are one of those treats that you don’t come across as often as you should, the sweet flavour and that soft, almost chewy texture. I think the ginger and cumin could have had a bit more of a kick, but the yoghurt and mint played off the sweetness of the carrots perfectly.

Bounty.

A play on the Bounty chocolate bar, deconstructed with a gorgeously silky chocolate mousse, shavings of toasted coconut, bites of ice-cream dusted in cocoa and the crunchy texture of a Brandy snap style tuile. It’s one of those desserts designed for you to go hunting through, finding treats hidden under a jungle of shavings and a shower of cocoa.

White Chocolate Sandwich, Dulce de Leche.

While the Bounty was an abundance of flavours, textures and contrasts, this dessert is about simplicity. A decadent white chocolate ice-cream smothered in that heavenly cousin of salted caramel, Dulce de Leche, finished with layers of the same Brandy snap tuile as the Bounty. This was a wickedly sinful dessert, showing that simplicity can wow; 3 components done well.

4fourteen

72a Fitzroy St, Surry Hills, NSW 2010
http://www.4fourteen.com.au/