What’s not to love about noodles? Those slurpy, chewy strands go well with almost anything and are easily one of my favourite foods to eat. Noodle soups in particular have a special place in my heart. To me they represent comfort and warmth. I would happy tuck into a bowl of noodles every day.

I’ve wanted to go to Momofuku Noodle Bar for a long time. Having watched David Chang’s passion for ramen on Netflix, I knew that these would be something special.

This was at the top of my bucket list on our recent trip to New York. We went to the Colombus Circle restaurant, which is located on the top floor of the shopping centre.

Having done my research before visiting, I knew we’d probably have to wait for a table. It’s best to eat at off-peak times if you don’t want to wait. But if you do, there are plenty of shops for you to wander around until you’re notified by text message when your table is ready. We end up waiting almost two hours for a table of five. You can bet we were super hungry by the time we got in!

We are seated at the noodle bar, which is one of the best spots to sit in the restaurant in my opinion. This is where you get to see all the action and watch chefs fire up the grill, assemble pork buns and pour steaming hot bowls of ramen. It’s mesmerising to watch.

Momofuku is where the modern pork bun craze started, and it’s easy to see why – these buns are delicious and moreish. Each bun is bulging with a thick slab of pork belly, which is braised then grilled just before being served. The steamed bun is light and pillow-like.

To our surprise, we loved these shrimp buns even more than the pork buns. Inside the burger-style bun is a shrimp patty, pickled red onion, lettuce and spicy mayo. The shrimp patty is an ingenious idea for a bun filling – it’s bouncy, juicy and flavoursome. Yum.

Don’t expect traditional soup bases like tonkotsu or miso at Momofuku. This pork ramen is a prime example. The both the pork slab and broth are imbued with a distinctive smoky flavour that’s not too subtle nor too punchy. It kind of feels like I’m having a ham ramen (in a good way). There is a scoop of spicy paste that’s served on top which adds warmth and zing.

The noodles are made in house and they’re the perfect texture. The thin strands have a springy, toothsome bite to them. The texture is perfect for absorbing the flavour of the tasty broth.

This ramen seems more like an Asian-style beef noodle soup than a traditional ramen. The soup is lighter than the pork base and the braised brisket is sliced simply.

Momofuku is the place to go if you’re after superb buns and innovative ramen. The sides and larger dishes sound delicious but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to try them on our visit. I’m not sure if it’s worth a two hour wait (but then again, I don’t think anywhere is worth eating if you have to wait two hours), but I’m very glad I got to taste Momofuku’s delicious ramen.

https://momofukunoodlebar.com/