Momofuku Seiobo - Stylish Space, Great Food, Decent Service
My
spouse and I dined at Momofuku Seiobo at the Star Casino for dinner in
late August 2012. We have dined at several of David Chang’s other
restaurants in New York City, so when we learned that Chang had a
restaurant in Sydney, we made it our mission to secure a reservation. We
logged onto his reservation system at precisely the correct time 10
days before, and had no trouble selecting our desired time.
It
is difficult to locate this restaurant in the casino - the door has no
signage other than Chang’s logo of a peach. When we entered the
restaurant, fortunately we were led to one of the choice seats at the
bar/counter; we had not realized that this restaurant also features
table seating for approximately 30+ guests, which would not have pleased
us. (We love to sit at the counter and watch them work.) There were
approximately 16+ seats at the chef’s counter. Although the restaurant
was built to suit, it only features one small unisex restroom that you
reach through the back kitchen area.
Seiobo serves an 8-course
lunch on Friday and Saturday for $100, and serves a 12+ course dinner
from Monday through Saturday for $175. I added the juice tasting to my
degustation menu for an additional $55; however, it was not impressive
because it did not feature any truly unusual juices or combinations of
juices/ingredients. Our total bill at Seiobo was $510. The restaurant
also has a tiny 5-seat bar that does not accept reservations; it serves a
bar menu, not the tasting menu.
The food was excellent (unique
ingredients and interesting presentation). Service was good, but not
great. The chef’s seemed a little cold and unapproachable, even the chef
de cuisine and the sous chef who had worked in David Chang’s US
restaurants, where the chefs give a warm welcome and are clearly
passionate about their jobs.
We particularly enjoyed the pork
bun, the radish salad, and the unconventional last course (a sort of
savory “dessert” that we ate with our hands). We were given an odd
packet of kimchi as a take-along gift.
Overall, our meal was good, but not the outstanding experience we have come to associate with a David Chang restaurant.
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