Momofuku Seiobo
Momofuku Seiobo is located in Star City Casino (or rather, “The Star”). It’s opposite a dessert place where mini dessert plates wander around a sushi-train track. Like its neighbor, Momofuku is kind of novel. The room is divided into a section with tables, and a bar area, which surrounds the place where the action occurs – a completely open kitchen, where you watch the Momofuku team prepare your food right in front of you.
The meal started off well, but after the novelty of the initial dishes, things devolved into gimmickry as I realized that most of the dishes being served weren’t particularly unique, other than perhaps in their presentation. That said, their signature dish – the pork belly accompanied by a small bottle of sriracha – was super tasty.
I had also ordered the juice pairings. At $55, I knew I was being ripped off – but years of not being able to partake in alcohol pairings had taken their toll, and I wanted to pretend to be a grown up. There was one glass of juice served with every two courses – they served the juice in wine glasses, and filled the like they were wine (i.e. not to the top). Apart from a few interesting juices – like a very sweet beetroot juice – most of them were ordinary – like the watermelon and blood orange juices.
Their final gimmick is that the dessert they serve is a semi-sweet but mostly savory shredded pork. I have a sweet tooth so I felt a little robbed.
The service is very casual – the waitstaff is young and attired in sneakers – and the show put on by the kitchen staff is enthralling. I liked walking through parts of the kitchen to get to the toilet (which comes with instructions on how to perform the Heimlich maneuver… in Spanish).
Don’t get me wrong, the meal is pretty good, but for what it’s worth, it would be a lot more palatable at half the price.
$175pp. Add $55 for juice pairings. Momofuku Seiobo has 3 hats from the 2013 SMH GFG.
8:40am 
