FOOD DIARY: Momofuku Seiobo

Where: Momofuku Seiobo

When: 24 September, 2015

Price: $185 plus cocktails

Traditionally, my partner and I celebrate our anniversary by eating way too much food, via a fancy degustation menu. Degustations are great, because it covers all your bases food-wise, and you don't need to make any decisions, which means your energy is conserved for critiquing the food with your partner. Which is obviously the best part.

The Momofuku Seiobo menu draws inspiration from Australian produce, focusing on the ingredients. We were seated facing the prep area, so we got to see all the food getting plated up. A fun place for food nerds.

Here is everything I ate when I was there.

gin cocktail - I forget which, but it was very tasty.

You can opt to get a beverage pairing with your meal, but I find that it is too much liquid (and if you choose the wine pairings, too much alcohol), so I always choose a cocktail to accompany my meal instead.

plantain, guava, caviar

A real cute amuse bouche, maybe too cute.

scallop, davidson plum, sawtooth coriander

The thing on the right is fish skin, and they told us to eat it with the scallop. It was a good idea.

Close-up of the scallop on the fish skin.

egg, potato, salt cod

Soft and salty. I can't really remember the specifics of this dish, but I am sure it was delightful.

crab, native pepperberry

I was expecting this to be some peppered crab, but putting the pepperberry into a cracker was much better. That is why I am not a chef, that is the only reason.

black pudding, cucumber, desert lime

I am not a fan of black pudding usually, but this one was different, and pickled, and limed. It was interesting. 

 jerk chicken skin, lime

This dish is inspired by Jamaican cuisine, with an Australian twist. They recommended not eating the lime leaves, but I tried to anyway! I don't recommend eating the lime leaves. 

calamari, green mango, papaya

A palate cleanser after that salty, fried chicken skin. It was like eating super-light noodles.

busted roti, onion, muntrie

And right back into the fried stuff. This was the most fun dish to eat, I used my hands and ate more than my fair share of roti. It was great. 

marron, young coconut, koji butter

Earlier in the evening, our server introduced us to a couple of marron, just siting around on a plate. I named them Sid and Nancy. Later, Sid and Nancy were came back to us stuffed and buttered - I am delighted and horrified to say that Sid and Nancy were delicious.

 carrot, oxtail. hibiscus

Chewy oxtail, soft carrot, barely noticeable hibiscus, but it brings a nice colour to the plate.

lamb, black eyed peas

Just your classic roast, but way smaller and fancier.

fiji apple, buttermilk, jalapeno 

Another palate cleanser to ease us into the dessert portion of the meal. Jalapeno was a nice touch - I'll never say no to a bit of heat in my sorbet.

lime, almond, green banana, cassava

This dish's name was perplexing to me, I had no idea what to expect. I'm still not entirely sure what it was. Lime ice cream between two almond biscuits, I think? 

"conkie", banana leaf, raisin

The name of the dish basically makes no sense to me, but I think there was something squishy down the bottom.

spiced rum, blood lime, squash

"I love dirt!" I said to my partner, at the end of a fancy meal. And I do. The dark orange ice cream (?) was denser than its creamy-coloured counterpart. I cannot tell you which is spiced rum, blood lime, or squash. Sorry. 

Tiny peach detail hidden in the final dessert! So cute!

Overall, an A+ experience, would recommend. At the end of the meal, they give you a little packet of Momofuku blend tea by T Totaler. I have yet to drink it, so I have nothing to say about that, but it does seem to be a roasted green tea, which is one of my favourite kinds of teas.