During a mid-week solo visit to Sydney, mainly for eating purposes, I booked myself in to Momofuku Seiobo at The Star for a tasting menu dinner. The $245 dinner consisted of 13 courses and I also went ahead with the matching non-alcoholic drinks for an additional $60. The reservation was for 6pm on the dot, and I got there about 5 minutes early to meet a locked door. There was another diner patiently waiting outside and I joined in the wait. It was lucky that I spotted the Momofuku logo (the peach) otherwise I would have walked straight past as there is no other signage.
The door was soon pulled open and everyone was quickly seated. I was taken around to one side of three counters surrounding the open kitchen. There were 4-5 chefs working their magic and surprisingly it wasn’t too loud (I’m wondering if there might have been a second kitchen at the back).
I was asked if I had a preference for still or sparkling water, and asked for tap water which arrived quickly. I’m assuming the sommelier came around to asked if I wanted a drink to start off with, and when I enquired about non-alcoholic options, the $60 matching non-alcoholic package was suggested – their mix of juices, tea and sodas. I was all for that.
Shortly after, a rolled up linen napkin was placed to the right of me and slowly unravelled to the left to reveal a stone pestle and spoon. Intriguing! (I’m really a giddy school girl when it comes to this stuff). One of the chefs in the kitchen then walked towards me to place the matching mortar in front of me.
Course 1 – The dish was called Mofongo consisting of fried plantains, chicharrones, and garlic puree at the bottom. It was recommended that it be crushed into a smooth paste, but I didn’t mind having a few chunky bits too. It tasted like salt and vinegar chips to me. Accompanying the Mofongo, was a small glass cup filled with pork broth and some pork lard. A tasty fun way to start off that night’s feast.
After the course was cleared away, another chef walked over to show me the crayfish I was soon to devour.
The first two matching drinks arrived – a house made kombucha with kaffir lime and black radish white tea (left). The second course’s matched drink was also brought out at the same time – a grapefruit ting with juniper, rosemary and tonic (right). I thought it was strange that they both arrived at the same time.
Course 2 – a national dish from Barbados called cou cou made with okra, polenta, fresh corn, crab, corn sauce, sterling caviar and bay leaf oil. Smooth and creamy.
Course 3 – Green banana with creole and mullet roe. This fried banana chip came topped with a capsicum relish, served on a bowl of dried banana skins. I was told not to eat the banana skins as they were simply used for presentation. This reminded me of a crispy dorito chip with salsa and paprika on top. There was no matching drink with this course.
Course 4 – the name of this dish is Rundown and consisted of coconut, sea urchin and allspice. Coconut milk had been cooked down into a paste, and topped with a bit of horseradish cream. There was a generous portion of sea urchin provided, and a strong coconut flavour. It was another creamy smooth dish with not many other textures. I must admit it wasn’t a very memorable dish.
Course 5 – Ducana with sweet potato, currants and Caribbean XO. Ducana is a boiled sweet potato dumpling from the Caribbean. This is like nothing I’ve had before. The single boiled dumpling paired well with Momofuku Seiobo’s Caribbean XO sauce made from salt cod and abalone, topped with sweet currants and fried habanero. Still no matching drinks.
After this was cleared away, a gorgeous glistening piece of raw Wagyu beef was brought out for my viewing before it was taken back to the kitchen to be cooked for one of the courses coming up.
Course 6 – Mango and Prawn – with rolled mango, salted mango puree, and habanero. Such a delicate looking dish. I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy salted mango (being a sweet-tooth). Although the dish had the slightly sour fresh mango, and spice from the habanero and chilli powder on top, it didn’t have enough of a sweetness factor for me. I don’t actually remember many prawns in the dish (perhaps it was finely minced) which was disappointing. This came paired with a pumpkin and tangelo shrub with turmeric and jalapeno.
Course 7 – Crab fried rice with curry, consisting of spanner, blue swimmer and sand crab. The sauce was spicier than I thought it would be so I’m glad I tested it before mixing everything together. I found it a tad salty and spicy from the curry, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying it and polishing off the plate (minus most of the sauce). By this stage, I was making the drinks last for the next couple of courses.
Course 8 – Ropa vieja, a Cuban national dish with shredded wagyu beef brisket, sweet potato, olive, pasteles and trout roe. This was beautifully tender beef that didn’t require much chewing with subtle spices and a hit of chilli from the habanero. Soft flavours with the sweet potato and pop of sweet acidity in the roe. It was a tad oily but the entire dish burst with flavour and juices.
The ‘Seiobo 2.0’ mocktail with hibiscus, all spice, cinnamon, ginger and lemon myrtle also arrived as the matching drink. I was told that this was suitable for the next course which was also beef.
Course 9 – Wagyu short rib 9+ marbling from South Australia, with olive and capsicum relish. That gorgeous piece of wagyu that was shown to me earlier had now been cooked to medium rare perfection with just a sprinkling of sea salt on top. Yum. I definitely could have eaten more of it.
Course 10 – Marron creole with coconut bakes – a fried bread with coconut from Barbados. The marron easily peeled away from its shell and was cooked beautifully. The fried bread was new to me (well all Caribbean food is new to me!) It was soft and pillowy, and topped with coconut which was a delicious accompaniment to mop up the flavoursome sauces. The paired drink was a tamarind tea with Ttotaler smoky black tea – salty and sweet.
Course 11 – Snow cone with hibiscus jam, dulce de leche foam, and a rosella shot with jelly. This was a nice sweet introduction to the dessert courses. I can’t handle too much dulce de leche but the foam was light and fluffy, contrasting well with the sweetness of the jam and rosella jelly.
The next course was to be paired with a house made milk punch using spiced macadamia milk and nutmeg. I’m not a big fan of macadamia milk so I didn’t finish this one.
Course 12 – Pumpkin tart with burnt coconut shortbread sable on the bottom, a layer of spiced pumpkin, a layer of pumpkin pannacotta, topped with a sticky syrupy molasses and pumpkin seeds. I didn’t think I’d be a fan of pumpkin tart, but this had a soft sweetness to it contrasting with cinnamon and spice. I liked the different textures – crunchy buttery yet salty shortbread crust, the wobbly pannacotta and everything in between. It was also a deceptively larger portion than it looks in the photo.
Course 13 – The final course was titled cakes consisting of petit fours – condensed milk ice cream wrapped in rum cake, cassava pone, and a Guinness cake. I was completely stuffed by this stage, so I’m glad it only took a mouthful for each item. I couldn’t appreciate the Guiness cake, as I could still taste the Guiness. The cassave pone was dense but so moist, rich and sweet. This course came served with a final drink ‘Swank‘ with molasses, lime and orange juice, rum punch spice syrup and soda.
I loved sitting at the counter to watch the chefs cook, and had a few different chefs interact with me. It was a more casual fine-dining experience and something I prefer. There were only 7 matching drinks, though some were meant to be paired with two dishes but I was only advised of this once (for the beef courses). I don’t think the drinks were timed very well, particularly as the first two arrived together.
Head Chef Paul Carmichael is from Barbados, hence the heavy Caribbean influence on the dishes. I appreciate being able to try some of the national dishes from the Caribbean. There was care in the flavours and presentation, but none of the dishes really blew me away. Each dish and drink presented was explained and service was professional and courteous. The overall dinner took about 3 hours all up.
Momofuku Seiobo
The Star Sydney, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont NSW
Opening hours:
Monday – Saturday: 6.00pm to 10.00pm
Foodgasm 6.5/10
Value for money 6/10
Service 6.5/10
FPJ score 19/30
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