Má Pêche, a review.

Photo Source: http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/ma-peche/


On Friday night, a couple of friends and I went to dinner at Má Pêche, part of David Chang's Momofuku line of restaurants.  It is located in the basement of the Chambers Hotel in Midtown.  Overall, the meal was great.  We were seated at the raw bar and had a great view of the chefs preparing many of the appetizers for the dining room.  The dining room was well-lit and had a great energy to it.  The staff was extremely efficient and service was was spot on without that feeling of being overly stuffy.  While I wanted to try the Beef 7 Ways meal, this idea wasn't feasable with only three people (the meal is intended for 4-8 people) and the timing would have been an issue since they have set times for seatings for that meal format.  Instead, we opted to dine a la carte.


We started with a trio of appetizers: pork summer rolls, beef tartare, and lamb corn dog.  The summer rolls had lettuce, daikon, peanuts, and grilled pork with scallion and a fried rollup of rice wrapper to provide some added textural contrast.  They were light and fresh and better than many spring rolls I have had in the past.  The beef tartare was served with shrimp chips (aka crack near me) which is a great use of crunch to offset the tartare.  The lamb corn dog wasn't greasy at all and one of my friend's favorite choices of the night.



Photo Source: http://www.minxeats.com/2011/05/ma-peche.html



Photo Source: http://www.sweetsaltythings.com/2011/12/11/peachy-keen-dinner-at-ma-peche/


For our main entrees, we ordered the striped bass, halibut pot pie, and steak frites.   The bass was served with mushrooms, miso, and bone marrow.  It was perfectly cooked and had a real earthiness due to the mushrooms and marrow.  The halibut pot pie had this huge pastry crust and had chorizo, turnips, and tagarashi (a Japanese spice blend).  It was a solid dish, but not earth-shattering.  The steak frites was listed as a 12 oz cut, but seemed much larger.  It also came with rice fries, which looked like polenta fries.  They had the consistency of risotto inside and an extremely crisp exterior.  The steak was studded with large salt crystals and was well seasoned.  The only complaint was that it was ordered to be cooked medium and came out rare/medium rare.





Photo Source: http://www.sweetsaltythings.com/2011/12/11/peachy-keen-dinner-at-ma-peche/





Photo Source: Má Pêche


Our side dishes consisted of the Brussels sprouts (see below),  potatoes, and cavalo nero (aka black cabbage or black leaf kale).  We could have easily gotten away with only ordering two sides, but we wanted to try all three.  I think the Brussels sprouts were the best , with a little kick from some chipotle and some nice umami from the addition of anchovies.  The potatoes were also very good with basil, fish sauce (with a light handed touch) and a chili aioli.  I wasn't sure what kind of potatoes they were, but they were about the size of a walnut.  The cavalo nero was probably our least favorite.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the other two sides.

Photo Source: http://www.sweetsaltythings.com/2011/12/11/peachy-keen-dinner-at-ma-peche/


Since we ate so much, couldn't attempt desert.  Also wanted to swing by Momofuku Milk Bar upstairs to see if anything to pick up for the road, but decided to walk off dinner instead.  One other thing I want to add is the nice selection of non-alcoholic drinks, which numbered about 12-14 selections.  I had their Cola and an Arnold Palmer that consisted of calamansi lemonade and jasmine iced tea.  Both were very refreshing.  As someone that really doesn't drink, it was well appreciated the choice of something out of the ordinary.


While I haven't tried the other Momofuku restaurants, I would definitely recommend a visit to Má Pêche.