What we ate in New York, Part 1 - Momofuku (all of the buns)

The very first dinner we had in New York, some four hours after landing, was at Momofuku Ssam bar. We were slightly giddy when we arrived, it was 10 at night, we'd been flying for a day, were in New York together and still a bit giggly about the fact that we were married. And after many many meals of plane food we were ready for something great.

Ssam Bar is conveniently situated opposite Milk Bar, which I'd been following on Instagram in the months before we arrived and so we ate somewhat accordingly. Pork belly buns were a must, and this version was possibly my favourite from the whole trip, owing to the brave use of blue cheese, and from memory shards of cabbage too. As a result of jet lag setting in and the delicious peachy drink I had at the bar, I can't actually remember what else we tried, I think we shared a fish roll?

My very first taste of cereal milk soft serve about an hour later was very memorable. It was delicious. We stood on the sidewalk sharing scoops of this delicious soft serve, totally surprised that a cereal themed dessert could be so good.

Totally inspired by our delicious dinner, Tony spearheaded a trip to another Momofuku restaurant for our first breakfast which turned out to be more of a brunch. We headed to Ma Peche which was just starting to serve its own kind of yum cha. In comparison to the moody, dark wood, bar scene of Ssam Bar, Ma Peche was all high ceilings and dramatic peach sails. 

We feasted on a kind of guacamole, with chips artfully wedged into the dip before moving onto spicy jerk chicken. It was quiet that morning, so the kitchen decided to gift us with deep fried fish balls that had done one round on a yum cha trolley and remained unchosen. They were delish.

The dessert trolley was my favourite! I spied it in the corner of the restaurant and it was so early that we had to ask our waiter if it was ready to come out yet. For our second Milk bar item, we chose the iconic crack pie, which was so sweet and much slimmer than I had imagined.

Momofuku Noodle Bar was next! I was most looking forward to this one, since the lack of ramen in Wagga Wagga has made me somewhat of a ramen fiend. That said, I ended up ordering the ginger scallion noodles because I'd tried and failed to make them from the Momofuku cookbook Tony had given me a year or so ago. Seated at the bar we watched the chefs at their stations, one was just in charge of the ramen noodles, another the buns. We traded bowls and slurped our way through the ramen, already knowing we'd return at least one more time before we went home.

On a very muggy day which we spent walking between galleries and shopping for presents, we stopped into a Milk Bar to try a different flavour of soft serve, this time blueberry! I think there were two flavours in this cup, maybe cereal milk. It was totally great, especially with the chocolate fudge sauce and fortified, we were able to venture into the night.

A few days later we returned to Ma Peche, this time slightly earlier at 9am to sample the breakfast menu. We met up with Garry who was also in town, and spending some time with him was a real highlight of the trip, I've long admired his photography. He beat us there and looked like a true New Yorker, with his Yankees baseball cap and a morning edition of the Wall Street Journal.

Tony won by choosing the 'Everything bagel' which was packed with shiso cream cheese, ham and tomatillo and was 100 per cent delicious. I had the egg and cheddar bagel bun which was yummy but needed a follow up of the breakfast steamed bun, a bold mix of pork belly (for breakfast! I know!), egg and potato. Delish.

We revisited the Noodle Bar on our second last night in town, I was coming down with a cold and desperate to try the chicken and egg bowl I'd seen on Instagram but we ended up ordering two giant bowls of ramen and a side of spicy cucumber. For dessert we another form of soft serve sundae, this time with crunchy and light strawberry cubes hidden beneath.



Our very last Momofuku item, a compost cookie bought at the markets and carried carefully around the city was consumed at LA airport, part of the way home.

Turning 30 with friends

In early October my friend Angie had a special 30th birthday party in Killcare. Her boyfriend Dave had organised a weekend getaway for her friends, and we spent a couple of nights by the beach. He organised everything from the food to the beach houses, and it was pretty great.

I've known Angie since high school (and am staying with her and Dave in Sydney - as you can see they are very very generous) and it was so lovely to hang out with the girls I grew up with, and a few new friends who are part of our group, who I hadn't really gotten to know because of my move to Wagga.

Irini and I drove up together and decided to wear the same pair of jeans. As you do. Our second twin outfit was a coincidence!

We spent our days swimming in rock pools and chatting by the sea, before we wandered back up the hill to hot breakfasts cooked by Dave, there would be steaks with special sauce and chicken rolls too.

Angie's friend Chantelle made a terribly impressive rainbow cake! It included a vanilla layer for those who aren't so keen on colour. I wasn't shy about taking a large chunk home.

Jemma brought her baby boy Leo along and I waited patiently for my turn to have a cuddle. I sure got my turn when she went for a dip with her partner. I was so eager for Leo to wake up but when he did he got a bit upset! It wasn't anything vigorous swaying/dancing couldn't fix and by the end of it I was pooped! Leo looked serene when Jemma returned, I hope I did too! She did teach me a good baby whispering technique, which is to try something different when he gets a bit upset. It works! Irini had success with baby lunges ;)

And the birthday girl herself. We went for an early morning swim on the Sunday and then mulled over our hopes and goals, both personal and professional, for the next five years. It sounds serious but it was nice to share some big and little aspirations for the coming years. Though everyone agreed that we hardly feel like 30 year olds at all!

Not wanting the lovely weekend to end, I decorated the house with flowers ahead of Angie and Dave's return. And then we all went out for giant bowls of pasta.