Eleven Madison Park, New York

The last night of our trip to the Big Apple was spent at Eleven Madison Park which holds 3 Michelin stars and is rated the 4th best restaurant in the world by San Pellegrino.

We arrived early and were led to the bar to enjoy some cocktails as the team briefing with a huge brigade was held on the dining floor. The restaurant is set in an impressive art deco building with a high gold leaf ceiling.

A long tasting menu at $225 per head is served for lunch and dinner service alongside a limited menu in the bar area. The meal began with a small envelope containing a card with four choices, coffee, celery, cherry and strawberry. We were asked to pick one each and the choice would feature in some of the dishes during our meal, we chose cherry and strawberry. Our meal consisted of the following dishes:

Cheddar – savoury black and white cookie with apple.

Oyster – baked potato ice cream and caviar.

Melon – salad with cucumber and lemon verbena.

Tomato – two parts, first with tea and thyme and second as a salad with lobster & garlic. The second part of the tomato with lobster was a knockout, simple but one of the dishes of the year.

Beef – pastrami with peppers, rye, mustard and cherry/strawberry soda. A story accompanied this dish and it paid homage to the deli’s of New York. 

Foie gras – seared with chanterelles and plums.

Apple – Waldorf salad with celery, walnuts and grapes. This was prepared at the table alongside a story of the history of the Waldorf salad. By this point Mrs Nom was rather merry and commented that the apples were extremely shiny, they were normal. This course I felt was a bit gimmicky and normal compared to what came before but the interaction was welcomed.

Halibut – slow roasted with pickled daikon and radishes.

Sunflower – braised with sunchokes and sunflower seeds.

Duck – roasted with peaches and fennel. A whole roasted duck with lavender was presented to us at the table before carving for serving. Another star dish.

Fresh cheese – pretzel, parsley and tomolives. A DIY course presented in a picnic basket with a bottle of brown ale.

Whey – sorbet with caramelised milk and milk foam.

Almond – baked Alaska with rum, caramel and cherry/strawberry. This was set alight at the table and was the pick of the dessert courses.

Pretzel - chocolate covered with sea salt.

Chocolate – sweet black and white cookie with raspberry ganache – aesthetically the same as the first cookie but a sweet version.

We were left with a bottle of apple brandy to end the meal and told to drink as much as we wanted. Prior to the meal we were discussing how much we could drink, in the end I struggled with one small glass due to its strength!

The standout courses were the lobster filled tomato, roasted duck and baked Alaska. Some weaker courses including the Waldorf salad and the picnic but with any extended tasting meal not all dishes will be equally enjoyed by everyone but the quality of the ingredients and cooking was first class.

Service was slick with well-versed staff as expected in a 3 star establishment. There was a lot of interaction and conversation which was probably led from the top as Chef Proprietor Daniel Humm made his way around the tables conversing with diners. He even gave us some recommendations for lunch the next day. 

Totto Ramen, New York

Totto Ramen is one of New York City’s favourite ramen joints at the moment with a loyal cult following. Waiting lists form before it opens at 5.30pm and huge queues on the sidewalk are common. We visited the 52nd Street branch and the wait was around half an hour due to the small intimate nature of the ramen bar but it was swift moving even with around twenty people ahead of us.

The interior is no frills with seats at the ramen bar and a few tables dotted around the rest of the narrow room. This is not a place to hang around; the focus is on the ramen, in and out.

I chose the special Totto spicy ‘Nibo’ ramen, chicken broth base, original rayu, spicy sesame oil and dried fish powder with paiten ramen topped with scallion, bean sprouts, onion and cabbage. The broth was rich but lighter than pork bone based broths from other ramen joints. Not overly spicy but just right.

Mrs Nom had the signature paitan ramen, chicken and soy based soup topped with scallion, onion and nori. The ramen was served softer upon request.

Overall the ramen was different and lighter than tonkotsu based ramen we usually find in London but very enjoyable.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar, New York

Momofuku is an institution in New York, founded by David Chang and serves modern pan Asian food through its numerous outlets in different guises. We visited Momofuku Ssäm Bar in the East Village after a long days shopping at Woodbury Common. Not knowing the neighbourhood we froze as we approached a queue of some thirty people and breathed a sigh of relief when we realised it was for Momofuku Milk Bar across the road which serves its famed cereal flavoured milk and crack pie.

However the wait for two at the Ssäm Bar on a busy Friday night was forty five minutes and we headed next door its bar, Booker and Dax, for some cocktails. After some fine cocktails we headed back and where immediately seated. We can recommend the Son of a Peach and Tropical Thunder cocktails, the attention to detail from the bartender was amazing and he remade one of the drinks twice as he wasn’t fully happy with them for some reason, rather than serving a substandard drink.

We started with Washburn Island Oysters with plum mignonette, for oyster lovers like us the variety of oysters available in New York is astounding and these were among our favourites from the trip.

Striped bass with plum, ginger and cilantro provided us with another light and fresh appetiser before the forthcoming meat dishes.

Perhaps the most famous Momofuku dish is the pork belly steam buns with hoisin, cucumber and scallion. I was happy to see the thick layer of fat around the pork which simply melted in the mouth and works so well with the fluffy bun. A must try for anyone visiting the city.

For mains we chose garlic roasted quail with watermelon radish, black garlic and watercress and roasted Long Island duck with lentils, carrot and prune. The black garlic with the quail was slightly overpowering but overall the cooking of the quail and duck was superb and the flavours generally worked well.

No fuss service with a diverse clientele of suit laden workers blending in with the jeans and tees crowd, it’s all about the food here.

Per Se, New York

Per Se was one of our highlight meals during our trip to New York. Needing no introduction this 3 Michelin starred juggernaut has consistency sat amongst the top restaurants of the Big Apple, as well as holding fort in the world’s top 50 restaurants at number 30 in the latest list. Located within the Time Warner building a dedicated escalator transports patrons to the entrance with the famed big blue doors. We visited on a mild Sunday evening, liberated from the usual Sunday night doom of an impending Monday in work.

After a short wait in the Salon bar area we were led to our table on the higher level of the split level dining room. A big fireplace with a roaring fire dominated the dimly lit room. Service is slick as one would expect and presented with a choice of vegetarian or the normal tasting menu there was only going to be one winner. The normal menu includes optional supplements for some dishes which soon pushes the price upwards from the standard tasting menu price of $310 per person.

The first of the amuse bouches were Gruyere cheese gougeres followed by a sensational salmon cornet with red onion creme-fraich.

The first course was oysters & pearls - "Sabayon" of pearl tapioca with Island Creek oysters and Sterling White sturgeon caviar.

For the next course I stuck with the standard melon "gazpacho" - Eckerton Hill Farm’s tomatoes, Aji Dulce peppers, yellow squash and flowering basil whilst Mrs Nom had the supplement dish of "Terrine " of Hudson Valley moulard duck foie gras - yogurt "gelée," Granny Smith apples, petite radishes, candied walnuts and huckleberry coulis served with toasted brioche. The melon gazpacho was packed full of flavour incorporating a kick from the pepper and basil. The foie gras was served with a variety of salts to enhance the flavour along with a delectable brioche that was replenished a couple of times.

Crispy skin Mediterranean lubina - "Tabouleh," pearl barley, black Cerignola olives, Persian cucumbers and toasted sesame za’atar.

Maine Sea scallops - "ragoût" of corn kernels, bok choy, fairy tale eggplant, black trumpet mushrooms, mizuna and yuzu moromi.

Four Story Hill Farm’s Porchetta - bean salad, "gribiche" and whole grain mustard sauce.

Elysian Fields Farm’s Carre D’Agneau  - "Chou-Fleur Rôti en Cocotte," Autumn royal grapes, endive, mâche and ruby beet butter. The final meat course and a new to us but likeable combination of exquisitely cooked lamb and beet sauce.

Maplebrook Farms "Burratini " - Hadley Orchards’ medjool dates, French Laundry Garden fennel, Acacia honey and aged sherry vinegar. By now we were struggling with this cheese course but we knew we had a whole medley of desserts to come.

The first of a trio of desserts was a berry parfait followed by a take on S’mores and a chocolate tart. By now we were in a food coma and cannot recall the full details.

The rest of the desserts flowed quickly with the signature coffee and donuts, cinnamon sugared brioche doughnuts with cappuccino semifreddo. An enticing box full of whote, milk and dark chocolates were presented as each one of the numerous selection was described in depth. We settled for a few before the final petit fours were presented in a large round tin containing nougats, macaroons and truffles.

There was no way we could fit it all in and ended up taking the chocolates and petit fours away with us, all neatly packed away with bows and all. An additional gift of chocolate shortbreads was also in our goodie bag to go which made for a sweet breakfast the next morning, some of the finest shortbread we have had.

A meal full of highlights but not all courses delivered the same punch such as the lubina and the dessert courses were surprisingly simple but still enjoyable. For a fine dining experience in New York we can see why Per Se is so highly regarded.