A Review: Momotaro

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Momotaro

Every time I ask anyone if they have been to Momotaro, I get the same reaction: Make a reservation, go as soon as you can. I don’t take culinary dares lightly so a reservation was procured and a month later, our table was ready.

They were so right.

And you know who else was right? Our server. Thank goodness for her expert guidance because the Momotaro menu is extensive. We pointed out a few things we knew we wanted (raw tuna anything, short ribs) but for the most part, we opted for more of an omakase approach: respectfully leaving to another to decide what’s best (i.e. the faroe islands salmon, the bbq eel rice, and heaven help me if that piece of squid nigiri wasn’t the best thing on earth).

Everything last detail of Momotaro is meticulous, from the plating to the decor to how they prepare the food. There are several kitchens: one for wood-fired dishes, and the sushi bar that is the centerpiece of the dining room, letting you see the chefs at work. The hallway to the restroom features a mural with close to a million ink strokes. And back to the food- if serving steak on it’s own personal grill atop a banana leaf isn’t detail oriented, I don’t know what is.

momotaro steak

Let’s just say this wagyu striploin officially made me someone who enjoys red meat. Cooked to perfection, just under the medium rare we requested, allowing for it to cook just a teeny bit further on the charcoal grill it arrived on.

Beyond being one of the best meals we have ever eaten, the entire evening was an experience and really, a whole lot of fun. It wasn’t a special occasion but by the time we left (2+ hours later!) it felt like it had been.

Momotaro Kitchen

The time we went to Eataly & never stopped talking about it

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I really hate when new restaurants open and everyone is all “oh em gee, this place is the most amazing of all amazing restaurants to ever open on the planet”. Okay, okay, I get it, said new restaurant is great, calm down. Eataly opened a few weeks ago and subsequently, people have lost their minds over it. I’ve heard it’s packed around the clock, strangers have given me “insider tips” on how to navigate it and so on.

Ryan and I were doing some last minute shopping yesterday when I got super hungry, super fast. I was still in the clothes I went to Flywheel in and needed a quick bite, let’s just shoot into Eataly and grab a slice of pizza and head back out, we decided.

Oh. Em. Gee.

Choosing 2 slices of the most incredible focaccia pizza led to getting directions to the nearest wine barrel (turn right at the coffee bar, we were told), which led to us standing up at a tall bar, raving about the ricotta and dough and toasting to what has already been the best holiday season we’ve had. We watched people having as much fun as we were, strangers talking to each other, incredulous over this grocery store/restaurant/food stand/wine shop/cheese emporium/meat heaven/crudo station. Ryan drinks wine but isn’t usually as enthusiastic as I am; he insisted we get another glass, he was having so much fun, he didn’t want to leave. While waiting at one of the many bars, we met a stranger in from Denver en route to Christmas in Houston, bought his beer and said cheers to safe travels. We met an old man from Brooklyn that couldn’t believe that you could just walk around with wine-we clinked glasses with him on the escalator. We perused wine from the region I studied abroad in Italy, passed cheese wheels bigger than I am and got very, very, very excited about our honeymoon in Italy.

Basically, everyone losing their shit over Eataly is 100% spot on. This place is amazing.

We went for drinks with friends before and after dinner and literally couldn’t stop talking about it. We woke up this morning talking about it. We made tomato sauce and pasta from scratch today because we wanted more of that simple, whole food. Our buddy we were with last night texted today to say he and his fiancée got in a fight over chess- we told him to take her to Eataly to make amends.

We are those people. And I don’t even care. I am going to be thinking of our fun afternoon for weeks to come. And dreaming of that ricotta zucchini pizza…

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