The Foodie Report

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the main event! In this corner, we have 21 of the best and brightest (or at least hungriest) Stern MBAs around. Their opponent: 24 lbs. of succulent pork, in the form of three slow-roasted whole pork butts. Now, if the idea of eating butt gives you pause, I assure you its one of the tastiest parts of a pig. Will our intrepid eaters have the gastro-intestinal fortitude to defeat these glistening mounds of meat?

The setting for our epic battle is Momofuku Ssäm Bar, one of chef David Chang's trendy hot restaurants located in the East Village on 2nd Avenue near 13th street. We went on a Saturday afternoon for the Bo Ssäm Lunch, which must be reserved ahead of time through the Momofuku website and is available only for parties of 6-10 people. Apparently lots of Sternies find the idea of mass quantities of pork appealing because we got 21 people to sign up for the meal through the Stern Food Lovers Group on Facebook, and we managed to book 3 tables of seven for lunch.

The Bo Ssäm meal includes the aforementioned 8 lb. whole roasted pork butt, a dozen raw oysters, bibb lettuce, white rice, and a variety of Korean condiments including pureed kimchi, regular kimchi, gingered scallions, and ssäm jiang (Korean bbq sauce). The idea is to take a nice piece of lettuce, put a bed of rice on it, add some juicy pieces of pork, perhaps throw a raw oyster on there, dress it up with the condiments of your choosing, and then wrap it up into a nice little package and shove as much into your mouth as you can without making a mess all over yourself. Personally, it took me maybe 3 or 4 wraps and a pile of napkins before I got the hang of it, but luckily my tablemates were too busy devouring their own wraps to notice the mess I was making.

Of course being underfed and overambitious business school students, we decided to order an appetizer before the main course, in a classic case of "eyes being bigger than stomach". The day's special was Eggs Benedict with an East Asian twist: Duck confit served on an English muffin with pickled carrots and hoisin sauce, topped with a sunny side up duck egg ($16). The dish was definitely tasty, reminiscent of the savory/sweet taste of Peking duck, with the added textural element of the runny duck egg yolk to give it a little creaminess.

One of the other tables decided that 8lbs. of pork just wasn't enough for them and ordered the famous Momofuku pork buns to start ($9 for two buns). The pork buns include an incredibly rich slab of pork belly and crunchy pickled cucumbers, finished with hoisin sauce and a sprinkling of scallions, all sandwiched between a fluffy, steamed, Chinese-style bun. The pork is perfectly cooked and tender, with a nice layer of fat that isn't too overwhelming. You pay a premium for the quality ingredients and exacting technique, but until I find an adequate replacement, I'm willing to pay for Chang's buns (I hope that doesn't get taken out of context…). The main course was delicious in its simplicity. The pork is seasoned with a brown sugar and kosher salt rub and then slow roasted for 6-8 hours, and that's it. All of the flavor comes from the natural juices and fats from the pork itself. The meat is fall-off-the-bone tender, and grabbing chunks off the roast with the provided tongs is effortless. The juiciest morsels are on the underside of the butt, where the meat has soaked up all the fatty goodness that drips down during the roasting process. The rice and lettuce wrap bring some lightness to the meal, and the tartness of the condiments helps to cut the fat and balance the heaviness in the pork. Needless to say, everyone at the table got their fill, and we ended our time at Momofuku Ssäm Bar commiserating over the inevitable meat coma that was sure to follow.

The Bo Ssäm costs a flat $200, which is pretty reasonable when split amongst a bunch of people. Our table of seven ate far beyond capacity and still wasn't able to finish off all of the pork. Unless you are bringing the Stern Rugby Team, the meal should be enough to feed eight or nine people. All told, including appetizers, tax, and tip, the cost came out to $43 per person. A pretty expensive lunch, but also a very memorable meal shared with some wonderful friends.