The Citiblog
Momofuku opens ‘Upstairs at Ssäm Bar’ at South Street Seaport
November 19, 2021, 9:28.47 am ET
Photos: Momofuku
Momofuku opens Upstairs at Ssäm Bar, a new restaurant featuring a menu that centers around tabletop grills, as well as private karaoke rooms [89 South Street, Pier 17]. Located on the second floor of Momofuku Ssäm Bar at South Street Seaport, the new restaurant celebrates the city’s renewed energy with a fun, interactive dining experience that overlooks the East River.
The menu is designed around dishes from the Grill, which bring chefs into the dining room to cook at each table’s personalized tabletop grill – from Grilled Prawns to a sizzling 55-Day Dry Aged Ribeye. All dishes are served with an accompaniment of lettuces, scallion salad, pickles and various sauces. Also offered, Heritage Pork Shoulder with 7-spice seasoning; Ssam Bar Smoked Pork Belly with sweet & spicy sauce; Australian Wagyu Bavette with sesame pepper; and American Wagyu Ribeye with kalbi marinade.
Raw offerings include Hamachi with green apple and daikon; Maine Uni with ham chawanmushi and trout roe; and Sea Scallops with ham xo, kohlrabi and lime. There are dishes meant for sharing like Roasted Oysters with caramelized kimchi butter and Spiced Pepper Wings with white and green peppercorn. There's also an entire section dedicated to Potato Rösti, with accompaniments such as baked epoisses and black truffle honey; foie gras and blood orange marmalade; and osetra caviar and smoked ranch.
The beverage program offers an extensive menu of wine, signature and frozen cocktails, beer, sake and non-alcoholic beverages. The wine list emphasizes classic selections from France, including a notable section dedicated to Champagne, as well as small producers from lesser known wine regions around the world. Cocktails include Toki Hot Toddy with Suntory Toki whisky, genmaicha tea and lemon; Psycho Beach Party with mezcal, cynar, passionfruit, pineapple and blood orange; and Bonji Old Fashioned with Old Forester bourbon, bonji, black sugar and orange bitters.
The design is a nod to the restaurant’s waterfront location and features notes of blue-green and neutral wood throughout the space. A wall of windows overlooking the harbor flows into a custom, handmade jade tile installation from Glithero, which features brightly lit impressions of aquatic botanicals. Each table is outfitted with a personal tabletop grill and complemented by dark blue leather banquettes and green velvet chairs. Adjacent to the 36-seat dining room are two private karaoke rooms that also overlook the water. Each room comfortably seats up to ten guests.
In 2006, Chef David Chang opened Momofuku Ssäm Bar in the East Village, where it became a downtown New York staple for fifteen years. In fall 2021, after the restaurant’s lease expired in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Momofuku moved Ssäm Bar to Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport. Months after re-opening at South Street Seaport, Momofuku Ssäm Bar finishes setting down roots with the opening of Upstairs at Ssäm Bar, complete with a new menu developed by Momofuku Culinary Director Max Ng and Executive Chef Kris Brumsted.
Ssäm Bar reservations are available on Resy. For karaoke reservations, please fill out this form, email events@momofuku.com, or inquire night-of.
For more information, visit ssambar.momofuku.com
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