Majordomo - Chinatown

I wonder if JGold is being harsher in his criticism to (over)compensate for any potential appearance of positive bias, since, as he disclosed, he was on Ugly Delicious and has shared other meals with Chang.

BTW - I did not like that skate fried rice at all, not worth the $41 (though I see on the menu online, supposedly updated just 2 days ago that it’s $38 now), and the batter of the fish just overtook everything. Also didn’t like the bossam at $125. Could have gotten five of the Crispy Pork Belly at $22 each (or gotten 2-3 of them and other $60-$80 worth of other dishes). None of the noodle dishes were that good.

I do like the Snap Peas, and the Kakigori desserts, but my favorite thing was probably the Rare Strip Loin that reminded me of really good sukiyaki.

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“Majordomo’s kitchen is brilliant at engineering pure food lust” is not the way anyone wraps up a pan. I think Gold did a great job of capturing the place’s strengths and weaknesses.

“If you’re in a good mood, you won’t think too hard about the unshelled peanuts he fries with the tiny, spicy butterball potatoes …” I have thought about those quite a bit, and still wonder what Chang is thinking of there.

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Hi everyone, I have a reservation on Friday May 4th, at 7:30pm. The reservation is for four. I won’t be able to make it and want to give the reservation to someone who’ll enjoy it. Please let me know if anyone is interested in taking it and I will share details. Thanks!

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Majordomo’s Galbijjim is definitely nowhere near the level of Soban or Sun Nong Dan. We all felt it was an example of the overpriced, problematic side to David Chang’s cooking, and it was $85 for the same portion vs. $38 for Soban (which was so far superior in every way).

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that buildout isn’t gonna pay for itself.

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For him it is harsh 'cause he’s usually so surreptitious in his knocks on places. But if Pete Wells wrote the same words it would be a fairly decent review I think.

Agree with @theoffalo - he’s probably overcompensating, and he’s definitely overthinking a pretty delicious meal, IMHO.

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Doesn’t seem to apply to his love of all things Nancy Silverton

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very true

FIFY.

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FIFY

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Grammar police, in full enforcement mode…

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From what I understand, Jgold went to Major Domo at least three times. So he definitely tried to give it a fair shake. I agree with him strongly on some of his criticism but also disagree strongly on other criticisms (and likes)

When we had the lamb dish, the chef de cuisine that created it came to us and told us this was a new rendition he was trying. J gold was sitting next our table and got the same dish shortly after.

When the CDC asked us what we thought , I said to him exactly what Jgold said. It needs more sechuan spice. The smell is there but the taste is incredibly mild. He came and gave me some of the crushed version to sprinkle on the lamb which really kicked it up a notch. I don’t know if he will ultimately incorporate more spice into it because it might be too much for a restaurant of this style. I don’t remember too many nicer restaurants that would serve such an aggressively spiced dish.

But the lamb shoulder was insane. It’s meant to be wrapped and sauced so all the flavors work together, eating it by itself (which I watched Jgold do) is kinda boring and I’d agree with his opinion in that point.

The dish is really of two worlds and I guess it kinda clashes. The shoulder reminds of eating a street kabob in the Middle East. All that creamy yogurt white sauce, pickled veggies and paste with soft lamb meat. But that type of flavor is a strong contrast the schezeuan take. It really food porn visually.

I agree about the APL short rib. I had it once and have not been compelled to try it again. Mine was kinda dry. I hate when places overlook large pieces of beef. (Here’s looking at you Chi spacca $175+ steak!)

I disagree strongly with him about the Bing. The bing is the reason to eat there. It’s the only reason my wife eats there. It’s a fantastic take on “just another flatbread” we see springing up everywhere. It’s a vehicle for other food.

I really enjoyed the seafood vermicelli as well but I can see it getting gummy from all the starch of the potato if you let it sit. (Personally I could do without the potatoes) Didn’t have the issue since we ate it pretty quickly and then got to the delicious charred bottom ala charred rice.

I think he missed out not getting the pork belly, chicken or rare beef loin. Those are the Star proteins I feel. But the descriptions are so boring i can see why he passed.

The restaurant seems to be ever evolving, so it seems they are adjusting and changing on the fly.

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is there a majordomos anonymous?

bing, eggs, smoked roe
what came first the chicken or the salmon egg? another take on a momofuku ko dish, here they use salmon roe instead of hackleback caviar. this tasted under-seasoned, i preferred ko’s version with the saltier caviar.
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stuffed peppers, benton’s sack sausage, buttermilk
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raw sugar snaps, horseradish, lemon, shallot
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marinated mushroom, pistachio, radish, pea tendrils
dressed in a slighty sweet, tart dressing. pretty good.
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fried skate rice, shiso, scallion, chili sauce
didn’t like this, skate was okay, rice was too wet and had a bunch of what looked like mustard seeds in it #uglynotdelicious
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Thanks for the report @PorkyBelly. :slight_smile: And thanks for the warning on the skate rice. We were curious about it, but at the same time, thinking about skate, we held off (glad we did from what it sounds like). I love their bings so much though! :slight_smile:

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I wonder why Jonathan Gold described this as:

smoked fish roe and scrambled eggs;

And I like salmon roe very much, but am irritated when I order the salmon pizza at Spago and don’t get the black caviar.

Gold probably described it as a scrambled egg dish because the restaurant recommends eating it by first breaking it all up and mixing it together a bit. Whether Gold’s runny egg kept cooking in the bowl and turned into scrambled eggs, I don’t know.

@PorkyBelly wow! You must be up to around 10 visits by now.

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" He once tried to get me to denounce Filipino cuisine in front of a roomful of his (non-Filipino) friends." - J Gold Majordomo article.

i really want to know what this means, is David Chang putting down Filipino food? i get that you don’t like a cuisine but to crap on it? i wish Mr Gold would expand on this but we will probably never know.

In Ugly Delicious, Chang frequently takes extreme contrarian or iconoclastic positions, often seemingly just for the sake of argument or hilarity.

My favorite scene is when Chang, Gold, Peter Meehan, and Gustavo Arellano are on a taco crawl. After Chang makes them stop at a Taco Bell, he describes the ensuing discussion as “having three Lester Bangs talk about Led Zeppelin.”

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that was funny

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I still dont know how you’re gunna shit on Taco Bell and praise Dominos.