Obviously don’t really want to put the cart before the horse but the pictures look less than inspiring (along with the pricing quoted by other FTCers)…
I’ve been to a couple of his places in NY and I just don’t get what the hype is about 
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Co-sign. In blood.
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$125 for Bossam!!
Well, to be fair, it serves 4-6. 
Stupid. It’s what he’s known for.
The recipe for the pork belly baos are easily found online…and it’s super simple. I’m lazy and I picked up some frozen baos to use, and they turned out almost as good as the original I had in NYC. I used the spicy cucumbers in the kimchi section instead of regular sliced cucumbers…that was a great substitution.
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When almost is good enough, it’s hard to pay these steep prices now when choosing to dine out. We love dining out and supporting restaurants, but a restaurant/chef better be doing something too complex or arduous that I can’t make at home with reasonable effort.
The bao, crispy pork belly bossom or smoked short ribs don’t really cut it.
For many, anything above and beyond adding hot water to instant ramen would fall in that category. #bringhomeeconomicsback
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I too was in that boat, but thanks to Foodblogs and YouTube, Literally anything and everything can be learned with a little bit of effort
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Couldn’t that be said for pretty much anything then? Anyone can make anything at home, either by instinct, following a recipe, or watching a YouTube video.
I enjoy cooking, and I’m decent at it. But, if I’m in the mood for bao now, knowing how to making bao isn’t going to help me if I don’t have all the ingredients at home, have the time to spend to make the baos, etc.
Plus, it’s not always about just the food – it’s about the overall experience. Service and ambiance play a big role in the enjoyment of food.
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Speaking of baos only, it’s been ripped off endlessly and you can find copycat pork belly baos all over town.
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I wonder how dead Cassia is. Doesn’t seem very dead.
How did Cassia get into this convo? Did I miss something?
Cassia to me is not “mediocre fusiony fare”
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Right but there are things in that section that are $6, and that includes the bing.
Right and Majordomo isn’t mediocre either.
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I’d say from observation that the Bossam is a 16 maybe 20 ounce portion. I’d opt for the $190 smoked short ribs instead, as the portion is gigantic: three whole beef ribs. Put it this way, if you get a smoked beef rib at a top Austin bbq joint it’s around $35-40. Served/sliced tableside at a restaurant with fried rice/lettuce/radishes/dips isn’t that bad. Definitely not cheap but good to try once and worth the marginal increase over the pork shoulder bossam.
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Galbi-smoked short ribs isn’t an easy task for anyone, even with someone with a smoker. It’s a lot of time and tweaking to get the right balance between those flavors. They seem simple but they’re not that easy to pull off. Also, I’ve had the Momofuku pork bossam at someone’s house, and while delicious, it’s not nearly as good as the one they serve in the restaurants. Better meat quality, I guess. You could say this about any fancy/popular Italian restaurant in LA: $20+ cacio e pepe which is like $2 of materials that any home cook could do with enough practice.
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I need to see this in action so I can replicate it at home. $190 for 3 whole beef short ribs is crazy, even if they are the awesome 123a beef ribs.
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I enjoyed the tableside service, there were only two of us who went to dinner so we couldn’t order the big format dishes but the Skate Fried Rice was also presented and served tableside.
(hashtag) Bring back tableside service! haha
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