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communal “dinner party”, very much like lazy bear. dinner starts with a standing"cocktail hour" with small bites and drinks. you’re then seated across from your dining partner at the 16 seat communal table.
service
a bit scripted with a few blunders.
food
solid but was expecting more wow bites given the price.
oyster, vinegar chili
we didn’t receive this with the rest of the group and had to remind our server. when it finally arrived my oyster came with an extra inedible plastic bead inside.
sablefish, shiitake, bone sauce
highlight, loved the charcoal grilled fish that just fell apart with the slightest touch. wish they didn’t initially forget the delicious sauce made from the bones.
“galbi”, pickle, jang, ssam
i was looking forward to this course the most but the beef from imperial wagyu wasn’t as tender as i was expecting. still pretty good.
abalone and anchovy rice, seaweed broth
my highlight of the night, loved the briny slight bitter baby anchovies with the tender braised abalone, so much umami. i just wish i could have seconds, thirds, fourths, and fifths, like at hayato. caution: may contain deliciousness. @Chowseeker1999, @NYCtoLA, @TheCookie, @foodshutterbug, @attran99, @Sgee, @A5KOBE, @JeetKuneBao
milk, mandarin
inspired by the citrus from jeju island, the milk ice cream was covered with a mandarin granita and candied kumquat. great refreshing palate cleanser. highlight.
This is one of my all time favorite places now. Been twice so far and really enjoyed it. Glad you tried it though!
Too bad about the hiccups you experienced. The rice course is brilliant and I got eel and anchovies last time, I think they do vary things around a little. It is the NorCal equivalent of Hayato’s rice course but not comparable, though absolutely satisfying when eating it with a slice of Imperial Wagyu kalbi, pickled crosnes and their house made kimchi.
The skin of the sablefish is brilliant. For the few Burg hounds that read FTC or lurk, that fish course is a match made in heaven with your favorite Premier or Grand Cru’s, especially an aged Mersault (which also works nicely with the Dunegess crab porridge)
The pork belly and octopus bite is great. The outer skin evokes memories of Cantonese crispy skin roast pork.
Try their non alcoholic beverage options, they have even made some fermented rice barley based liquor / milk like concoction recently. Their wine pairing choices are pretty solid and they do offer Den Sake Brewery by the glass.
The black sesame parfait chocolate cake is freakin awesome.
I would highly recommend other SoCal FTCers and lurkers to try Maum when you come up north.
Did you go on a weeknight or weekend? I’m guessing weekend from the number of items you had. The former is a bit pricier but you get more courses, one seating. Weekends are two seatings, a bit cheaper and reduced courses.
the price per person is $255.06 ($195 + 20% service charge + tax) on weekends and $294.30 ($225 + 20% service charge + tax) on weekdays prepaid via tock.
i’m glad i tried it and would still recommend it even with the service and execution issues, but it’s not even in the same league as benu–not many places are. and even though benu is over 60% more expensive i’d still rather go back to benu.
Sweet potato custard, champagne cream, chives, topped with Maum caviar (made exclusively for them by Czar Nikolai and cured with Sinan salt from
Jeolla province in Korea)
::sigh::
