Back to Ssam

With a friend visiting to New York for the first time since January, all the talk I heard about Ssam Bar at the Bruni event on Friday, and my general longing to have a delicious meal close to my apartment, I ventured back to Ssam Bar for the third time on Sunday night.

Ssam Bar is the second David Chang restaurant in Manhattan, after the Noodle Bar. Ssam Bar started off having these odd korean burritos, which I cannot say I ever managed to try. It morphed over the years and became a famous swine peddler after putting the pork bun on the map sometime in 2007. It has since lost the korean burritos and has ascended the ranks to join an elite grouping of restaurants that has earned 3-stars from the New York Times. The food is always compelling and interesting when I go, and as Frank Bruni aptly said, it is a great restaurant to go to understand what is going on in the New York dining scene right now.

I do have my quips about Ssam Bar. First off, my friend and I got sat at the bar. The tables are not that much more appealing since the chairs are basically tiny stools, so comfort is not a priority here. Momofuku Ko was actually more offensive on this point truth be told. Second, paper napkins, and lots of them. This was actually useful because the food gets messy, but it creates additional clutter on an already crowded surface.

The service at Ssam Bar is delightfully casual. They are not stuffy nor pretentious and when you ask for recommendations, they do so with a fervor that assures you that they actually like the food they are telling you to order. I went with the server's thoughts for both my dishes and have to say, was pleased with her thoughts.

The star of my evening was a rib sandwich that I would say was one of best starters I've had at a restaurant in the past 12 months. The sandwich is Chang's take on a McRib. It has comes topped with slaw and is really messy and tender. The bread is lightly grilled so it comes across as panini-esque. I dabble sriracha gently on the dish to add a little spice. My friend ordered the classic pork buns, which did not seem to disappoint either.

My entree was a monkfish with ham broth and barley. The fish was really gently prepared and tasted great against the ham broth. It was a lot of pork flavor, but the fish held up well against it and the barley added another level of texture to the dish. It was a great autumn dish but was still light and did not leave me feeling immobile afterward. My friend ordered the pork shoulder, which she noted was good, but seemed a tad rare.

We opted to head elsewhere for dessert, though I can recommend the pb&j dessert ssam offers based on a previous visit. As I thought about the meal, I definitely can say I loved my food. I've been thinking about the rib sandwich hourly since then. However, benchmarking the meal against other recent 3-star meals I've been lucky enough to eat over the past year (e.g. Corton, Scarpetta, Alto, The Modern, even Momofuku Ko) I just cannot compare it as favorably. I guess I still think of the star system as requiring elements beyond food--chairs, for example. That being said, I still am a huge lover of the Ssam Bar and will continue to patronize the place...but I better not see any 4-star reviews anytime soon.