Momofuku Seiōbo - The Star

Excellent dinner in a relaxed and friendly environment

Had a free night in Sydney and took the opportunity to try out Momofuku. Had recently dined at Momofuku Ko so was interested to see how they compared.

First impressions. The restaurant is in a casino, but fortunately you can’t really tell - it’s near a quiet back entrance and doesn’t feel like you’re on a gaming floor. Better ambience than the restaurants at the casino in Melbourne, which I actively avoid.

The room is slightly unusual and long - a small dining bar at the front, then tables and then the counter surrounding the kitchen. The counter is the place to be.

Reggae music and slightly brighter than I was expecting - it feels fun, as opposed to Ko which is enjoyable but has a more serious feel. Ko does feel like more of an occasion.

Staff welcoming and professional. The chefs do the thing from Ko where they show you the star dish of the evening beforehand - in this case a live marron (langoustine) enjoying the last moments of life...

Good wine list, not as encyclopaedic as Ko but then I wouldn’t expect it to be. They have the same ethereal Zalto wine glasses as Ko, beautiful.

On to the food. Things began with what for me was the only miss of the night, a mortar and pestle arrangement with plaintains and other items that you grind up yourself, along with a savoury soup to sip separately. Interesting but not really to my taste.

After that a succession of dishes, 12 in all including a couple of off-menu extras. A range of flavours and textures I hadn’t had before reflecting the chef’s Caribbean theme. All were very good to excellent (on a tough grading scale), with highlights including the pork slice (off menu), the sweet potato dumpling and the polenta/ocre with caviar.

Would recommend to those willing to try new things. Ko is less challenging but also less interesting.

Amazing place- great service and excellent food. Is expensive

Food was great with a couple of exceptions. The service was excellent. Worth a try.

Had been to a number of hats venue over the years by far this would be the lowest raking in food taste. services and venue is great though.

Outstanding, worth every penny. Sitting almost in the kitchen was fun and interacting with the chefs

The flavor combinations are perfect and tantalising. Great experience and will definitely be going back.

A dining experience that was amazing in every way and would recommend anyone who loves dining out

One of the best restaurants in Sydney. It's a non pretentious place. You go for a nice meal and a great night out with friends. Chef Paul is super friendly too.

The basil oil in the cou cou kicked the dish up to the next level of flavour and fragrance.

The sea urchin dish was a work of genius - the familiar sea urchin flavours got transformed by the simple but unexpected addition of the coconut and the allspice into something very unusual and extraordinary.

The ducana (charred sweet potato, currants, Caribbean XO sauce) sounded like the flavours would jar but it worked so well, I could imagine eating a whole bowl of it in front of the TV!

The trout roe in the Ropa Vieja sounded strange and was weird when tasted separately to the beef brisket, but when mixed in with the rest of the dish, it combined well and added complexity and umami.

The marron was tasty with great charred flavour but the texture was just slightly on the mushy-soft side for me.

The kaffir lime in the passionfruit dessert was intensely fragrant and added a wonderful accent to the dish.

The pumpkin dessert was amazing; the pumpkin caramel in particular was a revelation to me.

I’d have given the food 4.5 stars but that rating option wasn’t available; I had to deduct something because the food wasn’t quite perfect, due to the somewhat mushy-soft marron.

The bar counter/barstools really need a bit of a re-think when it comes to comfort, though. I managed to cope through the meal itself but during the rest of that night, I couldn’t sleep, getting a sore back and muscle spasms in my thighs and feet - because there was nowhere on the barstool or bar counter for a person with short legs and limited knee flexion like me; I had nowhere to rest my dangling legs and feet. A ledge on the bar counter to provide a foot resting space would have been a godsend for me.

Hope this helps!

We have always wanted to try it but never got around to it. So for our anniversary booked in. Food was unusally fantastic. Service was fantastic

I enjoyed the vegetarian degustation, while my husband enjoyed the regular degustation- both with pairings.
Every course was exquisite to taste and beautifully presented, and the drinks complemented all of our courses perfectly.
The waiting staff were very friendly and accommodating, we had a wonderful evening.
Absolutely deserving of a 5 star recommendation, and we would be delighted to dine again.
Many thanks for a memorable experience.

Chef Carmichael is a genius. Beverage pairings were inspired!

Absolutely brilliant!
Never ate anything like!
They made me enjoy a food that I did not like to eat!

We had the degustation menu which was amazing. The green banana and Cucana were the standouts, every course was very good. Staff were great in explaining each course and assisting in the choice of wine. We sat at the bar looking into the kitchen which was fun. Nothing to fault, highly recommended and will go again.

Had an amazing time.. the experience was enjoyable from start to finish.. thank you to all the staff for making us feel so welcome. The food was amazing and exciting!!!

The food was delicious, exciting and freah.

Outstanding three hatter in Sydney. Great tasting menu with many delights of the Carribbean. Some quirky wine pairings which included a sake, a cider and a cocktail. We were not disappointed.

We felt a bit lost to begin as the dishes come out flying with no menu or pretext. Though the momentum builds. The staff are passionate. And the food is extraordinary. This is an experience. Well done. Utterly worth it. 19/20.

Amazing flavours, perfect pairings, cool buzzy scene.

Excellent food and service. Great wine/drink matching. Cool ambience

Fun dining experience sitting at the bar and getting excited about everything that was being prepared in front of us. Food took us on a journey - it was fun, tasty and all explained well by the chefs which was nice.

Food was amazing. Great flavors and a lot of variety. The reduced drink pairing was on point as well. Staff very well trained as you would expect and each dish and drink was explained very well. Overall an amazing experience!

Every course was an exceptional surprise.
Servers and sommelier absolutely knowledgeable yet down to earth.
The staff had a surprise dessert and card signed by everyone for our anniversary. A small but really appreciate gesture.
Would definitely go back to Momofuku and I have already recommended it to friends and family.

Food was great as was the service. Each course was delicious and beautifully presented and the drinks pairing was perfect!
The let down for us was the atmosphere and the position. We were put at the bar to start and luckily for us they had a table available when I expressed our preference not to sit at the bar. Unfortunately, even at a table it felt cramped and not what we would expect at a hatted restaurant. Weird position at the end of the food court.

An absolutely fantastic dining experience! Staff are highly knowledgeable and the food was outstanding.

Terribly disappointed..
I had a great meal few months ago so we went back but it was unbelievably bad.
What happened?
Maybe chef changed?
The menu and it's ingredients didn't work out for the value.
We all very disappointed with dining experience.
Shame it was special birthday occasion.

The food and staff were amazing. We totally loved it! Our only suggestion would be to step up the decor and ambience there was no wow factor in that regard and really doesn't do justice to the food and service.

Amazing place, amazing experience. Caribbean cuisine full on! So many flavours and so many dishes, we were stuffed till our throats.
We were three people, one begets, one pisceterian. Although it was a good experience, I missed an occasional lamb dish, even a poultry variation would have sufficed. So, I removed one star for that. It seemed too “fishy” to me, with generous doses of caviar thrown in their dishes. Again, it’s an acquired taste and I am not a big fan of cured fish...
presentation was great, and so was the service. Very friendly staff!

Had a bit of a hard time finding the place due to the unmarked door, which made finding it all the more precious. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience marred only by 1) my aversion to desiccated coconut (which was predominantly featured) and 2) misunderstanding with the first server on when we could request the wine pairing option (we thought we had more time to decide but the first dish suddenly arrived). Other than these minor hiccups the food was delicious and the experience thoroughly enjoyable.

Must love it because I think that this was my 10th visit... Momofuku is totally original and the food is so comforting, like we grew up with it - and yet we didn't! Amazing that the chef manages to make us feel nostalgic for his food memories.

Fantastic food. The flavours are complex and delicious!

This restaurant is truly one of the best in Australia. Consistently excellent service, interesting and delicious food and fantastic beverages. It is good enough to book a trip to Sydney just to eat here!

Very confused with the taste. Menu nothing fancy or exotic. Very disappointing actually....

The place was a real disappointment. Given its three hat rating, I would have expected a pleasant ambience, tablecloths, and comfortable seating, none of which transpired. The place felt as if it was just a carved-off corner of a Casino food hall. The service was pleasant enough but the food, not to mince words, was crummy. Compared to other three hatted restaurants like Quay, Sepia, and the Bridge Room, this place is the pits. Avoid!

Wonderful night celebrating my husbands birthday which was made extra special thanks to the friendly and very experienced staff. Would definitely recommend this excellent dining experience.

Overall the 12 course meal was very good. The pace of the food delivery and the service was good too. The entree and the main gave us surprises but the dessert was a bit disappointing though. Perhaps it didn't suit our taste bud. 1 minor thingy - there is no sign outside the restaurant and therefore it's hard to locate the front door. Other than that, we were pretty happy.

Wonderful! The service as always was impeccable. The fact that the chefs interacted and shared the story behind the dishes was welcomed and exciting. The food was unique, interesting and fantastic. Special pairings of things I wouldn’t usually order rounded out the experience. We will be back!

Fantastic evening filled with delicious food, world-class service and perfectly paired beverages. Our wait staff were very informative and attentive, and the food was incredibly fresh and flavoursome. Would come back again in a heartbeat.

One of the best dining experience I have had. I t was brilliant from start to finish.
I highly recommend the paring of drinks to courses.
Thank you to all at Momofuku Seiōbo for such an experience