MOMOFUKU KOJIN

Back in 2019, before physical distancing and self isolation was our norm, Stephen and I celebrated his birthday at Momofuku Kojin. I have to admit I really miss dining out. Even though we scaled back our eating out habits last year, trying new restaurants was still something I looked forward to when we did. One silver lining (and I am on the lookout for those daily) of having a long blog queue is being able to relive those delicious meals of days past.

Atmosphere: Located on the top floor of the Momofuku restaurant, Kojin takes over the space where Shoto and Daisho used to reside. While the menu is more relaxed, the dining area felt more masculine with lots of dark wood, leather and metal. I always enjoy sitting at the bar or chef’s table when available. At Kojin, bar seats meant we had a great view of the wood-fired grill that touched a part of every dish. Complimentary coat check was provided and at 5pm, not many tables were occupied.

Service: Sitting at the bar, our order was taken by the server and drinks but we were mainly taken care of by the chefs. After answering a few questions about the menu, we picked our dishes and our server recommended how they could be coursed out. The chef introduced each dish as it was served, which I always love, with a description of the ingredients and accoutrements. Our server continued to check in on us throughout the meal, refilling empty water glasses, keeping us well taken care of without hovering.

Food: To start, we ordered a Corn Flatbread with seasonal roasted vegetables. The dish looked simple but blew me away with the rich flavours of the smoky roasted vegetables and pillowy texture of the flatbread. Every bite was perfectly seasoned, creamy and just addictive. I’d go back to Kojin just to order “The Board”, Flatbread with all the possible accompaniment. This was so good and set a high bar for the remainder of the meal.

For sides, we order the Atlantic Salmon Crudo with shishito and charred kirby cucumber, Gouda Mashed Potatoes and Fire Roasted Squash & Apple. Of the three I liked the salmon crudo the best. It was sour, spicy and the salmon was a great quality. I found the squash and red onion in the salad a little raw. For some reason I was expecting the squash to be more cooked, this was definitely more of a raw salad. The vinaigrette was on the sour side, which I liked but Stephen did not and the golden raisins added sweetness, I’m just not a big fan of raisins. The Gouda Mashed Potatoes was lighter than the name suggested and the best part of the dish was hands down the toasted cheesy crust.

Our favourite “side” was actually the complimentary dish of fire roasted beets that were very sweet, had a ton of natural flavour, smokey and a firm but soft texture. We wished it was available as a full side on the menu. Funny enough, when I checked Kojin’s menu while writing this post, there is a Fire Roasted Beets appetizer listed!

The 14 oz Boneless Ribeye was our main, served with marrow butter, fire roasted shishito and fire roasted beans. The steak was cooked to a beautiful medium rare with a great crust. We’re heavier handed with salt at home when cooking steaks so the seasoning was light to my tastebuds. I did enjoy the sauces that were served alongside and the butter, oh my the butter. Our shishito was one of the spicy ones that was spicy even for me.

Overall dinner at Kojin was a nice treat. There were plenty of great dishes that we ordered and plenty more on the menu I’d like to try.