Persimmon - Review

Intro
Persimmon - Highly Recommended
277 East 10th Street
at Avenue A
New York, New York
Phone: 212-260-9080

After checking out the phenomenal stuff Ko was doing, I was curious to check out Persimmon, which people have been describing as Ko Lite. Makes sense considering the chef at Persimmon worked at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I would definitely not even compare the two, which is not necessarily a bad thing. At Persimmon, you get refined dishes with a 100% Korean touch. At Ko, it's all about limitless flavors and textures which leans more towards a Japanese sensibility. The dishes at Persimmon don't push the boundary in terms of flavors and textures, but it doesn't matter - the food is flat out hella tasty. Overall, I give the restaurant a 87/100.

My Menu
1) Tofu Stuffed Squash Blossom **
2) Eggplant and Miso Sauce *
3) Pork Belly, various kimchee assortmemt **
4) Beef Quiche
5) Red Snapper Sashimi, with arrow root noodles ***
6) Kimche Jjigae
7) Desserts

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) Squash blossom stuffed with tofu, and plated with sweet miso dressing. A fun play on the Italian dish and this was very, very tasty. Perfectly cooked, nice creamy tofu stuffing (almost ricotta like), which works perfectly with the sweet miso dressing.
2) Eggplant cut into planks and arranged so it looks like a large eggplant. Served with crispy rice and lemony tofu sauce. Eggplant is roasted so it's rich and creamy which is perfectly cut by the lemony tofu sauce.
3) Pork belly, kimchee paste, pickled cabbage and some kimchee daikon. This was such a great dish - fatty, crunchy, salty, spicy. I was in total heaven here.
4) A strange dish that felt like scrapple - the Pennsylvania meat combo, but lighter due to the egg combo. The wife loved this dish, but it was OK to me.
5) Flavorful thin and silky noodles with a sweet, salty, and a relatively spicey sauce. Add in the crunchy julienned zucchini and the sweet sashimi and this was a total what the f moment. Perfect combo of flavors and textures.
6) Kimche jjigae is probably my favorite Korean dish and this was surprisingly pretty average. The pork belly was a tad overcooked (i see this all the time at Korean places though) and the broth was not as pungent as I like. This dish comes with some very good ban chan - the small Korean appetizers you get for free before a meal. Tonight we had kimchee, salted tiny fish, kelp, and pickled garlic, which was my fave.
7) Tea and brown rice...nuff said. The cinnamon/ginger soup was a great palate cleanser. Tomato water soup. Tasty sesame cookies.

Overall Restaurant Experience (87/100)

• Food 8.6/10 – Very fun meal and although the app portions were a tad tiny, the main course was a full serving.
  
• Service 9.0/10 – Like Ko, if you can get a seat in front of the kitchen, the chef will serve you directly. He's very nice and is genuinely interested in your opinion which I think is always fun. There are servers that take your drink orders (no alcohol till next year). Food comes out very quick.
  
• Atmosphere 9.0/10 – When you first arrive, there's a long communal table that everyone sits at. There's also 6 seats in front of the kitchen which I think where you should sit. Pretty minimalist inside - white walls, wood tables. The funny thing is the music they rock in the kitchen (not that loud). Bob Marley, Boy George, then Depeche Mode...good times. Got reservations for 6pm for 2 on a Thursday night. Place was empty till 7pm or so - a group of 4 girls showed up then.
  
• Price 9.0/10 – $37 for a full 5 course meal - phenomenal deal considering the quality and quantity that you get. I assume come 2009 this will 100% change.
  

Closing Comments
OK, so erase all the notions of this being anything like any of the Momofuku joints. This is really classic Korean flavors done more precisely and shown in new forms. Definitely recommended and will be back again.