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Má Pêche

  • Blanca Valbuena
  • January 23, 2011

Loving all of David Chang’s properties and hearing that he opened a new place closer to my home of the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I must say I was excited. So today, Má Pêche became my lunch destination. The door was a bit hard. The door certainly does not equate with the huge space inside. The restaurant is adjacent to the Chambers hotel and the main dining room is in its basement. Unlike the rest of David Chang’s places, it is large…huge by Manhattan standards. The main dining room was closed, so we sat down at the bar to eat.

A very pleasant bartender took care of us. We got the menu (which was minimal – perhaps the bar/lunch menu). The size of the menu was not an issue at all. I am of the mindset that I prefer restaurants serve few dishes and serve them perfectly. A menu with more than 25 items scares me, as few chefs can properly prepare most dishes. Make my choice easy, make your food good. We ordered the pork and venison terrine, bahn mi, pork ribs and rice noodles. The pork and venison terrine was lovely. It came with pickled vegetables and a violet mustard that was to die for. To be honest, it was terrine. What can one possibly say against terrine? Not much. With the lovely mustard and the perfectly balanced pickled vegetables, the dish was a win. Only wish they had given me a few more pieces of bread to put the terrine on, but this forced me to leave some on the plate and take some home.

Now we get to the Bahn Mi. I am a huge fan of this Vietnamese delight. It was a three terrine sandwich on perfectly crunchy bread with cilantro and daikon. As I sat there I can remember thinking that I’d be back for the sandwich; it was good and close to home…but at the same time I was thinking how I could get one almost as good for just three bucks downtown…but then I’d be paying $16 for the cab ride…so Ma Peche still won on price.

The thai basil pork ribs with lemon grass caramel left nothing to be desired. They fell off the bone. The meat was succulent and the sauce was balanced, hearty and tasty. They were also not overly messy, which would make this a perfect dish for a first date. Visceral, sensual and succulent. It was hard to leave these puppies on the plate to save room for the next dish. But alas, sacrifices must be made (and left overs can always be taken home…hopefully they will re-heat well).

This was the only dish I was slightly disappointed with. It was the rice noodles with spicy lamb, bok choi and basil.  The good parts were the crunch on the noodles and the heat of the lamb. Somehow I was left looking for another element on the dish. Can’t really point out what I was looking for. But still, I was left wanting. I left the rest of the dish at the restaurant, but was glad to take the rest of the dishes home.

For dessert we decided to have th birthday cake truffles. We got three morsels of deliciously rich rainbow cake with sprinkles and vanilla frosting. Biting into these truffles immediately brought you back to that amazing birthday party when you got exactly the present you were wishing for. Needless to say, this was good.

Má PêcheOverall, I really enjoyed Ma Peche. Our server was incredibly knowledgeable about her wine and was able to properly recommend dishes. The space left me a bit confused. I’d be interested to see how packed this place gets. The rent must be astronomical and the space is huge, the combination tells me it is a big gamble. I am glad to have David Chang’s food closer to home, but something tells me I’ll still be making the trek to the East Village for some Momofuku ramen and pork buns.

Má Pêche is located at 15 west 56th street. nyc 10019

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