Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

Majordomo Los Angeles – David Chang’s Foray into the West Coast

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You could say I’m a fan of restaurants within the (ever-growing) David Chang Empire.

A little more than a decade ago, Bryan and I first visited his flagship Momofuku Ko in New York City back when they didn’t allow photos! It was just a tiny bar back then. Even so, my mind was blown with David Chang’s unrestrained creativity. He wowed us with dishes such as his signature shaved foie gras, lychee, and reisling gelee dish. Through the years, I’ve regularly stopped by Momofuku Milk Bar for their corn cookies and cereal milk soft serve. I have also visited Momofuku Ssam Bar (where I fell in love with the spicy sausage rice cakes). And then there’s Ma Peche and their fantastic fried chicken. I finally returned to Momofuku Ko in 2016 (where they now allow photos), and wrote up a proper post!

And then suddenly, in a blink of an eye, it’s been 5 years since I last visited a David Chang restaurant.

Frankly speaking, because I’ve been living in Hong Kong, I didn’t even know about Majordomo opening up in LA. It was David Chang’s first restaurant in the West Coast. It was ridiculously popular and impossible to book when it first opened.

It’s been a couple years, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic right now. Still, Majordomo still wasn’t easy to book at all. We essentially lucked out (due to a cancellation). We were able to grab dinner for four after first putting ourselves on a waiting list.

Starters

One of the signature items is the “Bing”, which sounds like the Mandarin word 餅, a term used to referred to a variety of items in the bread family. At Majordomo you can get them with all sorts of sauce, though the Cultured Butter appears to be one of the most popular (and the one we ordered). These flatbreads are freshly made and are delicious.
Ah I miss California’s abundant produce! I especially miss good tomatoes, because in Hong Kong I find I am never satisfied with the tomatoes (with the exception of Japanese fruit tomatoes). The tomatoes in this salad were heavenly – excellent ingredients, perfectly seasoned. It was delicious and I couldn’t get enough of it.
The vegetables at Majordomo do not disappoint, and these Baby Lettuces, tossed with lemon vinaigrette, pepita brittle, and chives, were likewise delicious.

Bo Ssam

Despite having eaten at Momofuku Ssam Bar before, I had never ever tried the famous Bo Ssam (because how can two people ever order such a large piece of meat??).Since we finally managed to get FOUR people together at a meal, we decided to order the Smoked Half Bo Ssam, which supposedly feeds 4-5 people.
The dish comes with a variety of sides, including ginger scallion sauce, kim chi, chili paste, bean sauce, and pickles. You essentially make your own lettuce wraps with whatever combination of fillings you desire.
It was satisfying and enjoyable, though in some ways seemed much more traditional and “normal” than other David Chang dishes that have blown me away. I know this recipe has been floating around the Internet for quite some time. I’m almost tempted to try making this for a party some time . . . perhaps after Covid.
Mushroom Rice
My favorite dish was by far the Mushroom Crispy Rice, a glorious umami-filled bowl of shiitake mushrooms, burdock, and yuzu layered over a bed of beautifully crisped rice. It was insanely addictively, and I kept going back for more.

General Thoughts – Majordomo Los Angeles

It’s clear that David Chang knows how to build and run restaurants. This place has delicious food, good service, a nice ambiance, and is clearly very professionally run. Despite the fact that the location is a bit non-central (on the edge of Chinatown), it still seems to consistently draw a crowd.

One side note: the parking area is a bit unusual, located in a vacant, empty-looking warehouse area behind the restaurant. Thankfully there was a parking attendant that showed us where we could park (it’s not that obvious). After walking down a semi-abandoned looking area, we arrived at the bustling restaurant.

Domo visits Majordomo

All in all, the food is very good, certainly crowd-pleasing, and we had a wonderful time. Although the Bo Ssam was delicious, I sort of wished I had ventured out and ordered some of the other more unusual things on the menu. I absolutely loved the mushroom rice, and the salads were amazing, partly because the ingredients were so high quality and super fresh (gotta love California for that).

All in all, I was excited we were able to secure a booking at this hard-to-reserve restaurant during our very limited, short time in LA.

Majordomo Los Angeles
1725 Naud St.
Los Angeles, CA, 90012

Other Posts in this Series

Traveling During Covid – Our Three Month Trip Around the World
Playa Amor – fantastic mole
Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary at Taco Maria (During Covid)
Daybird LA – Best Szechuan Hot Chicken
MÍRAME Beverly Hills – Modern Mexican

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