Western luxury (review Momo)

I have never made it a secret that I love to stuff my face, which usually leads to an euphoric feeling from inside. (addicted much?). Although being a nut for fashion I would much rather spend my money tantalizing my taste buds. When in the position of doing so, I definitely do not think twice about paying more money for better quality food. My only requirement aside from good flavors, is that I should leave a restaurant feeling content and get value for my money. When I had dinner at Momo, courtesy of my so, unfortunately I did not feel completely satisfied leaving.

The restaurant claims to "[blend] the flavours and colours of the Far East with the style and sophistication of the West", according to its website. I think it definitely succeeds in doing that exactly, namely combining Asian styled food with Western prices. One usually does not need to spend that much at the average Asian place, yet usually leaves with a doggy bag due to the abundance of food served.

Before we ordered any food, we decided on a bottle of still water to accompany a bottle of wine. I am still not sure whether to laugh or feel disturbed by the price of €7 for a bottle of water served in a country that has squeaky clean tap water.

We finally decided on different salads and sushi for starters, seafood for the main course, and of course chocolate for dessert. Out of all dishes, the salmon-avocado salad was the most aesthetically pleasing. It was served in avocado shells with leaves on top, resembling miniature pineapples to me. I am not a fan of avocado at all, but seen as it was my own fault to have overlooked this ingredient whilst studying the menu, I decided to just stick it out and eat up. Luckily the salmon was delicious enough to make up for the butter-textured avocado. The potato chips were a nice garnish as well.

The wakame salad with tofu and soybeans tasted a bit sour. I usually finish my plate, but unfortunately we did not send this plate back empty. It just was not "our thing", tastewise.

The plate our sushi was served on was so beautifully colored. It reminded me of a blue lagoon and fish. The Momo roll consisted of tuna, salmon, and sea bass and was covered with crunchy tempura. It was truly delicious.

For our main course we picked the grilled lobster with steamed rice. It was lightly spiced, and definitely approved tastewise. Unfortunately, one whole lobster was not enough to satisfy my appetite at all, so I was glad we chose three starters.

The dessert I picked is named Ivory-Coffee-Salt Caramel, and is according to Momo "white chocolate mousse with coffee crumble and salt caramel ice". A mouthful of words yes. On the left you can see the icecream, on top you can see the coffee crumble, and that miniature white log on the right is the chocolate mousse. This picture is pretty much true to size, meaning that you can finish this plate in a matter of seconds. I was not sure what the chocolate spoon was for though... The plate already came with a silver spoon, and using the chocolate one would be kind of messy. Or maybe my imagination was running wild and it was supposed to represent something other than cutlery. I really liked the coffee crumble and mousse, and the salt in the icecream was very surprising.

I would definitely not advise you against having dinner at Momo, however, living on a tight budget you might want to opt for a different place to eat. Although the food there is delicious, you should not expect to leave with a full stomach by merely ordering one starter, main course, and dessert. Also take into account that drinks can be very expensive there! If you are looking for tasty Asian food that is affordable, I would advice you to visit New King instead. Just save dinner at Momo for a very special occasion!

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Sefanja Rubina