Momofuku Noodle Bar

In 2004 David Chang opened a small noodle bar on First Avenue in the East Village with a short menu, a counter and very little money. It changed how a generation of New Yorkers thought about ramen, and, more importantly, it gave a young cook a laboratory in which to be cheerfully impolite about culinary categories. Momofuku Noodle Bar is the founding stone of a group that now stretches across the city, but the original room still feels like an experiment, and that is precisely the point.

Order the pork belly buns first, and consider ordering them twice. A folded steamed bun, a slab of braised pork belly, a smear of hoisin, thin cucumber and a scatter of scallion: the combination is now so widely copied that it is easy to forget how unusual it was here. Then the ramen, a pork-and-chicken broth rich enough to coat the back of a spoon, threaded with noodles, pork, egg and bamboo shoots. Around those two anchors the menu moves freely: seasonal vegetables with a chilli-and-fish-sauce punch, a rotating special built from whatever the kitchen has been fermenting or firing, and a fried chicken that has become a late-night ritual in its own right.

The room is loud, cramped and often full, with communal tables and no reservations for small parties — put your name down and wait, or come at an odd hour. Prices stay low for the quality of what arrives, which is exactly the trick Chang pulled off at the beginning: fine-dining intentions delivered in a casual room at a price that lets people come back every week rather than once a year.

Ugly Delicious opened with noodles and pizza as its subject, and used this restaurant to argue that the distinctions people draw between high and low food are mostly invented. Eat here and the argument is persuasive: a bun, a bowl of broth, and a room full of people clearly enjoying themselves.