TABLES FOR TWO.

MOMOFUKU -- 163 First Ave., at 10th St. (212-475-7899)--Momofuku bills itself as a noodle bar, which seems a bit like calling Le Bernardin a crab shack. Its owner and chief ramenhead, David Chang, for one thing, was a nominee for the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year award. The restaurant also has to be the best place in town to end up after a long day's schlep. Those post-and-lintel stools that fit like Yaffa Blocks against the big island tables! Ducasse may provide ottomans for purses, but Momofuku has cubbies, a good way to make you forget the futility, in the face of the grub that's coming, of having lugged around your gym bag.

Carbs and animal fat are Momofuku's invincible tag team. The steamed buns, for instance, turn out to be fluffy pockets of dough, sliced in half, smeared with hoisin sauce, and stuffed full of Berkshire pork that falls apart like barbecue. Momofuku Ramen begins as a bed of noodles; Chang and his fellow-chef, Joaquin Baca (a meat-loving Texan), add pig shoulder ...