I almost walked past the entry to Momofuku Ko, the trendy restaurant on First Avenue (between 10th and 11th) in New York’s East Village. There’s no sign, but when a place has only 12 highly coveted seats, it doesn’t need one. Finally I noticed two giveaways. The first was a small drawing of a peach; the other was a well-dressed young couple beaming in well-fed delight as they stood in front of a grated steel door that turned out to be the passage into Momofuku Ko. They were posing for a photo commemorating their dinner, and once the image was snapped, they stepped aside to let me enter, promising, “You’re going to have a great meal! This place is all they say it is.”

Wow. How often do Manhattan diners take on the role of publicist for a restaurant? Then again, New York Times reviewer Frank Bruni did call Momofuku Ko “the most talked-about new restaurant this year.” Bruni awarded it three stars, a stunning debut for a tiny eatery that serves an unclassifiable cuisine. It’s not Asian, and it’s not new American. But Momofuku Ko just may be the hardest place to get a seat in Manhattan.

Feast on this: dinner takes around two hours and consists of 10 to 12 courses in a fixed menu selected by the chef. (If you have a food allergy, speak up — substitutions may be available). The meal costs $100 (wine pairings are available at three price points: $50, $85, $100), and yet it’s just about impossible to score a reservation. The only way is online, at reservations.momofuku.com. Every day at 10 a.m., a new set of seats, seven days out, gets posted on the site. Don’t be surprised when you’re asked to deposit $150 per seat in advance. (Refunds are given for reservations canceled with at least 24 hours’ notice.)

Then there’s the food — an expansive array concocted by chef David Chang, whose metier is the unlikely combination that somehow, amazingly works. Shaved frozen foie gras with a Riesling gelée and a bit of brittle is a hit, for instance. Other equally distinctive tastes include a chicken egg served with caviar and tiny potato chips, the assertively named pig-face salad, monkfish tail topped with uni (sea urchin roe), pretzel ice cream, and more — the dishes keep coming. After nine courses, I asked a sous chef when the end was coming. I wasn’t tired of the food, but I was near bursting. He told me to hunker down because they were serving an even dozen courses.

Chang says he came up with the idea for Ko out of necessity. His original Momofuku Noodle House was in this tiny space, but the long lines jammed the First Avenue sidewalk. He moved that restaurant up the block but still had the postage stamp–sized space, and he came up with the idea of Ko — which means “son of” in Japanese, while Momofuku means “lucky peach,” thus the peach at the entry. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” Chang explains.

As for the impression he hopes to make on diners, Chang is emphatic. He wants them to think, “I’m so glad I spent that money. That was a value.” That’s exactly how the meal ended for me.

— Robert McGarvey

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Five to Try

1 Babbo 110 Waverly Place (Greenwich Village), 212.777.0303. Mario Batali’s flagship serves an eight-course tasting for $75. Wines (paired with the food) are an additional $50.

2 Po. 31 Cornelia St. (Greenwich Village), 212.645.2189. Chef Lee McGrath’s $50 six-course tasting (salad, two pastas, main course, cheese, and dessert) may be the city’s best dining bargain.

3 Craft. 43 E. 19th St. (Flatiron District), 212.780.0880. The seven-course menu from Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio costs $110 (wine is another $75). Note: every other Tuesday, Colicchio personally cooks up a special tasting menu.

4 Gordon Ramsay. 151 W. 54th St. (Midtown), 212.468.8888. The Menu Prestige runs $150 for seven courses; wine is an additional $100.

5 Morimoto. 88 10th Ave. (Meatpacking District), 212.989.8883. The omakase — chef’s choice — is $120 for nine or so courses of the Iron Chef’s new-style Japanese cuisine. — R.M.