Morimoto

Lunch at Morimoto last week. Since it was the day after Labour Day long weekend, the restaurant was a little bit quiet. There were 2 of us. We had the lunch box. Choice 1: sushi+ kobe beef + tempura. Choice 2: sushi + sashimi + tempura + grilled black cod. Sushi was fresh but nothing really special. The black cod was quite nice. The dipping sauce for tempura was unique, but it's too creamy and very filling. The tempura... batter was too thick! The restaurant looks really nice. And our server was freindly, attentive and knowledgeable to the menu/ wine. We had a very nice cold sake there. For dessert, we had the earl grey creme brulee... It was soooooo good! It could be the best creme brulee I ever had. Highlight of the meal: Mr. Morimoto actually showed up in the restaurant! But he was busy preparing stuff... It reminded me the scene from Iron Chef tv show!

I went there for my bday dinner with my boyfriend and was very dissapointed at their dishes and slow serivce. Spicy Tuna Roll - very good. made me think of my favorite place in Hawaii...unfortunately it went down hill from there. Tempura Calamari Salad - over dressed & extremely salty towards the end with beer batter quality tempura...nasty little onion or shallot peels were mixed in with my salad Pork with Congee - tender pork but too much "unangi" sauce for so little congee. way too sweet Oyster with Foie Gras & Uni - once again, way too much "unagi" sauce. it masked the taste of foie gras and uni. what a waste! Cold Udon - complete waste of money. worst cold udon i ever had at a restaurant. I can do better at home. I feel like we had something else but I can't even remember and it was just last night. We ended up ordering one more spicy tuna roll and called it a day. Unfortunately we had to wait 30 minutes to pay our check. Although our server was very nice, overall service was chaotic with long waits. Now I can say I ate at Morimoto's but will not be coming back again. Morimoto will los 100% if he served his restaurant food on Iron Chef match. One thing I did love, the enterance to the restaurant was gorgeous.

A co-worker and I went to Morimoto's for the pre-fixe lunch. We both ordered the sushi lunches and were blown away the freshness and the boldness of the flavors. The sushi was good, but the Iron Chef's beer (by Rogue) was amazing. Although it was twenty-something a pint, I would go back and have another.

The Chef's sushi platter was the wonderfully fresh and probably the best sushi I've had in Manhattan. I also had the angry chicken, which was very tender and nicely seasoned with hot peppers. I will definitely have both of these dishes again...but I have to say the sushi beat all. We also topped things off with the mousse for dessert; it had an array of sharp flavors with tarty-apple ice cream atop a light chocolate mousse all on top of something like a kitkat bar. Can't wait to go back!

Food and atmosphere were excellent... Service was another story. Waited over 30 min with a reservation. Waiter had no clue what he was doing - suggusted a horrible wine (after I explained my preferences), he charged my friend for 2 cocktails when he only had one, and then questioned that we were lying, and inappropriatly reached over my friends head to grab the check. Lots of communication barriers bt the multiple servers we seamed to have.

The chef is wonderful at making interesting mixes of flavors, but he tends to be most on target with the basics. We had the omakase on Saturday, 6/9/2007. The service was OK, nothing special, until the waiter set the bill in the middle of our table before we had even started our desserts... poor form. But other than that, the waitstaff was pleasant and helpful. I think the omakase is not worth the money... perhaps a better choice would be some of the fantastic sushi, followed by some of the best entrees. Some of their signature dishes seem very impressive on paper, but just don't live up to it in flavor. Notes on some of the food: Kampachi Sashimi: needed way more citrus, or something acid to balance the flavors out... it is sad to say that sushi samba's blows it out of the water. The oyster with fois gras was disappointing, especially since it has been so talked up. The teriyaki glaze completely overpowered the oyster... which is a shame because it was a beautiful oyster. The fois gras was delicious but barely enough for one bite. They should have been two separate dishes. The sushi course was amazing... in fact, so good that I wish I would have just got sushi and entrees, and skipped out on the entire omakase. Which brings me to the best part of the evening... the lobster. So melt-in-your-mouth delicious. And the lemon whipped cream was nothing short of heaven. The rest of the meal was quite a let down... the Kobe was non-descript, and dessert was forgettable. All in all, I would go again for the sushi and a few of the dishes... but only if i wasn't footing the bill!

Omakase on 6/1/2007: Toro Tartare: Delightfully fresh and rich tasting. I loved the little rice cracker balls, which added a nice crunchy textural contrast and wish there was more of them. Kampachi Sashimi with Shiitake: The flavor profile tasted a bit Chinese to me, like the Cantonese steamed fish finished with hot oil on the top. The fish was great, but seasoning overpowered the delicate fish. Microgreen salad, salmon, cranberry beans, asparagus, yogurt mousse and matcha dressing: A winner. It’s visually interesting, with wonderful color contrasts and effective positive use of negative space (small modular elements on an enormous plate). It also perfectly captures the essence of the season and of this time of year Kumamoto oysters steamed with foie gras, uni, and teriyaki glaze Oysters, foie gras, and sea urchin together in one dish is like trying way too hard to be luxury and ending up tacky and nouveau riche. The teriyaki glaze pretty much covered up the taste of the ingredients anyway. Although presenting the oysters on rock salt mixed with whole spices (cardamom, cloves, peppercorns) was innovative and added to the olfactory interest, this dish just seems like a waste of potentially fabulous ingredients. Chuu-Toro, Tai, Mirugai, Kohada, Amaebi Sushi: Fresh ingredients well executed. You can’t mess with tradition here. Matcha and Coconut Macaroon: Sounds great conceptually, but failed in execution and ended up gimmicky. The waiters came around with bamboo whisks and performed a mini tea ceremony by whisking the the powdered green tea together with hot water. The green tea was not nearly strong enough to stand up to the sweet lingering taste of the coconut macaroons. The green tea used in a real tea ceremony is supposed to be very thick and bitter to contrast with the sweet. No need to skimp on matcha powder when people are paying over $100 for an omakase dinner! Garam Masala Encrusted Lobster & Lemon Foam: Finally, the Iron Chef hits a h