morimoto

(a very special) friday night dinners - morimoto. some people will travel for love, others for money -- i travel for food. and to philadelphia i have come, from calgary via new york, to visit a place that has been on my wishlist for a long, long time: morimoto.

after a day of seeing philly, i arrived at the restaurant and was greeted and seated immediately at the sushi bar, where the chef (it wasn't morimoto himself) was furiously working away at each order. and having come all this way, there was no question -- the omakase course was ordered. eight different dishes, from appetizer to dessert.

first course: toro tartare with a cold dashi broth, which immediately reminded of a dish that could have been from morimoto's days on the original iron chef. the flavours were spot on, and the chopped tuna added an intriguing texture to the dish.

second course: trio of oysters topped with three different sauces -- none of which were too strong to overpower the fresh oysters; the thai fish-sauce and jalapeno combo was the best of the trio; ending the course with a nice zing.

third course: jackfish filet with yuzu soy and warm olive oil. looks very traditional, but again invokes some of morimoto's work on japanese iron chef that one could only drool over the tv, but now come to real life. the fish was incredible -- cooked slightly by the warm oil, but still tender.

fourth course: red snapper salad with citrus dressing. what can i say? amazing -- again. this course was followed with a mint soda intermezzo(?), to cleanse the palate for the second half.

fifth course: grilled lobster. yep, you heard right. grilled lobster coated with a eight-spice mixture. a citrus creme fraiche was a perfect match to dip.

sixth course: steak, seasoned with a rub and grilled chicago-style. what can i say? looked and tasted wonderful.

seventh course: (this one was special, since i saw someone else request it) shrimp tempura and tuna roll. i don't know why no one has thought of this before, but kudos to the two gentlemen at the bar who did -- soft crunch with tender tuna, and a slightly spicy mayo with a touch of wasabi...japanese restaurants around the world, get on it!

eighth (dessert) course: berry semifreddo(?) with baileys cappuccino. this one was a bit of a letdown, after all the wonderful dishes. it was a good finish with a light berry mousse on a chocolate cake base -- but one wonders if the finish could have been a little different.

two and a half hours and $160 later, i can for sure say this was the best japanese meal i've had in my life, hands down -- for the very first time in my life, i was sorely disappointed that the meal was over! regardless, theexperiencewas time, money and acela express ticket well spent.

my son has been wanting to goexperiencethe amazing morimoto dinning experience. when we went to philadelphia we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity. we enjoyed the chefs choice nine course meal and it was absolutely amazing.

fantastic restaurant with a trendy and modern decor. the food is absolutely delicious and the service very professional and friendly with knowledgable and highly educated staff. the food is very fresh and the standards are high. a pleasurableexperienceand a highly recommendable place for a top quality gastronomic experience.

i do not think there was ever one time or one dish that was disappointing whenever we went to morimoto, the eponymous restaurant of acclaimed iron chef masaharu morimoto. we went few times to his new york location and i was excited to try the one in philadelphia as it is his first location. and i was again not disappointed, the wholeexperiencebeing fantastic, from the vibrant decor to the service that was on point, without forgetting the amazing food.

probably the best meal i've ever had (x3). the omakase is truly a foodexperienceto remember - each course is pretty much perfection. the pork belly porridge and the ramen soup are definite musts if you go a la carte. i can't stress it enough - everyone must go here once. it's worth every penny (or $400 in my case 😁)

more-imoto to be desired.... absolutely lackluster: that is how i have to describe myexperienceat morimoto. the food was absolutely mediocre, pretentious and underwhelming. i do not paying up to 200$ for myself for really amazing food. i started with an app and a bowl of signature ramen and left. there was no way i was going to pay more than 30$ after seeing what they put into their ramen alone. the apps are good, i guess... i would prefer to get better food elsewhere.

omakasi til i die. ok, the entrees here are good but seriously if you go to morimoto spring for the experience. get the omakasi either price point with the booze omakasi. i had it by myself on a particularly celebratory night and was so enamoured i immediately flew my father from st. louis toexperiencewhat i can only describe as dante's tour of the culinary playboy mansion. the standouts were the sashimi octopus in truffle miso oil that tasted like foie steak angle meat, seriously it was so powerful i can conjure the flavor at will. my father wept and the sense you walk away with is as close to complete contentment as possible. an amazingexperiencethat exceeds it monetary stigma. shoot the works and you will have a deathbed memory.

original and fantastic. i wish i was a writer because the coming review would be so much better and reviews are always subjective and heavily weighted by circumstance and in my case mood and behavior, but myexperienceat morimoto was just out of this world.

we arrived 30 minutes early for our reservation and were greeted by translucent green doors on an otherwise typical city street. upon entering, you are whisked away to another planet. clad in curving planes and the colors of soft bamboo and earth. the decoration and artwork is hip with subtle sexual expression.
we were asked by the hostess to please head to the lounge upstairs, which delivered on all expectations, if your expectation is to lounge on a long curving leather bench while huddled around low cocktail tables in a decidedly fresh take on the "bar area"

we enjoyed multiple saki, lychee cosmopolitans and morimoto's own soba ale brewed by rogue. everything was top notch and allowed the conversations to flow smoothly with great friends.

when our table was ready, we were personally retrieved by our hostess and our current tab was seamlessly and effortlessly transferred to our table with us. although i did not recognize a single face in the dining room, it felt like a who's who of hipsters dressed in heels and fine black fabrics. just beautiful with the backdrop of softly glowing booths that slowly change colors. the mellow techno and trance music in the background was the perfect tempo and volume to fill the air and set the scene without ever making conversation difficult.

dave and i decide on the omakase which is an 8 course chef's choice tasting designed to provide the essence of chef morimoto's cuisine, while the ladies went a less adventurous route. the meal started with our server explaining a short instruction on how the chef would like us to enjoy our toro tartare with caviar and fresh wasabi. i am no food critic, or any kind of connoisseur of fine dining, but the first bite of the first dish transported me to a place i did not know existed and set the tone for the three hours of dining to come. unbelievable, extraordinary, superb, perfection, or whatever word you would use to describe a tasteexperiencewould barely begin to do this dish and all the dishes to come justice. our server brought every dish to the table and confidently described the dish and if needed, presented a short instruction on how the chef would like us to eat the dish.

each dish was a treat that built to a more complex and even more exciting experience. dobin mushi "soup in a pot" rang of mushrooms and earthy tastes and topped itself with a chopstick picked perfectly cooked shrimp from the pot. then on to the oysters. i admittedly struggled with the oysters but i would have struggled with them in any environment. where this becomes service above all else is our waiter noticed that i struggled with the dish and asked the chef prepare me a cut of fish that i can't remember the name of, but was just delicious as a replacement.

i do not remember the names or the content of a few of the dishes that came next, but they were all exciting and tasted like nothing i have ever had before. every one of them presented like a work of art, and filling you with a sense of comfort and love as if your very own mother was a world renowned chef and was making this food just for you.

the two entrees were a spicy lobster tail with a portion of various vegetables and a beef short rib that i may never be able to recover from. it was that good. i side more with the short rib because it was the best dish i have ever eaten. ever!

we asked the server to pair our desserts with a fitting saki and without hesitation he recommended the bubbling bamboo saki. the pear and fruit essence of this dessert saki was perfect with the trio of desserts we enjoyed.

morimoto bested all the hype, and smashed all my expectations by being the first perfect dinnerexperienceof my life. i recommend morimoto over all other dining destinations, and i can assure you that thisexperiencehas set the standard very high for me for all high end restaurants to come. bring two or four of you best friends because you must share this with your best and closest.

too cool. just visited philly and had toexperienceyour restaurant. i'm not sure what i liked the most decor, food or the food presentation! unbelievable experience!!

best diningexperienceever. the best diningexperiencei have ever had. well worth the 200 dollars that i spent. sushi was very fresh and service was wonderful. i i ever return to philly, i will definetly go back.