Where do I begin? A month of anticipation till our reservation at Morimoto NYC on the 26th and yet we still had to wait 40 min for our table. When the host was asked what the delay was, his response was that they had a full house. Don't they always? That's why it takes a month to get reservations......Fortunately, we shared a fantastic drink at the bar downstairs. They call it White Lily: Shogu, Calpico, Yuzu, and maybe something else. Perfectly balanced.
The design gives a clean and spacious feel yet the tables were set too close together. It was hard to pick up chopsticks that seemingly every table dropped. Luckily, our "neighbors" were friendly because we were all enjoying each others' conversations. I tried not to listen but Lon said the wife was constantly complaining about each dish and almost didn't stay for her final one. (I think she had the tasting menu.)
We decided on 3 appetizers:
The Curry Beef Bread arrived first. The dough seemed mochi-like in texture but covered with panko on the outside and deep-fried. The filling was a typical Japanese style ground beef curry. The combination of flavors and textures worked very well.
Next (and best dish all night) was the Spicy Crab. The Crab Legs are fire roasted, opened, and served with a fantastic spicy aioli with crunchy roe mixed in. Simply delicious!
The 3rd appetizer was a Japanese antipasti with 5 items. We tried the duck meatball first. It was dry. The snapper was wrapped in a corn husk with a lemon on top. Good, but nothing special. There was a sesame tofu cube with some black roe on top....also not special. A piece of smoked salmon sushi was wrapped in a lotus leaf and I liked the added flavor from the lotus leaf but Lon wasn't impressed. We both like the lobster consommés but the best thing about this dish was the incredible presentation.
At this point, we're satisfied but not wowed. By the time we were done with the entrees, we were pretty unhappy. The 20 oz Rib Eye was just a piece of average rib eye with a teriyaki jus poured on top. Nothing near what you'd expect from the Iron Chef. It didn't come with any vegetables, rice, or sides, not even a garnish....just the slab of meat. The Japanese Bouillabaisse came out in a beautiful pot and looked fantastic. It was half a lobster, a crab leg, 2 sea scallops, 2 shrimp, 3 mussels, 3 clams, and some oyster mushrooms. Beyond looks, the broth was tasteless other then the overwhelming amount of butter and all my bi-valves were dead. The lobster wasn't fresh. The flesh was mush and the whole dish was just boiled and over-cooked.
I decide to point out to the waitress how all the mussels and clams were visibly shut and obviously I couldn't eat them. She apologized and came back and offered a dessert on the house. That's nice but doesn't really make up for the fact that a good portion of my entree was inedible. They didn't offer to replace the 6 pieces and dessert is not an equal trade.
For dessert, Lon picked the chocolate tart with white chocolate sorbet and I chose the creme brulee with earl grey ice cream. The chocolate was a nice dark chocolate but the tart crust was dry and tasteless. We both really liked the creme brulee which was flavored with some sort of Japanese fruit that gave it the perfect tang and lingering taste. I also enjoyed the earl grey ice cream but didn't agree with the pairing. It wasn't bad together but definitely did not add either.
We were both pretty unhappy with the meal, especially considering that it's about $100 pp. The experience was bad enough that both of us have been complaining to co-workers and friends and family today.
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