Saturday, July 28, 2012

#NYC #Foodie Experiences -#Morimoto...a disappointment

Morimoto NYC
It's Restaurant Week here in NYC from Jul 16-Aug 10 and an awesome way to try out new restaurants if you're in the Big Apple. It'll cost you $24.07 for 3 course prix fixe lunches and $35 for dinner so not bad in terms of prices. Morimoto was a place I had been wanting to try out because of Iron Chef Morimoto. He's known for his amazing dishes so since I booked my reservation, I had been excitedly waiting for the day to arrive. Unfortunately, it sorely disappointed and I'll tell you why.
Morimoto Restaurant Week
When I first stepped into this beautiful restaurant located on 88 10th Ave, NY, NY 10011, I knew we're going to have a good lunch. I had nothing but high hopes for quality Japanese food. Then I took a look at the prix fixe menu for restaurant week. It was nothing more than their usual bento box specials. There were 3 choices and it basically came down to Teriyaki fish, beef or a vegetarian option. This isn't what I consider to be "authentic" Japanese food. Not to be discouraged, we decided to try one of the bento boxes anyways. However, since we were there anyways, we wanted to try their actual menu, to get a feel of what they were really about.
Raw Bar failChirashi
We ordered Chirashi (an assortment of sashimi on rice), 1 lb Maine lobster from the RAW Bar, soft shell crab roll, and mizudako (live octopus) sushi in addition to the bento box. Granted, the bento box did taste pretty good but it was missing something, it lacked the lustre of the Morimoto name. Then our lobster came and it was cooked. Yes, lobster can be eaten raw and it's actually quite sweet that way. The SO and I stared at each other thinking, "We ordered off the RAW bar, why is it cooked?" Again, the placement of the food was beautiful and it tasted good, but something was missing. The whole meal went something like that. The fish didn't nearly taste as fresh as some other Japanese restaurants we've been to in NYC. In the end, we shelled out over $170 and felt disappointed in Morimoto. We could have eaten more authentic, quality Japanese food in other NYC restaurants. Sadly, I don't know the state it was in the past but it has since then deteriorated. The table beside us even had hair in their food. This was not worth going to, even for restaurant week.

Previous NYC Foodie posts:
Ippudo Ramen || Peter Luger Steak House

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                                                         Until next time,

4 comments:

Nikki said...[Reply]

Awww, I'm sorry your experience wasn't all that you hoped for, especially at such a high price tag!

Grandma Juice said...[Reply]

I'm sorry it sucked for you after building so much hype in your mind! Always a disappointment when that happens!
Having grown up in a big city (Chicago) I've learned the best authentic foods are really made at the off-beat hole in the wall joints! Try one! Let me know what you think!!

Marina@EBMR said...[Reply]

Oh phooey.I honestly would have though Morimoto's food would have blown the top off.That is so disappointing!

Caryn B. said...[Reply]

Oh Wow! That is disappointing. We love Japanese food and have even thought about eating here. Thanks for the honest review

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