MORIMOTO

On Tuesday evening Hoover and I dined at a special restaurant as my gift to her for her birthday. She took me to Colicchio and Sons on my birthday, it was only right (and delicious) to return the favor. And so we found ourselves at Iron Chef MORIMOTO’s restaurant, perusing the menu and salivating over what we found.

The restaurant itself has a modern décor and a dark, chic ambiance. Though we were seated rather close to the tables next to us, it didn’t impede our experience (except for the fact that I couldn’t hear our waiter describe the menu because of the loud people talking about advertising industry rumors next to us). Overall, I was pleased with the design; I thought it complemented the concept of the restaurant well, and created an atmosphere that was enjoyable to eat in.

After deciding to drink a Fingerlakes Reisling that Hoover scoffed only costs $12 at the winery, but had quite a markup at the restaurant, we went for it anyways and hunkered down, ready to order some food!

Since Hoover is a sushi nut, and especially loves Salmon Avacado rolls, it was only natural that we chose that as one of our appetizers. We also decided to indulge in the Toro Tartare, due to rave reviews of the dish on Yelp.com. Both were delicious. The Salmon Avacado was not too much different than a standard roll in terms of style, yet the ingredients were really fresh and delicious. The Toro Tartare was as good as advertised, it came with a small platter of tuna tartar and an array of different sauces or toppings to try each bite with. My favorite bite probably consisted of some tuna, a little wasabi and some mini rice balls. Of course, since I am anything but a fancy, civilized person, I had a hard time keeping my food on the little scraper-like utensil they give you to eat it, causing Hoover to make fun of me repeatedly. But the constant struggle was definitely worth it once the food got to my mouth, it was very delicious.


Toro Tartare (photo credit)

So, the appetizers were a success, now it was time to order the entrées. I decided to take a slightly different approach here, since I wanted to try the Rock Shrimp Tempura appetizer, I ordered that and the Soft Shell Crab roll as my entrée. Both were delicious, the Rock Shrimp Tempura consisted of bite-size pieces of fried shrimp, covered in two different sauces. One was a spicy sauce, the other a Wasabi aieoli, both were delicious, and the dish also came with a dish of ranch dressing for dipping. The portion was pretty big, so I couldn’t even finish the whole thing, but definitely worth checking out (I would have it as more of an appetizer next time). The Soft Shell Crab roll was very tasty as well, very much like the Salmon Avacado, it was a standard take on the roll, but done wonderfully.


Rock Shrimp Tempura (photo credit)

For Hoover’s entrée, she opted for the Ishi Yaki Bop, a dish that is actually served deconstructed and they cook at the table in front of you. It comes as a bowl of rice with yellowtail tuna, and they cook the tuna on the sides of the extremely hot bowl it is served in. While the tuna is cooking, they prepare the rest of the dish, by adding a seaweed sauce and an egg to the rice. Then they layer the finished tuna on the top of the dish, and it’s ready to eat! This was definitely a very cool dish to get, the presentation was top notch, and I can attest as someone sitting across from the dish, it smelled DELICIOUS! This was confirmed when I tried a bite later on. This was a great dish and Hoover thoroughly enjoyed. Again, this was a good portion size — Hoov didn’t even finish it all in one sitting.


Ishi Yaki Bop, before cooking. (photo credit)

By this time we were STUFFED, so we decided to opt out of desserts. But there was one more thing to enjoy before we left — the bathrooms. The bathrooms at Morimoto are so notoriously nice that I was actually brought there on an NYC food tour, but not to eat — just to see the john. So we each took a trip down to check it out. What happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom so I will not give too much away. All I will say is heated seats and many features.

And just like that, our fancy dinner night was over. A great meal with decent company (it’s Hoover, what do you expect?). If you’re a lover of Japanese cuisine, Morimoto is a great place to check out for yourself.