Momosan Waikiki — Restaurant in Honolulu

We wanted to love this place, but it was so middling. The employees for the most part tried to bring the friendliness (calling “Irrashai!” as you enter for example, and our server was nice and attentive) but it just can’t hold up against the unpalatable pressure and dumbed-down blandness of corporate dining.

There was one legitimately dark spot when a runner brought our drinks and stumbled at the table, spilling a large drink onto 2 of our chairs (luckily the occupants were in the bathroom) and all over the floor under our seats. She walked away and never returned to clean it. When our server returned we had to ask for napkins and clean the puddles off our chairs ourselves, and were left with our feet in the large, sticky puddle on the floor. We asked another staff member if someone could come mop up their spill but they actually scoffed and said they wouldn’t.

The food was why we chose to try a Morimoto restaurant. I would describe it as an Artificial Intelligence facsimile of good food. Everything was cooked as it should have been, but it lacked heart.

We had the Gyoza and the Garlic Shrimp for appetizers. The shrimp came after the main course. It had that characteristic bounce of defrosted frozen. I have had good shrimp in Hawaii. Can do much better. Also, it needed an accompaniment. It was a big bowl of serviceable scampi in a giant pool of butter/oil, served all on its own. What are you supposed to do with 1/2 cup melted butter? It needed slices of bread for dipping or something. Gyoza were average. Their sauce was nice.

We had Ramens, of course, and a variety of sides: Karaage, Pork Belly, Soft-shell Crab. Nothing tasted fresh. The broth was fine, but tasted like it was factory made. It lacked the savory depth, complexity, and punch of a great broth. Side dishes were OK. Nice baos. Everything else had a tired, mass-produced feel. Not excellent.

It’s sad because you can discern an echo of what Morimoto may cook and serve personally. But it’s a long way off.

As mass market translations go it’s on the more successful side of the spectrum, but in the end, it’s just another ‘quick...

My husband and I have been wanting to try Momosan for awhile, and we finally came here for thanksgiving, but left kind of disappointed.

We ordered the following:

*Spicy Tan-Tan: was actually pretty good despite being kind of westernized. We really enjoyed the broth.

*Chefs Choice -10 piece nigiri and 2 rolls: we were really disappointed in this one as the fish did not taste fresh and the rolls were sloppily made. Highly recommend not getting any sushi here.

*Karaage: this one was piping hot and delicious as well.

*Kakuni Bao: the pork was good, but the dish as a whole felt like it’s missing something

Service: was actually what broke the experience for us. The server was so obviously treating us differently than the table next to us. Firstly, apparently there was a thanksgiving special menu, but our server never bothered to show it to us. The server barely checked on us and never refilled our water. We had to flag him down to get a order in for additional items. What bothered us was that we can totally see how he was going above and beyond for the table next to us and flat out ignored us. He presented the menu and the special menu to them explaining each item, then he came back to open their wet napkins for each of them. Then he came back to check in on them and took their pictures for them while we are just staring at the whole thing and waiting for him the whole time. And it took forever for us to get our check as well.

Overall, we would have come back for their ramen, but because of the bad service we have received, we won’t be...

Service was absolutely horrible. If I could rate the service a zero, I would. I truly wanted to like the place. The atmosphere was okay, and the food would have been good if it wasn’t cold. My boyfriend and I got there 20 minutes before they close, and they literally rushed us, which I thought was VERY unprofessional. As soon as the server seated us he stated “this is the last call” basically saying he was only coming around once to get our order for drinks and food. He seemed very rushed, started recommending his favorite items, like telling us what to order, and we didn’t ask for his suggestions. Also kept glancing at his watch, then looking at us. He began talking to the table near us and didn’t seem rushed at all, so that REALLY made us uncomfortable. We ordered ramen, the chicken was cold. We mentioned nothing to the server because he had already been rushing us. As a prior waitress I can say he was extremely unprofessional and rude. He rushed us out and made us feel uncomfortable. Finally, we were about to pay, he was nearby, and my boyfriend tried to get his attention to give him his 20 dollar tip (yes we still tipped) and he tried to hand him the bill, and he didn’t come to the table for it, he replied “you can leave it there” so that was it for me. I got up and asked for change, still gave him 10 dollars even though he didn’t deserve it. If you do plan on eating there I recommend going as soon as they open so they have plenty of time to close and don’t make anyone feel rushed how they did to us. Definitely not going...