Morimoto Maui — Restaurant in Maui

Review for Morimoto

Let me be clear, the food was great, the server was awful. Our server, David(?) very tall and balding, would be appropriate for an Applebees restaurant but not high end dining. He barely made eye contact with us, prejudged us as maybe unsophisticated midwesterners, when we’re from Los Angeles, NYC and San Francisco Bay Area. He also underestimated our desire to order starters and some sushi, and then order our entrees. He was totally invested in being a salesman for the most expensive items on the menu, but he was totally impersonal and the restaurant was so noisy we couldn’t really hear his pitch or specials. Therefore, we weren’t interested. Mostly, he had given up on us and wrote us off as cheap and unsophisticated. Little did he know, we had a fabulous dinner at Spago the night before with our check running over $500. He was simply a poor server. He never checked in with us to see how our food was or if we wanted to order more. He failed to see that with our order of sticky ribs, that we were offered damp towels to clean our hands off, as we saw offered to every other table feasting on the same ribs. I will say that the busing staff and runners were personable, polite, helpful and warm. If I could have found our runner, I would’ve given him a big tip, but I couldn’t find him. But our server got a barely there tip because he was so uncaring, un-invested, disconnected and began treating us poorly as we ordered in stages. Simply inattentive, cold and only concerned with his 90 mph spiel. Appropriate for Chilis or Applebees , but not the best attitude or delivery for fine dining. Being from LA, NYC and SF, we’re experienced in what to expect from a fine dining experience, this was not it. The food, itself, was delicious. We tried sticky ribs and some special appetizers as well as sushi to start. They were great but the service soured the whole experience. It was my birthday as well. We decided to leave because we really weren’t enjoying ourselves, and picked up sandwiches on the way home to finish filling our bellies. Someone in management should notice that there have been several poor reviews based on this server’s performance. You’ve lost money with us because he was such an amateur with seemingly no experience in engaging a party appropriately. Such a stark contrast to Spago who had excellent staff. I’m sorry the experience spoiled my birthday and had me eating a ham sandwich at 9pm. My guests were just as disappointed, if not more angry about the attitude that was taken with us. They had to convince me to leave a meager tip because it’s not my style to tip minimally. Perhaps the restaurant is more devoted to its famous chef’s popularity in the media and does fine with fans, but our service did not meet our level of expectation. Maybe it’s more of a theme restaurant (like a Disneyland ride) and they don’t care about repeat customers, good reviews or outstanding performance by their employees. They just want to rush tables through a very quick dinner and sit the next table. More of a machine than an enjoyable dining experience. The service really made great food seem cheap. Very disappointing experience, but all due to judgement, assumption, and treatment by this tall, thin and balding server, whose name I think was David. Really wished I could have given a great review because the food was good. Just overshadowed by remarkably poor service by our server in particular. The hostess, busers, and runners were very kind, enthusiastic, helpful and friendly. I hope management sees the pattern in their reviews, calling out this particular server and reevaluating whether he’s appropriate. Also, it’s incredibly noisy in the restaurant, so if you’re looking to be able to talk to others in your party, forget it. Really feel bad writing such a bad review but it’s not the food, it was...

When we visit an Iron Chef restaurant we bring with us certain bias and expectations, and that bar is set a little higher than most.

We expect the bill will be high, the food will be amazing and we will love the entire experience and want to come back again and again.

That was certainly true of Iron Chef Chen’s and Sakai’s. Both met and exceed expectations and we have been back whenever we were in the neighborhood.

We visited Iron Chef Morimoto’s Maui. This was the first time at the Maui location. We thoroughly enjoyed Morimoto’s at Philly.

The restaurant setting is beautiful. At the base of the Andaz hotel next to a pool overlooking the horizon, the restaurant has indoor and outside seating. Indoor, the tables were nicely spaced and with windows and doors opened, inside was as pleasant as it was out. The staff were courteous and attentive.

As expected, everything was pricy and delicious. Not amazing, but it was good. The calamari in the crispy calamari salad had good texture and the miso dressing was very flavorful. The sticky ribs were tender on the sweet side from the tamarind sauce and the unnamed local fruit that was used. It was even tastier after I drizzled it with a little sake. Morimoto pork chop in applesauce with kimchi was tender, flavorful and amazing. It could’ve use some leafy greens as wraps. The seared local fish in coconut curry over rice was so delicious, adding another bowl of rice was a must so we could enjoy all the sauce. More on the rice later. The soft shell crab roll and tuna belly roll was good, but we have had better at neighborhood sushi restaurants. This probably speaks more on how excellent the neighborhood sushi restaurant we frequent is.

The sakes were thoroughly enjoyed. The matcha garden dessert is more beautiful than it was tasty. One of the selections, a matcha cheesecake was too dense, a petit four was equal parts decorative and meh in looks and taste. Except for the picture opportunity, that’s a pass. The guava sorbet was unique and worth getting.

Back to that bowl of rice. Whether in a high end Iron Chef restaurant or an everyday restaurant, there is one dish an Asian restaurant should NEVER EVER mess up, plain rice. The quality of rice will be different and that comes through in the taste and texture. But it should always be cooked well and proper.

Last night’s experience was marred by that very pricy bowl of plain rice. It was so overcooked, it was pretty much a lump. We mentioned it to the server and he passed the message back that the cook who said it was a new bag and the rice was probably of higher water content and didn’t cook as expected. No doubt, yet no qualm and no reservation with serving and charging highly a bowl for rice that no one with a rice cooker would own up to making. Certainly not worthy of Morimoto-San’s name. which implies a standard of excellence and quality.

They gave their excuse which I mildly scoffed at. With everything that we would be paying I didn’t ask to have the price of the rice taken off the bill and they didn’t offer.

This is one Iron Chef restaurant that’s not worth a...

Disrespectful Experience at Morimoto Maui – Lack of Accountability from Restaurant Manager

I’m writing to share my deeply frustrating experience at Morimoto Maui during my recent stay at the Andaz hotel in Maui. While the hotel staff were supportive and helpful, the restaurant manager's behavior was dismissive and unprofessional, leaving me with a negative impression of the establishment. Upon arrival, I requested an outdoor table, and the manager informed me that only bar seating was available in that area. When a staff member suggested seating us outdoors, the manager responded with a condescending tone, asking, "What about the other reservations?" He seemed to pressure the employee not to offer us that seating, which caused the employee to retract and say, "Never mind." This interaction felt unnecessarily tense and uncomfortable. However, when it was finally our turn to be seated, the same employee, now seemingly more empowered, did indeed seat us at an outdoor table. As the evening progressed, the manager continued to act dismissively, pretending not to understand my questions and making sarcastic gestures that left me feeling uncomfortable. This behavior had already begun earlier when I first requested the outdoor table. Things worsened after our toast. While we were taking a video to celebrate our stay in Maui with a toast, the manager stayed nearby until we finished recording. Then, as he walked past us, he muttered “ching ching” in a mocking tone. I immediately addressed it, but instead of apologizing, he dismissed my concerns as a "miscommunication" and refused to take responsibility. He claimed he meant "chin-chin." However, he obviously said “ching ching,” and even seemed to try to deceive me with the similar pronunciation. When I requested a sincere apology, he attempted to deflect the situation by mentioning that his wife and daughter are Japanese, which only seemed like an excuse for his actions. I then spoke with the hotel manager, who was very understanding and assured me that the restaurant manager would come to speak with me directly. However, when the hotel manager returned, we were told that the restaurant manager continued to offer excuses and suggested that we return to the restaurant to receive an apology. I made it clear that if he was truly sorry, he should come to me directly—but he continued to avoid taking responsibility. When the restaurant manager finally did come to meet us, he offered us the same meal the following day along with a traditional Hawaiian performance, as we had left the restaurant immediately without dining due to the offensive remark and lack of a sincere apology. This gesture felt more like an attempt to divert attention from the issue than a genuine effort to make amends. His actions were unprofessional and disrespectful, and the entire experience left me feeling disrespected and disappointed. I hope this issue is addressed appropriately and that staff, particularly those in leadership positions, are trained to handle sensitive situations with the respect and professionalism that all...