Morimoto — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I don't know where to start with this review because I debated if it should be 3 Stars. Years ago my Korean brother dined in your private room on a family vacation with his American in-laws. My niece and nephew have dined all over the world in fine dining establishments and still rate their experience at Morimoto's Philadelphia as one of their best meals. My sister-in-law stressed how I could not go to Philadelphia and skip dining at Morimoto's.

My Foodie BFF and I had done a vacation in NYC last summer to dine at several Michelin Star Restaurants. She lives close to Philadelphia and stated the Restaurants in Philadelphia are just as good despite the Michelin Guide not currently rating Philadelphia. However, she really did not want to eat at Morimoto's. I opted to bribe her to be my guest as my thank you for doing the driving and majority of our planning for our Philadelphia trip together.

I have been to Philadelphia several times before but not with a fine dining friend. Booking a reservation was a super simple phone call and I was surprised how many seatings options were open. I was called the day of my dinner reservation at lunchtime to confirm my reservation.

So I had looked at the regular menu in advance and selected several items that caught my attention the most. I showed my menu list to our waiter to find out if this was a sufficient order to share for two people or I needed to order more items. We ended up deleting one menu item as a side dish and ordered the three appetizers, rice dish, entree and side dish that I planned. We also included the Fukumitsuya Sake Flight, Tozal Plum Sake, and seasonal Panna Cotta with Merengue.

The menu could have better described the actual dishes. Perhaps that was our waiters job to give more information but as I had a full menu planned he simply rewrote my list and started to bring our dishes.

We started with Waygu Carpaccio, Yuzu Sauce, Hot Oil and Mitsuba Leaf. This is explained on the menu to be thinly sliced. It is, however, not the normal thinness for a Carpaccio. We did like the flavoring of the Yuzu Sauce and Hot Oil. The Mitsuba Leaf was totally not memorable.

Toro Tartare with Fresh Wasabi, Sesame Sauce, and Rice Crackers with Nori Flakes arrived next. We were most impressed with the thin, crisp Rice Crackers. We liked the Seasame Sauce but I did not taste the Fresh Wasabi in the portions I ate. I let my guest eat the majority of this appetizer because she did not like the final appetizer.

The final appetizer was Rock Shrimp Tempura in what tasted like a Sweet and Sour Sauce with a Little Kick. I was shocked to discover the sauce is supposed to be Gochujang Aioli because like my brother, I am also biologically Korean. This Sauce did not taste like Gochujang.

The 15 Hour Pork Kahuni with Scallop Porridge arrived lidless. Perhaps a lid until served would help keep the dish hot for a longer period? We both really liked the Pork Belly. There was, however, too much soy sauce and it overpowered the Scallop in the Porridge.

We were both impressed with the Seafood Toban Yaki with Prawns, Extra Large Sea Scallops, Partially Encased in Shell King Crab, Clams, and Citrus Butter. I was expecting this to be a cold seafood tower. The menu should explain that this is a hot pot including Baby Bok Choy and Mushrooms in a light Seafood Broth and is a dish to be shared with a table vs ordered as a single diner's meal. Clams were a bit small but probably added a layer to the broth. Overall, we would rate this dish 5 Stars.

Side dish was Hoku Hoku Potatoes. This was delightfully light but the sauce didn't add to the dish. And truly with the size of the order, this dish was unnecessary and barely eaten. We did not take this home.

Seasonal Panna Cotta with Merengue was a substantially smaller serving than the version I had at Zahav the night before.

My guest is quite the spirits aficionado and none of the sakis really drew her attention.

This meal was not...

All I can say is ....WOW!!! Incredible food and impeccable service. We ate here 2/22/19 and had a phenomenal experience. Beautiful ambiance and close location to Center city Philly. Right upon entry we were offered if we'd like to check our coats. After seating and meeting with our server, Jack, a "palette teaser" was brought out - incredible touch. Wanted to try some sake and Jack really helped guide us to a good decision. Ordered Yellow tail.... WOW, chef recommended dash of wasabi with it and it really gives it a different flavor, hint of crunchiness with beautiful caviar and 2 Japanese berries for palette cleanse. Kimora with 3 different toppings all tasted completely different - wild... food really comes FAST. (if you want it, we said that we like to go slow and it really was taken note after first two dishes came firing out. When you finish your dish the whole team is working together and takes empty plates FAST, I love this clearing room to order more and they even are interested how your dish was - very nice touch. Waygu dumplings next, wow, oil tender meat with a hint of fruit which hits you so smooth and the broth packed with flavors. Saute foie gras and grilled eel, wow, hint of peanut and apple sour in the sauce, approaching too much sour, tender fruity. Lovely asian pear as well. Ishi yaki bob, Aaron was a server in training and made this table side for us and was very fun and kind, not an American style dish at all - very authentic and beautiful seeing it come together at your table. Oysters were very fresh. The wagyu in this dish was not as tender as I have had it before - only topped by Nobu's waygu, but still tasty and gave a unique twist with crazy flavors with the mushroom and egg cooked in bowl while wagyu cooking and fried rice had a special sauce really brought it out - palette is dancing with this dish. Love that each dish new clean silverware comes out with new plates. This is how it should be. When one of us went to the bathroom someone from the team would come by and fold the napkins.... I have never seen this before... huge small touch that sets their service apart. Unfortunately they were out of blue snapper for sushi - this was very disappointing especially in a coastal city and high end restaurant. Tried Golden big eye snapper which was fresh light and fruity, Barracuda, was more salty but with a hint of wasabi can create some nice flavor, black fish was too similar to the snapper for me but still worth trying. Dessert: full menue of dessert wines and liquors - love to see this, with unique sake and Japanese whiskeys offered. We got the custard and a special honey was poured around it, the custard noodles had an odd texture to it a little rubbery, wish it would be more creamy and the honey was almost like maple syrup - way too sugary. Asian pear ice cream was phenomenal. Tasted 8 year old whiskey, Jack said it was comparable to 8 year Macallan and was very strong. Their overall Wine list was a little soft, but they had great variety of Japanese sake and liquor. I enjoyed that Jack did not come back after dessert when I said we are just going to relax and finish our drinks, he only came back when I asked for receipt, this is how it should be. No rush for us to get out. I spoke with the manager Julia and expressed how amazing the food and service was. This is a MUST go...

Went here to splurge for my wife's birthday and what an amazing experience.

We did the omakase while our kid did a normal meal experience. What a wise decision that was.

Our server Isaiah was just amazing! He was extremely knowledgeable and helped guide us through our meal as well as pairing various sakes. I did the premium sake flight while my wife did a lost in translation (their take on a margarita) and both were amazing. Before I dive into the food, I did have to mention my awful scallop allergy. Of course that could affect my experience.

Our omakase was an 8 course adventure that started with an egg custard with uni and smoky bits. Very delicious and buttery. We then ventured to a tuna tartare which was in a homemade soy sauce and topped with crispy shallots and caviar. Third was a raw jackfish with mushroom infused soy and a ponzu foam.

It was at this point our kid's meal began so their food journey could end at the same time as ours. They started with wagyu on a hot stone. It came with a hot river stone to cook the meat, wagyu fat, black garlic sauce and a pile of salt and pepper. Isaiah showed us how it all works and off they went. Ironically, while they were chowing down, our next piece of our meal came out. This was a raw wagyu topped with a large piece of uni and wrapped in shiso leaf. Both were fantastic and would highly recommend. As this was a one bite item, we very quickly got the next piece of our meal which was lobster tail and knuckle with asian pair mixture. This came with a delicious whiskey infused sauce. By far the best lobster we ever have had.

The next pieces of our meals came out together. Our kid got chicken kotsu curry while we received fish in a wasabi sauce served with roasted mushrooms. The skin on our fish was super crispy and the meat so flaky and delish. I can't remember the fish or mushroom unfortunately but omg so good. The curry was also phenomenal. Very flavorful and surprised at how crispy the fried chicken pieces were considering they were soaking in the amazing curry sauce. Not spicy at all just packed full of flavor. It was at this point my wife got their Cosmo style drink which was starfruit infused(as you can tell by it hanging off the side there). Of course it was awesome!

Our sushi course came out next and once again I can't remember all of the different types it was but they all had been preglazed with soy so no dipping was necessary. Each bite was perfect, melt in your mouth. Due to it being her birthday, my wife did get a special macha cake dessert that was excellent. Our server Isaiah recommended a sparkling dessert sake that had a raspberry flavor, it was the perfect accompaniment to our final piece of the omakase.

Our dessert was more matcha cake with a cherry sorbet, edible flowers and a white strip of what I can't remember. Damn delicious is what it all was. Our child got a cappuccino along with their dessert(a smore like concoction with mascarpone ice cream) that was also amazing.

Nothing more to say other than just go! It's worth the trip from the surrounding area(we drove up from Baltimore). The vibe is also very laid back and the music was also very calm and soothing. Strongly recommend but will forewarn that it is a...