mosonori - Winter Park - Japanese handroll sushi bar — Restaurant in Winter Park

TLDR: Mosonori is a great addition to the orlando food scene. The tastings they offer are outstanding. The handrolls is fresh and well balanced with minor personal preferences aside. However, there is some minor improvement to be done on the service. All criticisms are easily attributed to their soft opening status and can be remedied easily.

I dined at Mosonori about two weeks into their soft opening. Coming in around 7:30 on a Monday night there were a lot of seats open and my party if 3 got seated right away. The waitress throughly explained the menu and frequently checked up on us. I would say the service was very friendly and informative. My party all got different hand roll sets and was able to try all the tastings they offered.

Compared to other hand roll restaurants such as Kazunori in NYC/LA the experience and vibe were pretty much one to one, to the point where Mosonori felt like an homage to the latter. Mosonori offers a number of hand roll sets as well as a head chef recommended omakase. As the hand rolls came out the nori was crisp, however not as warm as other hand roll specific places I’ve been to. Additionally the sushi rice was milder in flavor, the seasoning put less emphasis on the rice vinegar (personally I would have liked it to be more seasoned, but that’s just preference). The fish tasted fresh and was well seasoned, but the accompanying garnish inside each hand roll kind of disappeared in flavor. Overall the hand roll selection and flavors were really good and all the gripes I had with the dishes were very minor and within the realm of personal preference. The two hand rolls that stood out to me was the sea bream and the ko ika (cuttlefish).

I think Mosonori’s biggest strength was their tastings. They offer a hamachi, salmon, and toro crudo. All three dishes were really good and were very ponzu forward. Specifically, the hamachi and toro stood out and I would order them again. The bubu arare in the toro dish provided a nice crunchy contrast to the texture of the tartare.

However, one weakness I found at my time dining with Mosonori is the timing between the dishes was VERY FAST. There were times where the hand rolls came out as we were still finishing our tastings and was very overwhelming. As hand rolls are supposed to be consumed ASAP, I would have appreciated a slower pace so we had time to enjoy each dish. Of note there were maybe 3-4 other smaller parties seating a little less than half of the seats; so I didn’t feel like there should have been that much of a rush. I feel like this could easily be resolved with better communication between the front and back of house; but as it’s still their soft opening, it is completely understandable to have a few kinks.

In all I think Mosonori is a great addition to the orlando food scene. Bringing the experience of an intimate hand roll bar similar to Kazunori. The quality and flavors of their dishes were outstanding, but I don’t believe they were equivalent (YET!) to their viral counterpart. As I mentioned the biggest gripe I had with my experience was the timing of the food, but I believe this is an easy fix for them. Overall, I would recommend anyone to take the time to visit Mosonori and I am excited to see what adjustments be made as they approach their...

I visited Mosonori today with a friend, excited to finally experience what is marketed as a high-end, elevated sushi experience. Unfortunately, the entire visit, from arrival to payment, was disorganized and disappointing.

To start, we tried calling ahead multiple times to join the waitlist, as reservations aren’t accepted, but no one ever picked up the phone. When we arrived, there was no one at the front to greet us. After waiting for a while, someone eventually showed up and asked for my name and phone number to register us, so there is definitely a record of our visit. I mention this because I’ve noticed management often responds to negative reviews by claiming there is no record of the guest visiting, implying the reviewer must be mistaken. That won’t apply here.

When I asked if their phone line was working, the host gave me a vague, incoherent answer that left me just as confused. There was no clear explanation or apology, just an unclear response that didn’t help at all.

Once seated, I ordered the omakase while my friend ordered the six hand roll menu. Somehow, the server and chef managed to switch our meals, and by the second roll, we realized we were eating each other’s dishes. We notified our server immediately. Instead of a simple apology or effort to remedy the situation professionally, she laughed and made awkward remarks like, “I don’t know what happened.” The chef and staff then exchanged words among themselves, clearly aware of the mistake, but never addressed it to us directly or made any effort to apologize.

Eventually the issue was corrected, but the lack of professionalism and acknowledgment was shocking for a place with this kind of price point and branding. The service continued to be erratic, laughing at questions, ignoring details, and skipping items. For instance, they forgot one of my rolls (the lobster roll), and when I brought it up, they just brushed it off and delivered it later with no explanation. Again, no one described the dishes or gave any insight into what we were being served, which is something you’d expect from an omakase experience.

When the check came, I asked to split it. I had already tapped my card thinking it had been done correctly, only to realize I was being charged for the entire meal. Again, the server laughed it off. It wasn’t clear if she was nervous or just dismissive, but either way, it felt careless.

As for the food, very underwhelming. The hand rolls were bland and texturally monotonous. Nearly every filling tasted like some variation of seafood tartare. Nothing stood out. The eel roll was overwhelmingly sweet, and overall, the rolls lacked contrast, balance, or excitement.

The experience felt more like a fast-casual sushi concept with confused service than the refined omakase bar they try to present themselves as. For the price and the hype, this place seriously underdelivers. I rarely write negative reviews, but this...

Orlando finally has a modern Japanese handroll bar! If you are from LA or NY, this place is similar concept to Kazunori. It has the similar menu concept, business model, and vibe. You can order pre-set handrolls and they make it as soon as you finish one. It is omakase concept. They do not pre-make them. Mosonori is curated by Chef Henry. I loved this concept in LA, so I decided to check this spot out with my girlfriend during the first soft opening week.

Atmosphere: this is a very inviting spot with a retro modern vibe. They just need to match the music to the vibe. It is soft opening, I am sure they will adjust. It is a small spot. The UBar is in the middle that can probably sit about 30 -35 people or so. I can tell that it will be a tight spot once it gets fully packed. 4.5/5

Food: we ended doing 5 hand roll set and the salmon tasting. The salmon tasting with that ponzu sauce was super tasty. The quality of the salmon was top notch with a great balance of the sauce. The 5 handroll set consist of the hamachi, bay scallop, akami, crab, and toro. My least favorite was the bay scallops due to the bland taste of the scallops. My top two handrolls were the crab and the toro; super fresh and it melts in your mouth. You don’t even need soy sauce or wasabi for these two rolls. So some people will wonder… Is it worth the price? I will say, it is pricier than Kazunori in LA and NY. A 5 handroll set in LA is $24 and one of those includes the lobster roll; and their 4 handroll set is $19. However, there is no other place like this in Orlando with this high quality handrolls concept with a bar. So yes, a 5 handroll set in Mosonori for $30 is a bit steep. However, Would I come back? YES of course. It was delicious. But not as frequent as I did when I was in LA due to the affordability. Either way, Mosonori is going to be a great success in Winter park. 4/5

Service: two words: top notch as expected. Presented the food menu well and answered all my questions and super attentive in refilling my ginger and wasabi. 5/5

Overall, great soft opening! I will round it up to 5 star. Can’t wait for their grand opening and bring my friends to come have a casual lunch or dinner. The vibe and drinks seems to be pretty amazing. I wish them an amazing grand opening success. Hopefully they come up with seasonal handrolls too so I can keep coming back trying them out. In addition, I hope they are able to come up with a system to handle their long queue. I can see this place...