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mickeymonkey

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Everything posted by mickeymonkey

  1. no they didn't. although the appetizers were the best part of the meal, i decided to cut my losses.
  2. I ate a morimoto's last night and was horribly disappointed. It was on the way home and my boyfriend was craving sushi so we thought we may as well give it a try. We walked in at about 7:30 an were seated right way without a reservation. We sat in the alcove that adamru describes above saying, "In the Urbandaddy interview, Morimoto mentioned there is not a bad table in the house. Let me tell you where he may have overlooked. When you walk in, and you're at the hostess stand, turn to the left. Apart from the main dining room there is an alcove with a few tables. We were seated at a corner table at the back of the alcove surrounded by walls closing in on us. There was no view of anything but the empty table beside us in the corner and we couldn't be more detached from the vibe or mood Morimoto is meant to evoke than if they seated us at a table in Del Posto." We didn't complain, but it wasn't ideal. It did feel a little isolated. And since I like to look at all the food as it passes the table it didn't leave much opportunity for that. It's possible that it could have been a great table for a couple who wanted privacy or a large party. We started with a bottle of sake. I forget wich it was but it was the cheapest on the list at $61. Most were over $100. The other options were carafes of three grades of the morimoto house sake, cocktails and wine. The wine list was much larger than the sake list which I found suprising. I thought at least they'd be comparable. My boyfriend ordered most of the food since I was in the bathroom and didn't have time to look at the menu. We had the lamb carpaccio, the foie gras chawan mushi and beef curry bread. I ordered the smoked salmon appetizer but the waiter misunderstood me and sent a piece of smoked salmon sushi instead. The lamb carpaccio was good, albeit small. It was about 5 pieces of lamb the size of a stick of gum. My boyfriend loved the foie gras mushi. It was served in a large bowl but the serving was only about 4 in in diameter and 1 and a half inches deep. It was topped with 3 quarter size slices of raw duck breast. The curry pan was good, but nothing special. My boyfriend said he would rather have the curry pan from Korodong (sp) bakery in K-town. For sushi we had the eel and avocado roll, a california roll, two pieces of uni, two pieces or kuruma ebi, two pieces of blue snapper, one tobiko and the one smoked salmon. The rolls were fine, but the sushi was awful. They used powered wasabi and put way too much of it on the sushi. I love wasabi, but this was so strong and overpowering that you couldn't even taste the fish and your nose ran and your eyes watered. We tried to order ama ebi but they didn't have it that night so we got the kuruma ebi instead. I expected it to be raw, but it was cooked and no better that the shrimp sushi you'd get at teriyaki boy, and with all the wasabi they put on it it was probably worse than teriyaki boy, and it was $12 a piece!! $24 for two pieces of mediocre shrimp with too much powered wasabi!! We also ordered a spiny lobster from the raw bar. They had maine lobster @ $22 and spiny lobster @ $65. Normally I'd just get the maine lobster since the spiny was so expensive, but my boyfriend wanted the spiny because he said it was in season and not often found on menus. When our $65 lobster came not only was it not raw but it was overcooked!! It was just the tail split into two with four sauces served on the side. We didn't get any special silverware to eat the lobster. All we had were our lucite chopsticks which meant we had to pick up a whole half a tail and take bites which was very difficult since it was so tough. If I ordered a lobster from the raw bar at a french restaurant I'd expect it to be cooked, but not a $65 spiny lobster at a japanese place. I even had raw lobster at sushi samba which is definetely an authentic japanese. I asked the waiter if the maine lobster was served raw, and he said no. He said "we eat it raw", but they don't think americans would like it raw. He was japanese and he said he used to work at ono where they would serve the lobster raw, but at morimoto they don't. Weird. After a truely disappointing meal we decided to get dessert, maybe that would offer some satisfaction we thought. My boyfriend had a red miso souffle with a yuzu cream and I had a creme brulee with earl grey ice cream. The miso souffle was kind of salty, not my cup of tea, but the yuzu cream was great. The cream brulee was good, but nothing special. The earl grey ice cream was the highlight of the dish. We started chatting with out neighbors at the next table who had the omakase, which it seemed many people were getting, and said that they were jealous of all the stuff that they saw coming to our table, and wished they would have ordered a la carte. They were restaurant owners from LI and their restaurant was designed by Karim Rasheed who also designed the Phila Morimoto. Many people kept coming over to say hello so I'm not sure if they ended up with any "extras" but they said that they were still hungry when they left and were contemplating a trip to white castle. All in all our bill came to $300, not including tip. It was definitely not worth it. The pricing on the sushi was odd too. It was $8.50 for tobiko but $7 for uni. Usually tobiko is much cheaper than uni. And while one piece of kuruma ebi was $12, a softshell crab roll with the expensive tobiko was only $13.50. Maybe they are basing things on the phila market, where maybe people aren't as adventurous as NY, hence the cooked kuruma ebi and spiny lobster. But there was a table that came in and sat behind us that asked for sushi deluxe and and if it came with miso soup and salad. Of course, a place with as much press as Morimoto will get all kinds, but I've never known a chef willing to "dumb down" his cuisine to appeal to the masses. In any case I don't plan on going back unless I have to, or if someone else is paying for the special "chef's table" omakase. If any of you go I'd advise sticking to the appetizers. It's possible that the entrees are good, I didn't have any so I can't comment. As for the sushi, stay away or go for the rolls.
  3. On mulberry between canal and bayard there are two stores that have many SEA products. They are both on the west side of the street. I can't rem the name of the first place but it's right below canal, the entrance is a few steps down from the sidewalk, and the have a sushi maker in the window. This place is a good source for japanese ingredients in chinatown. The other place is called Asia Market Corp and is right next to Pho viet restaurant. they have many malay, thai, phillipine and viet ingredients here. They also supply many restaurants, so if you don't see want you want just ask. For example, I know they always have thai basil, but you have to ask for it.
  4. I've seen them make it in front of the food court in the Flushing Mall. It was on a saturday. I'm not sure if they do it everyday. Wow, now I wish I had bought some!
  5. wow, were you lucky! which sausage and brisket did you like better, Salt Lick's or Elgin's? why? have to decide which line is worth the time. thanks!
  6. was the salt lick plate that big? or was it just for display? god, i hope it was that big! the sausage looks incredible!!! must go tomorrow.
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